I re-did the interior lights of my 2008 LC per your recommendations & it came out great (and believe me I have the mechanical aptitude of rhesus monkey). However, I can't get the door courtesy lights & the rear cargo hatch lights to function. I switched out a fuse that had blown (only took me 2 days to figure that one out) but to no avail. Any suggestions? Thanks...
I re-did the interior lights of my 2008 LC per your recommendations & it came out great (and believe me I have the mechanical aptitude of rhesus monkey). However, I can't get the door courtesy lights & the rear cargo hatch lights to function. I switched out a fuse that had blown (only took me 2 days to figure that one out) but to no avail. Any suggestions? Thanks...
These light up cargo behind you when open, and they also light up license plate. So my hopes of installing the really bright bulbs in those two spots are out....license plate would be crazy lit up. So I think I'm going to try something a little less bright than what I have now. Then I'll try 2 - led strips with a switch on the underside of the rear hatch door. Will update here with results once it's complete.
These light up cargo behind you when open, and they also light up license plate. So my hopes of installing the really bright bulbs in those two spots are out....license plate would be crazy lit up. So I think I'm going to try something a little less bright than what I have now. Then I'll try 2 - led strips with a switch on the underside of the rear hatch door. Will update here with results once it's complete.
I wish Toyota had just put in a pair of nice flush set lamps there to light up on demand or via auto when the upper hatch door is opened. Ideally it would be one on either outer edge so your shadow is not in your own way if using the lower tailgate for cooking, gear sorting, etc. Obviously lamps in this area would need to be flush, or even recessed, so as to not get damaged by cargo or with a cool little metal protection grill.
I never understood why Toyota has never properly lit the rear interior of the LC. Standing in the dark somewhere you can't find anything without an extra torch.
I intended to use two lights as are mounted in the bottom of the doors but felt the mounting would be difficult. Toyota conveniently put a little removable panel in the rear hatch moulding to reach the emergency hatch opener. This panel could easily double as a light, why did Toyota never think of this?!
I used an 8x 1W LED board with an integrated cooling rib. Drilled 8 holes for the LEDs, one for the switch and hot glued the assembly to the panel. Power comes from the third row interior lights.
Provides plenty of light, only "but" is the lack of a difusing lens.
That's a 100% improvement back there and it looks neat also. If I didn't have the skills of a kindergartener I'd try this mod. The existing lights back there suck ass.
how'd you power the led s. Did you remove the roof lining to get to the third row switch. I think this mod is awesome. maybe some pics of the led panel?
No need to remove the headliner, just pop the weatherstrip of the body and pull the headliner down a bit at the rear. It is snapped in place with a few plastic clips, if you remove only the trailing edge ones you have enough space to work. To get to the third row light, I used a stiff piece of metal wire to push through from back to front. Made a Y splice on the wire as the third row light assembly is a bit of a strange thing.
I'll make a picture of the light itself, won't see much anymore but a mess of hot glue
Some addition pictures as requested;
The LEDs have a little lens but are flat enough to be covered by the thickness of the plastic of the panel. The only slightly protruding part is the switch but I don't see this in danger of being damaged. The alternative would have been a bigger hole to activate a further recessed switch. Not so nice to look at IMO.
The LED assembly started life as a generic light you buy in the auto parts store, about US$15. It had a cigarette lighter plug, 5 meter of wire and a little magnet to position it anywhere on the car body. The LEDs itself are surface mounted on a PCB that was fastened on the aluminum strip you can see in the picture. It was too long to mount behind the hatchcover so I cut it in two but since it doubles as a heatsink I mounted the cut-off part in the middle where it now doubles as a cable strain relief. Hot glue liberally over everything and ready!
There is sufficient depth behind the cover to use something significantly bigger but there is no point. This is light enough.
For a better light distribution it is of course possible to drill small holes across the width of the door but mounting and cooling individual LEDs is much more difficult hence this quick and cheap alternative.
If you've got the extra cash laying around you can get a set from a tuner in Japan, they are extremely bright, error free, perfect fitment LED's designed for our 200's. Got them total w/ shipping approx $700 (includes license plate and visors). I honestly got lucky that month and won a $3k raffle draw and blew it all on the 200.
I'm not sure how they compare with the OP's quality, but they do transform the whole interior.
here's my set before the install
after install
as you can see they are crazy bright and light up the cargo area as well.
no typo and I agree nobody in a healthy mental state would get LED's that expensive. You could also go full retard and replace every bulb with LED's, it will be well above 700, probably around $1200 for these kits
Interior = $400
Visors = $70
courtesy Door = $160
License Plate = $100
puddle = $100
Blinkers side & Front = $150
Reverse = $100
