LED exterior lights

Mark99GT · Jul 31, 2023

Does anyone have full exterior LED lighting (headlights, turn signals, tail lights) that could post some pictures? Also your thoughts as to if it's worth the change cost-wise and your experience specifically with headlight brightness.

I'm about to order new headlights (clear with black housing), clear corners (clear with black housing) without amber reflectors, LED 6000K fog and headlight bulbs, LED switchback amber/white turn signal bulbs, Raxiom LED smoked tails and red LED bulbs for the tail brake/turn lights, LED license plate bulbs, smoked rear side markers, and third brake light tint.

I'm ordering from a mix of eBay, LMR, CJ, and AM; it's coming to around $800 total and I'm having second thoughts based on the total cost. The reason for the change is I want brighter headlights at night for safety, I hate the amber lens on the front corners, and I like the smoked tail lights for looks. Based on the pics I've googled, to me, it seems like for the LEDs to look right as a whole it's kind of an all or nothing thing.

Bullitt1448 · Jul 31, 2023

Mark99GT said:
Does anyone have full exterior LED lighting (headlights, turn signals, tail lights) that could post some pictures? Also your thoughts as to if it's worth the change cost-wise and your experience specifically with headlight brightness.

I'm about to order new headlights (clear with black housing), clear corners (clear with black housing) without amber reflectors, LED 6000K fog and headlight bulbs, LED switchback amber/white turn signal bulbs, Raxiom LED smoked tails and red LED bulbs for the tail brake/turn lights, LED license plate bulbs, smoked rear side markers, and third brake light tint.

I'm ordering from a mix of eBay, LMR, CJ, and AM; it's coming to around $800 total and I'm having second thoughts based on the total cost. The reason for the change is I want brighter headlights at night for safety, I hate the amber lens on the front corners, and I like the smoked tail lights for looks. Based on the pics I've googled, to me, it seems like for the LEDs to look right as a whole it's kind of an all or nothing thing.

where are you getting your headlight housings from?

DSG2003Mach1 · Jul 31, 2023

I think Id be more inclined to use regular housings and LED bulbs vs LED assemblies. I see plenty of cars with aftermarket LED stuff and half the LEDs have stopped working, looks ghetto AF.

I do have the LED third brake light on my car and think it looks fine with my normal bulbs.

Also be aware you may need to add the inline resistors or whatever they are so you don't end up with hyper blink because it thinks a bulb out (if the housings don't already have something built in)

Mark99GT · Jul 31, 2023

Bullitt1448 said:
where are you getting your headlight housings from?

eBay. They all look the same, site vs site, and ebay has the best price.

Mark99GT · Jul 31, 2023

DSG2003Mach1 said:
I think Id be more inclined to use regular housings and LED bulbs vs LED assemblies. I see plenty of cars with aftermarket LED stuff and half the LEDs have stopped working, looks ghetto AF.

I do have the LED third brake light on my car and think it looks fine with my normal bulbs.

Also be aware you may need to add the inline resistors or whatever they are so you don't end up with hyper blink because it thinks a bulb out (if the housings don't already have something built in)

Yeah, I don't like the look of any HID/1 piece headlights I've seen. So cheap-ass ebay housings it is, and I'll spend a little more for good bulbs. Where did you get the LED 3rd? I can't find one anywhere.

The turn signal set up comes with the relay to stop the hyperflash so I should be all set there. I think I'm going skip the red LED bulbs for the tails for now. It's $130 extra and not sure they'll make a difference. Can always add them later.

DSG2003Mach1 · Jul 31, 2023

Mark99GT said:
Where did you get the LED 3rd? I can't find one anywhere.

pretty sure LMR had them for 99-04 cars, never looked for older stuff

Mark99GT · Jul 31, 2023

DSG2003Mach1 said:
pretty sure LMR had them for 99-04 cars, never looked for older stuff

Ah, yeah 99+ is available. Nothing for 98 and older.

03cobra#694 · Jul 31, 2023

I get the tails and corners deal. I bought LED replacement headlighy bulbs for my 18 150 and love them, no issues.

Mark99GT · Jul 31, 2023

So I ordered everything but the headlights and corners. I can't decide on clear or smoked lenses. Just trying to have a clean/subdued/slightly more aggressive look. Not changing the fog light housings (unfortunately doesn't look like anything is available). Car is black, which would you choose, clear or smoked?

DSG2003Mach1 · Jul 31, 2023

Mark99GT said:
So I ordered everything but the headlights and corners. I can't decide on clear or smoked lenses. Just trying to have a clean/subdued/slightly more aggressive look. Not changing the fog light housings (unfortunately doesn't look like anything is available). Car is black, which would you choose, clear or smoked?

Smoked personally

Mark99GT · Aug 1, 2023

DSG2003Mach1 said:
Smoked personally

After looking again I agree with the smoked look. I can't find the smoked corners with a clear reflector anywhere though.

I_like_turtlez · Aug 4, 2023

I'm late but my advice is just buy the bulbs off Amazon, you get 10 bulbs for the price of 2 from other sites.. Pretty sure I've LED'd my dash & entire rear end for like $40 lol

Mark99GT · Aug 12, 2023

Ok I got the Raxiom tails and have mixed feelings. They're not smoked at all. I like the LED running lights at night. But it kinda looks like the 1960s batmobile during the day, and not in a good way.

So I decided to VHT Nightshade them and use 2k clear coat on top. I initially put 3 coats of VHT on and waited an hour for the last coat and then wet sanded. Well, VHT instructions are not great and I should have waited longer. Some of the VHT started to flake off in a few small spots. Apparently it wasn't totally dry. So I stopped wet sanding, cleaned, and re-sprayed a "fix" coat to address the flaking as best as I could.

I guess I got a little carried away and they are darker than I was planning (basically murdered out) but I think I might like them this way. I did a quick test prior to the last "fix" coat and the light still shines right through red (I installed bright red LED bulbs) so they should be fine.

My question is do I need to wet sand these before putting the clear coat on now? I'm letting them dry overnight either way. There's minimal orange peel; they actually have a pretty good finish. I feel like wet sanding them now if I don't need to just creates another opportunity for something to go wrong. What do you think, should I wet sand these before the clear coat? I plan on wet sanding and polishing the clear coat after a 24hr period.
Before:

VHT nightshade

Mark99GT · Aug 13, 2023

I ended up wet sanding before the 2k clear, there were some imperfections I saw in the bright sun light. I think [hope] they will look good, the sanding lightened them up a bit, which I'm happy about, but the shape makes them a pain to sand. I'll post some more pics after I wet sand and final polish assuming I don't toss them in the trash. Fingers crossed.

98 svt · Aug 13, 2023

The OEM 96-98 tails are some of the best looking mustang tails at night. They have a unique look to them when lit up.
I wouldn't touch the bulbs in the tails if it were me.

Edit: Just saw your pics with the new tails.
I stand by my original statement.

Mark99GT · Aug 14, 2023

98 svt said:
The OEM 96-98 tails are some of the best looking mustang tails at night. They have a unique look to them when lit up.
I wouldn't touch the bulbs in the tails if it were me.

Edit: Just saw your pics with the new tails.
I stand by my original statement.

lol, we'll see how they look when they're done. letting the 2k cure now, wet sanding and polishing tonight. definitely look like shit right out of the box. might still look like shit when done. probably should have just returned them, but i do like the led "rings" or whatever you call them at night.

Mark99GT · Aug 14, 2023

I wet sanded and polished them. It was starting to get dark by the time I got them on. Here are some pics. They don't look too bad, but I'll have to see them in the bright sunlight to really evaluate them. Need a little polish touch up in a few spots too. But here are some new pics, I still have to put the 3rd brake light tint on. Ignore the filthy garage cleaning it is the next project (car too).