My wife got me a great 2017 Christmas gift - a fresh set of front marker lights from Japan - to replace the worn and rock-dinged originals with 130k of wear. Before I could install them I needed to cover them with 3M clear protector vinyl, replace the mounting screws and old bulbs with super bright LEDs.
Taking the old ones off was easy - the passenger side one hasn't had a mounting screw for about 5 years and pushes out with your finger. The grey light sockets remove with an eighth turn counter clockwise.
I noticed that the new lenses don't come with any rubber parts or weather strip...I need to add those myself. The rubber right angle vent tubes are glued on to the original, but with the help of a dental tool and patience, they came off fine. I applied a little RTV to the square mounting port on the new lenses for good measure. The weather strip is very thin, so I'll need to get that from a local auto or hardware store.
For the clear film, I ordered a roll of 3M Clear Paint Protection Film, 6 x 60 for $19 here. It needs to be applied wet, stretched and heated, and once on, you can't even tell its there. Now I can head to the track with confidence! Now to wrap the rest of the car...
The top one is the new lens with film applied:
I installed the new mounting screws - the old one on the driver side was a bear to remove, but the new one clicked into place easily. Got them from the dealer for $12ea.
I glued on the right-angle rubber vent tubes with my favorite adhesive - Loctite 60 Second.
Then I added new foam weather strip to both sides of the lights, just like the originals.
For the LED bulbs I did a ton of research on Prime and other car sites and finally decided on AUXITO 194 LED Light Bulb 6000K White Super Bright, $15.88 for 10 of them! They are slightly longer than the original 168 bulb, but there aren't any clearance issues. NOTE: They only work one way, so if you turn them on and get nothing, flip them 180 in the socket.
Here's how they turned out - factory bulb in old lens:
LED Bulb in new lens:
The LED is about twice as bright looking on the wall in front of the car, and is a much whiter light...not to be racist or anything. Its still a snowy nightmare outside so I'll wait a bit to get an outdoor shot of the new bulbs after dark.
Overall, totally happy with the updates and recommend everyone do the same.
Cheers!
Taking the old ones off was easy - the passenger side one hasn't had a mounting screw for about 5 years and pushes out with your finger. The grey light sockets remove with an eighth turn counter clockwise.
I noticed that the new lenses don't come with any rubber parts or weather strip...I need to add those myself. The rubber right angle vent tubes are glued on to the original, but with the help of a dental tool and patience, they came off fine. I applied a little RTV to the square mounting port on the new lenses for good measure. The weather strip is very thin, so I'll need to get that from a local auto or hardware store.
For the clear film, I ordered a roll of 3M Clear Paint Protection Film, 6 x 60 for $19 here. It needs to be applied wet, stretched and heated, and once on, you can't even tell its there. Now I can head to the track with confidence! Now to wrap the rest of the car...
The top one is the new lens with film applied:
I installed the new mounting screws - the old one on the driver side was a bear to remove, but the new one clicked into place easily. Got them from the dealer for $12ea.
I glued on the right-angle rubber vent tubes with my favorite adhesive - Loctite 60 Second.
Then I added new foam weather strip to both sides of the lights, just like the originals.
For the LED bulbs I did a ton of research on Prime and other car sites and finally decided on AUXITO 194 LED Light Bulb 6000K White Super Bright, $15.88 for 10 of them! They are slightly longer than the original 168 bulb, but there aren't any clearance issues. NOTE: They only work one way, so if you turn them on and get nothing, flip them 180 in the socket.
Here's how they turned out - factory bulb in old lens:
LED Bulb in new lens:
The LED is about twice as bright looking on the wall in front of the car, and is a much whiter light...not to be racist or anything. Its still a snowy nightmare outside so I'll wait a bit to get an outdoor shot of the new bulbs after dark.
Overall, totally happy with the updates and recommend everyone do the same.
Cheers!
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