TheAirman

The holiday time off gave me some time to try a few mods. One was to replace those dim, yellow 914 factory bulbs in the trunk and interior with LED's. The results were more than I expected with the light in the trunk being doubled or tripled, and the light in the interior doubled at the very least. I think the total output was around $40.00, and well worth it and easy. I got the lights here:

http://www.oznium.com/

The first pic shows the flex LED. The second shows the hardest part which was stuffing all the wires into the area where the old bulb went. I used red duct tape. The last two pictures show the results. The difference between the two front and rear interior lights in noticable, and the cool white makes it look more "modern".

DDS62

Looks like a good modification.

Could you provide any advice on removing the steering wheel? The one mod I would like to do is to replace the wheel with a wood one - if I had the know how.

TheAirman

Funny you should ask. That's one of my projects this winter. First off, where did you get the wood one?

Actually, its easy to get to the nut to remove the wheel, but it takes a special sterring wheel puller that I don't have or know anyone that does have. I may have to farm the job out to the dealer, but first I'll see how much they want to charge me to replace the wheel with the one I have.

If you have a wheel puller tool, I can come up with the instructions on how to remove it. Let me know.

DDS62

I have a little (dangerous bit of) knowledge. It looks to be a fairly straight forward procedure and it looks to be a job you really want to do yourself since the HS will need to sit idle for three weeks while Carid is modifying it.

Here is what I know:
1) The wood wheel can be gotten in two ways. One way is to find a used wood wheel off a 2010, 2011, or 2012 RX350 or RX450. Those steering wheels are identical to the HS except for the wood trim. Unfortunately there are apparently no available used RX wheels on planet earth. The other way is to remove the wheel and send it to Carid.com They cut the leather and replace it with wood to match the car for about $275. They have been in business for awhile under different names and have a fairly good track record with their local Better Business Bureau. It takes about three weeks. IMO this is the only real option, if for no other reason they will attempt to match the Brown walnut color on the HS wood pieces.
2) The wheel puller is nothing special, you can by one for less than $25. I saw one the other day for $11.50. They consist of nothing more than three bolts (the center one pushes and two outer bolts pull) and a steel plate. I will probably make one (I have a table top mill).

You can find many YouTube videos on steering wheel removal which illustrate the process. Unfortunately none are for a Lexus HS and none a Hybrid and I am not sure about several things:

1) The clock spring. What problems arise when disconnecting it electrically??? I have no idea what a clock spring even is??
2) How do you disarm the airbag? By disconnecting the 12V battery or by removing a fuse? If you must remove a fuse which one is it? The owners manual makes no reference to an air bag fuse. If there is no air bag fuse, and you must disarm the airbag by disconnecting the 12V battery how will this effect all of the settings in the Nav control system?
3) Does the fact that the HS being a Hybrid with a high voltage system present any unique problems?
4) Any general warnings and cautions to take when disconnecting all of the electrical plugs (to the phone, display, radio volume etc.)


http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/10...ry-hybrid.html

http://www.craftcustoms.com/pages/Quote.htm Another vendor like Carid which doesn’t seem to have the proper recommendations – but I don’t really know.

Do a search on Google for the steering wheel puller and the videos. I will provide a puller.

This is one mod I would really like to do also. I think a wood wheel would look terrific. If I could get this mod done I would proceed to replace the wheels and tires ($2,500) for a better ride. Any info would be greatly appreciated

TheAirman

You really did your research !!!!!!!!!

Here's a little tip for you. The wood wheel that you seek is a standard factory part on the HS's in Japan. They are a dime a dozen, if you can figure out where to look and do some translating of the two different languages. Japanese is tough and the translation can be even tougher, so it makes it even hard than trying to find a used RX wheel.

Only in the US do we get the leather wheel. Why, I don't know. Cost I guess. In fact, if you do a Google search for "Grazio", you'll find all kinds of nice wood parts for the HS interior. Keep in mind some are for the right hand drive interiors, so watch out.

But to make you jealous, I paid a little more than $100 for my factory Japanese HS wood wheel !! Just have to find the time to install it.

To install it, the biggest thing to remember is.. Don't pop the airbag in your face !!!

If I'm not mistaken, once you power off the hybrid system, the NAV and other computers store their info into memory and don't use battery power. So push the power switch, wait for a few minutes, then disconnect the 12 volt battery. The airbags get their power from there. And yes, there is most likely no fuse. You might lose your radio channels, but I don't think you lose your favorites in your NAV.

Next after disconnecting the 12v battery, you must wait a least 2 minutes for the airbags reserve power (capacitor) to dissipate. Then you can safely unplug the airbag.

Magellan55

Hey Airman, you always do your modding by the taxiway? :-)

RJQMAN

Airman, do you know if it is possible to take the power drivers seat out and somehow lower it by an inch or so without screwing up everything? I am tall, and I have a neck problem that makes it difficult for me to get into the car, even with the seat all the way down. I have it all the way back on automatic, and so it is not a major deal, but I was wondering... You seem to have access to a lot of info - I would appreciate your opinion.

TheAirman

Don't know about lowering it, and I doubt it's possible, especially on seats as hi-tech as the HS's, But a mod that's done often on other cars where a tall driver has problems is:

They remove the front two mounting bolts and loosen the rear two. Then under the front two bolts, and the seat rail, they place two metal spacers about and inch or more in length. This tilts the whole seat assembly back more and gives you about an extra inch. Then you replace the front two bolts with new longer ones and re-tighten the rears. Make sure the new longer bolts in the front are high strength, good quality metric bolts. You don't want your seat bolts breaking !!

Titanjose

@TheAirman - After seeing your pics, I too am interested in upgrading my interior lighting. I was wondering if you could provide all the bulbs and accessories you bought from oznium.com to complete your upgrade? Just making sure I get the right ones and also to make sure I have everything I need to complete the upgrade (dome lights, map lights, etc). Thanks!!

TheAirman

PM sent on 2-25.

Deeteck

Originally Posted by Titanjose:
@TheAirman - After seeing your pics, I too am interested in upgrading my interior lighting. I was wondering if you could provide all the bulbs and accessories you bought from oznium.com to complete your upgrade? Just making sure I get the right ones and also to make sure I have everything I need to complete the upgrade (dome lights, map lights, etc). Thanks!!

Ditto this! Pls send info! Great mod! This is also my winter upgrade as well as LED turn signals that actually work, and LED drl's if possible! Maybe u have ideas! Ty

ppercoskie

What is the best way to get the map light assembly down to put LED's in them. Could be I'm overlooking something or should I buy a molding removal tool kit to get it down

TheAirman

I used this:
http://www.oznium.com/thin-led-domelight in the 5 x 1.5 inch for the interior dome. For the trunk, I forgot the size. But it's easy to measure. I think it was the 1 x 1 inch.

But now that I went back to the site to get the link, I noticed a new type interior LED bulb.

http://www.oznium.com/led-domelight

It might be nicer.

I too am working on LED turn signals. You say you want nice ones that work?

http://www.vleds.com/v3-a.html

Get out your money. These are the ones I might try. I already bought the flasher.

As for DRL's, I saw the one that are placed in the fog lights. You just replace the entire fog light assembly.

TheAirman

You most definitely need a molding tool. Those map light assemblies are tricky. Plus there is two types. One has a sunglass holder, one doesn't. In either case, the first step is to remove the hidden screws that hold it up there. Then pull down to unsnap it. (That's the short version).

Search this forum because I think there is a .pdf file that shows how to do it.

TheAirman

Here:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hs-...ights-led.html