Yet another LED dome/door/plate light thread

[Zephrant]

The first mod I did to my new-to-me LGT was LED lighting.

 

Below are some before/after pictures.

 

I'm pretty happy with the license plate lights and door lights. Clearly brighter. I'm not so convinced on the map lights and dome light. Blue-er, but not really brighter. I like the cold blue better than the warm yellow so far. I have a new dome light on order, the one with the rear seat reading lights built in, so I didn't want to go with one of the big square dome LEDs that they make.

 

One more point on the license plate lights- my existing bulbs were blackened. The plastic holders were a little browned too. If for no other reason, I'd highly recommend putting LEDs in there just to prevent heat damage. The holders were also a little loose- Take a small screwdriver and bend all six tabs in a little, and it tightens up. Make sure not to drop the LED down in the lens hold when installing... it took me a 1/2 hour to get it back out.

 

 

Details: LEDs purchased from DiodeDynamics.com

2 x 194 1 Watt: $3.49 ea

7 x 31mm 2-2050 SMD: $4.99 ea

Shipping was $6.95

Grand total: $48.86, delivered.

 

All pictures were in full manual mode at the same settings- 2s f/3.5, no flash:

Dome stock, dome LED, door stock, door LED, Map light stock

Map light LED (no cover), Map light LED (with cover), Lic. stock, Lic. LED, Lic 1/2 and 1/2

Lic. LED, bulbs, Lic. LED holder with LED, Lic LED holder.

[jaredboy]

Question for you; well 2 actually:

 

A: My rear license plate bulbs are pretty bright already (bought the car used so I dunno if they were replaced or something) so would I be correct in assuming the 7 X 31 mm bulbs are all I need for the inside?

 

B: Can you detail or explain at all how to get these covers off- I read in another thread somewhere the person used a credit card but I fuddled with the dome, map and door covers for a good while and I cant seem to get em off. A little help please my good sir?

 

Thanks!

 

Edit: answering myself for the benefit of anyone else with the same questions:

 

A: yes the interior has the 31mm bulbs (I count 5 for interior)

 

B: The covers come off very easily with almost no pressure.

The rule of thumb for all 3 (map, dome and sides) is gently insert a flathead screwdriver in between the clear lens and plastic parts for each. Swing the screwdriver handle towards whatever side the plastic is on or away from lens side. (hope that makes sense)

 

The clear lenses pop out very easily exposing the bulbs! Hope this helps.

[Zephrant]

Yep 5 is the normal number of lights for inside- I have a new dome light on order that has another two bulbs as rear seat reading lights, hence the 7x number.

 

Glad you figured out the covers- I try to just use my fingers, as I've dinged up enough plastic with screwdrivers before that I know I need to be cautious.

 

I am not yet happy with my dome light- I will be putting in a larger bulb when I get the new light, and see how much room I have. The rest of the lights are great.

[Zephrant]

Got the rear dome light with the two readings lights installed, it was mostly plug and play. Pry off the dome cover and remove two screws. The new light had the black plug slid on to a prong- slide that off, plug it in to the existing plug, and click the whole light in to place. Replace the two screws.

 

It looks nice. The reading lights are OK- not too bright, but the dome light could be brighter.

[Zephrant]

And because I had the camera out in the dark-

[JohnnyGT08]

If anyone is interested, I have two LED's for the map lights and a big cluster for the dome light that I just took out of my car before I sold it. They're the bright white color. Loved them.