Hella FF75 installed in factory turn signals location - photos

[90 Gen2]

Here are some photos, though the hosting on rapidshare may be regrettable, of the results of our installation of additional driving lights, Hella FF75, in the factory location for turn signals. The turn signal lamps were removed, and the corner marker lights were wired to work as turn signals, as documented elsewhere on the forum. I've just checked every link to ensure that they are currently valid. Each shot was taken with the same apreature and speed. One parameter saved in each file by my camera is something called "Brightness value." For these photos, this value changed, in order that I present them here, from "-267/100" to "-213/100," in case that means anything to digicam savants. In fact, I'd be happy to hear about that parameter if anyone knows...

So without further ado, here they are!
Enjoy:

factory low beams only:

-or-
http://rapidshare.com/files/5827814/lows.JPG.html
(-267/100)

factory high beams only:

-or-
http://rapidshare.com/files/5827815/highs.JPG.html
(-240/100)

no factory lights, and FF75s only:

-or-
http://rapidshare.com/files/5827816/ff75.JPG.html
(-252/100)

factory low beams and FF75s:

-or-
http://rapidshare.com/files/5827817/...dlows.JPG.html
(-230/100)

factory high beams and FF75s:

-or-
http://rapidshare.com/files/5827818/...highs.JPG.html
(-213/100)

appearance shot, from above:

-or-
http://rapidshare.com/files/5827819/howitlooks.JPG.html

head on shot from about 35 feet:

-or-
http://rapidshare.com/files/5827820/headon.JPG.html


As you can see, the Hella FF75 lights dispense their light further forward than the factory lenses, and less to the sides. They also seem to emit more light than the factory lows for the same 55W rating, and the factory lows plus the FF75s produce much more useful illumination of the road than the factory highs by themselves, and with no impairment of other drivers' vision. I always felt compelled to use the high beams too much without these new additions, and now I can almost tolerate leaving the factory lamps off altogether, though I seldom ever drive that way, strictly out of curiosity's sake at low speeds and where I am unlikely to encounter traffic entering the roadway from a side.

I bought the lights for a discount price of about $46 shipped. The two of us spent about 3 hours mounting and wiring the lights, and I expect to spend another few hours cleaning up the install, and the functionality is terrific for the effort and costs. The lamps seemed slightly cheaply made when simply holding them in hand, but the included wiring harness, switch, and fused relay were certainly better than expected. I'll post some photos of the completed installation once I'm happy with it. This is a much better upgrade, imho, than any upgrade bulb for the factory headlamps. If you want better lighting, have tools and understand a bit about electricity, and can spare the few hours to get it right, then I'd strongly recommend this installation!

Have fun!

[atobe]

use imageshack !!!!!!!!

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by atobe

use imageshack !!!!!!!!

Or photobucket.

-Charlie

[es250nut]

What they said. The only thing I get when I click on any of your links is a spiel page from them to buy their service.

[Phatfantom68]

Looks good.

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by es250nut

What they said. The only thing I get when I click on any of your links is a spiel page from them to buy their service.

Scroll down and click free then click on the file and then enter the number/letter combo on the screen.....that should yield the pic.
BTW, Rapidshare is terrible for pic hosting.
The thing I would like to do is turn the side marker lens into a turn signal.....I like what you did

[HomeGrown]

Very nice! I got some cheap lights from Meijer, but the blue tint made it look too ricey so I took them off. They were the first lights I found that were close to the same size as the turn signals.

BTW: what did you do about your front turn signals? When I had the lights in, I had them hooked up to the corner lights but they flashed really fast, it was annoying.

[90 Gen2]

Originally Posted by HomeGrown

Very nice! I got some cheap lights from Meijer, but the blue tint made it look too ricey so I took them off. They were the first lights I found that were close to the same size as the turn signals.

BTW: what did you do about your front turn signals? When I had the lights in, I had them hooked up to the corner lights but they flashed really fast, it was annoying.

These Hella FF75s don't look "ricey" at all, search for them on Da Bay for a photo and/or low price. One of the reassigned corner lights flashed quickly, and the other does not. Since I have seen this behavior before when there was a weak bulb, front or rear, I assumed that maybe in the process I damaged one. You're right - it's annoying, The other possibility is that I somehow made a wiring mistake not bad enough to cause the light to stop working, but maybe running something, for example, in parallel instead of series. I also replaced a cracked corner light at the same time, so it could be that the included bulb is just somewhow not correct. We'll see. The nice thing about the flasher in the front corner location, to me, is that it is now more visible from the sides.

I've edited the initial post with some additional hotlinks with photos, so those of you who didn't see them before now hopefully can.

[HomeGrown]

Yeah, the original front-mounted turn signals are strange, it does make more sense to have them on the corner lights. Must be a carryover from the original Japaneese styling and functionality. At least the OEM turn signals are a good place-holder for aftermarket driving lights.

That's a really good and worthwhile upgrade, IMHO.

[Skell]

im really tempted to try this myself now. good going..

[TBayToyotaBoy]

^^ I agree. I think I'll be trying this. Although the big 'n bulky Bosch driving lamps that came stock on my car do a pretty freaking good job of illuminating those dark sideroads...

[monito]

i really like this idea! i think i'd rather do this instead of usin high wattage bulbs.

[HomeGrown]

TBay, your car looks great! Bet it looks really nice cleaned up.
Don't they use salt on the roads up there?

BTW: when you say the Bosch lights came "stock" on your car, are you saying that they were a factory installed option?? They don't look like anything that would have been OEM.

Those lights would probably look good tucked up where the turn signals are, and you wouldn't even have to buy new lights.

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Thanks for the compliment! Actually, the rear quarter panels need replacing due to the EXTREMELY HIGH amount of salt they use in Ontario...

You also have a good idea re: putting the driving lamps in the turn signal locations. If the measurements work out, I'll try that this spring. Thanks for the idea.

Oh yeah, and those Bosche lamps were OEM for a very limited run of Canadian Camrys. They only came on the 1990 "25th Anniversary" edition...note the little black badges on the front fenders, and the black plastic lip under the front clip.

[HomeGrown]

Yeah, I noticed the badge. I bet your car is ultra-rare, being an Anniversary edition, with a V6 & 5-speed.

I'm surprised the lights are still intact. That's an extremely vulnerable location for them. That, and the fact you can see the wiring going to the light is what made me think they weren't OEM. Are they wired like the newer ones, so they only work with the lights on low beam? That may just be a 'states' thing though.