other countries have bulbs in those corner lights i believe. as for the trucks, some are required to have them as clearance lights. the aftermarket is always up in the air, and not always legal.

 

That's the first time I've heard that one. In the Japanese home market there were cornering lights on the 98-00 LS400 where there are dummy lights for the rest of the world.

Early North American press release photos in 1997 before the 1998 LS400 went on sale showed amber side marker lights where the dummy lights are. I've read that Toyota found out very late that the lenses next to the fog lights were below the required minimum height for side marker lights which is why we ended up with tacky and tacked on front side marker lights.

The attached press release photo shows how the front side marker lights on the North American 98-00 LS400 were originally supposed to look.

 

sorry busy day, all i remember is that it was a federal requirement issue, don't remember exactly which one.

 

This is a JDM 98 Celsior's drivers side lights. I don't know what bulb is inside of the corner light. It is quite convenient driving at country sides at night. Next to it, there is a fog light and you can see the yellowish internal cover for a HB4 bulb. We are not required the daylight running light and the HID low beam turns on only when you switch it on. It is brighter than the regular halogen bulb but it takes several seconds to be bright enough and I make it a rule to use fog lights at tunnels together.

 

We also didn't get the cool little blinkers you see midway up on the front fenders. Maybe there is some archaic U.S. law about those too? When I was stationed in Japan every guy over there had this fantasy "yeah, I'm gonna take this car back to the States". That fantasy lasted as long as it took to find out how many thousands of $$ it would take to convert the car to "U.S. standards". This was in the 90's and things have changed a bit for the better. You can find export-model cars in Japan and bring them over but there are still MANY models/styles that are only for the JDM market or for other countries EXCEPT the U.S.. From what I understand it usually boils down to differences in emissions, lights, glass or other required safety features.

 

Those look pretty cool I just painted mine to match the bumper trim.

 

I just shaved the reflector off when I had the bumper repainted

 

Shaved or filled? If you removed the dummy light weren't you left with a big hole?

 

I'm talking about the orange reflector/turn signal/side marker, not the dummy light next to the fogs.

it was removed and the hole was filled, aka shaving.

I'll try to post a pic

 

Oh, ok now I got it. Yea on those, I just replaced them with a clear version. I suppose shaving them would look really clean too.