is it possible to swap the 98-00 tail light and throw it on a 97? i know the 98 and up has a little bit longer tail lights and is crystal clear which i think looks better. thanks!

 

i too have wondered this.

from what i understand, you can only use the outer lenses w/o any modification. the inners are longer on the 98-up which means the trunk holes should be different. they may need modding to fit the tails on a 95-97.

the lexus part number between 97 and 98 trunks are different but the stock picture looks the same. it could very well be the same part. there is only one way to find out conclusively!

 

Trunks on the 97 and 98 are different.

 

What do you mean by "crystal clear"? The 95-97 tail lights seem to look about the same as the 98-00 tail lights. There is nothing "crystal clear" in the tail lights on my 2000 LS400 - just red and amber lenses.

 

I think he is talking about the backup lens. they are dingy on the 95-97, and brighter on ours..

 

They do not have the same look at all.

The 98-00 looks alot better than the 95-97 tail lights.

 

I believe a conversion can be done by both drilling and cutting,but don't forget that you will have to
Cut or swap over the part that holds the license plate lights. The lenght of this part is different.

You must also relocate the lock cylinder and modify the part between the cylinder and the main lock.

 

The 98+ have a slightly different grid diffusion pattern between the 95-97 lenses. Only a fellow LS/Celsior owner might spot it but for the rest unnoticeable. The lens and 1cm some odd difference is minimal. Can't recall the specs on key cylinder location. Would have to compare the inner lid lenses between the 97-98.

My suggestion would be to open the stock lenses and do a custom LED pattern.

 

Sorry for the quality..

95-97 at left..98-00 at right

 

I always wondered what kind of time and effort goes into those custom LED tail lights like those above. What do they use to control them?

 

So, is there any way to get all clear tail light housings for a '97? Did anybody ever make any even back in the day or official JDM for mad Yen even? Clear smoked? Anybody make any custom or modified housings for all clear?

 

those aren't LED. The European tails look different from USDM/JDM tails. The extra refractors were required there.

OP USDM '95-97 and '98-00 are different but the difference isn't as big as it was for the european market.

 

I think he's talking about those hardcore Japanese showcar tail lights haha. I want one of those setups too, namely the sequential turn signals.

 

95-97 trunk lid:




98-00 trunk lid




Lights:

 

The same 'crystal lenses' appeared on other Toyota models around that time. 97 to 98 Avalon & 99 to 00 Camry saw the same lens upgrades which made them brighter to the eye.