Well, as you saw here I installed the
regular led bulbs in my Z before. But one of the problem I faced was burnout and not enough brightness.
So, I contacted cliff about getting a SMD panel led for the Z. He was very happy to sell me the prototype SMD panel which I used it on the trunk:
Quote:
Originally Posted by AK370Z
As you've seen my thread last week, where I installed the whole interior led kit which included map lights, trunk light and license plate lights. While the map and license plate lights were perfect, I felt that the trunk led was not as bright as I think it should be. It's probably okay for some owners but I like my trunk area to be fully lighted as I do shopping and use the trunk regularly. So, thanks to cliff, he sent this awesome SMD Bright White led for my car to try out. Check it out:
Not 1 or 2, 24 bright white led! 
As you can see, it fires straight into the trunk area not the plastic end!
Perfect brightness!
The pictures may not show (because it's very hard to take picture of bright bulb at night) but this LED panel lights up the whole trunk. Also, unlike previous trunk led which illuminates straight( as some of you asked), this SMD LED puts out full output TOWARD the trunk as it sits flush with the clear plastic surface. 
Here's a video:
P.S. I know my trunk is very dirty  . I still have wood chips from the woods I bought for ramp extenders)
Conclusion: These bulbs illuminates the trunk area perfectly. If like your trunk fully light up, please don't forget to ask cliff when you place your led kit order. I like to give them 9.5 out of 10! Very happy with the whole led setup now! |
After installing the trunk lights, I was so impressed, I wanted to use them for my license plate lights. THanks to tbonesteak and
his DIY, this mod was very easy to do . Check it out:
Quote:
Originally Posted by AK370Z
First of all, big thanks to Tbonesteak for his AWESOME DIY! Thanks If it wasn't for this line, I don't think I would have the courage to push the housing hard the way I did.
Also, thanks to cliff from yourledshop for great price and quick shipping.
So, I finally finished all my led projects (at least I think). I already have the SMD LED in the trunk and I put the SMD in the license plate housing today. In the picture it may look too bright but since my paint (Monterey Blue) doesn't reflect light much (lets say compare to Pearl White), it's really not obnoxiously bright. It's just perfect IMO. I'm pretty happy with the install. It was a fun little project. Took me a little over 1 hour (wasted 10 minutes tried to bake the dam housing and that was FIAL  ).
Here are some pictures:
sorry guys, I know it looks exactly like the BEFORE picture. That's because camera compensates for the extra light  . There's nothing I can do
If you own a darker color Z and you think your current leds aren't bright enough for your plates, here your solution. |
Once I did the license plates, I wanted to do the map lights as well to make ALL OF MY leds SMD panel. Also, I wanted a little more light in the interior. So, I ordered another pair of SMD panels. It turned out really good:
I'll post some night time pics later.
I def recommed these SMD panel as they have been much more reliable than the bulbs. I have yet to have any burnout (my leds bulbs burned out couple times). Also, the light output is much better and uniform. I def suggest you to spend the extra few bucks, get the SMD panels.
PS: I just thought it would be nice to have all 3 install listed in one thread, hence the point of this thread. Easy to find.