LED Turn Signals?
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Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,031
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From: US: Northeast
Lead Lap
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 775
Likes: 7
From: WA
This is something I have been contemplating as a project for a long time now. I think it's a shame the blinkers on the LS are still bulbs.
On the rear lamp there are two bulbs on each side and inside the lens there is a metal reflective plate that covers the filaments of the bulbs from the rear viewers. To me this is a bad design, not only because it makes the blinkers less bright (hard to see on sunny days) but also they won't lit up as fast as LEDs do.
Amber superflux LEDs would be ideal (that's what some BMWs have) but the optics have to be engineered accordingly.
Swapping the regular bulbs by those LED bulbs available on the market is a very bad idea, because it won't make the blinkers brighter. In fact, because of the optics on those bulbs the lens will never flood like with the regular bulbs it was designed for.
Also, the flasher has to be changed by one without burnt-bulb warning (that's why it flashes faster to let you know one of the bulbs are dead).
LEDs pull very little current so the stock flasher will think there's burnt bulb(s).
In a nutshell what I am trying to say is that I tried doing this conversion by building a circuit board with a bunch of superflux amber LEDs but the biggest challenge is to install it inside the lens. It's a complicated surgery that I decided not to do because each tail light costs over $500.
Hopefully Lexus will launch the 2009 or 2010 LS models with amber LEDs for blinkers - rear AND front - that would be nice.
On the rear lamp there are two bulbs on each side and inside the lens there is a metal reflective plate that covers the filaments of the bulbs from the rear viewers. To me this is a bad design, not only because it makes the blinkers less bright (hard to see on sunny days) but also they won't lit up as fast as LEDs do.
Amber superflux LEDs would be ideal (that's what some BMWs have) but the optics have to be engineered accordingly.
Swapping the regular bulbs by those LED bulbs available on the market is a very bad idea, because it won't make the blinkers brighter. In fact, because of the optics on those bulbs the lens will never flood like with the regular bulbs it was designed for.
Also, the flasher has to be changed by one without burnt-bulb warning (that's why it flashes faster to let you know one of the bulbs are dead).
LEDs pull very little current so the stock flasher will think there's burnt bulb(s).
In a nutshell what I am trying to say is that I tried doing this conversion by building a circuit board with a bunch of superflux amber LEDs but the biggest challenge is to install it inside the lens. It's a complicated surgery that I decided not to do because each tail light costs over $500.
Hopefully Lexus will launch the 2009 or 2010 LS models with amber LEDs for blinkers - rear AND front - that would be nice.
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IceIridium
IS - 2nd Gen (2006-2013)
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Apr 16, 2012 01:31 AM