Lights! A few questions...

[eledan]

Okay, I'll admit that I know next to nothing about modding (lights), so forgive me if I use the wrong terms or don't understand what you're talking about, lol. But I want some suggestions of what to look for, and what's feasible, so I can have the right stuff to do the job.

I love my car's headlights. When they're off, they look great. But I frequently drive with the DRL's (well, the notch just above them so the orange lights are on as well) and in my opinion they are too dim. I would also like them to be whiter, but not blue-white. So what kind of bulbs should I be looking for? What is the full range of colors to choose from? Links would be great.

The foglights are kind of useless, but I like them too. What sort of bulbs do they take? I'm thinking of going for an orange-amber color for them. Also, how can I force them to stay on, even if I do not have the headlights on or am only using DRL's? (Please no comments about the legality...)

Is there anything else that I can do to enhance the look of the headlights? I like the eyelids for Gen 5's, but I would want them to match the paint, and I really don't like the color of my car, so I don't want to pay to have MORE beige added to it, lol.

I have friends who can help me out with this whole project but I wanted to get some input from other Camry owners.

[LE05]

fogs and low beams take 9006 bulbs, high beams take 9005 bulbs. there are many aftermarket bulbs that have a whiter color... piaa, nokya, luminics, silverstars, etc.

however, i've noticed that because of the low voltage for DRL, any whiter bulb will still look rather yellow ... no matter how much whiter they are at full power. as an alternative, you can try a custom LED array but your DRL's are your high beams, so you would lose that function. and fyi, DRL's are dim for a reason! especially high beam DRL's... because they are aimed high, they are still blinding even in the day time and at lower voltage.

as for modifying your fog lights to stay on or turn on independent of the headlights, search around: there are quite a few threads showing how to do this. in fact, i think i've posted in or started a few threads on this subject, so try searching for my posts.

[eledan]

What about our turn signal lights? I realize there is no use giving them custom bulbs since they have orange housing...has anyone successfully removed the housing without damaging the light?


I need to update my sig, windows have been tinted...

[white3ch0c0late]

^To remove the housing, you have to open the headlamp.

[geoff5093]

Im not sure if the Gen5 is the same, but on the Gen6 the DRL's are the high-beam bulbs but just have low current/voltage flowing through them. If thats the case, it would probably be hard to get them white, since I had 6500K high-beam bulbs but still were yellowish when the DRL's were on.

[Webb26]

Everyone is corrrect...since the DRL's opperate at such a low voltage you wont get much of a difference...if any. I tried stock, piaa xtreme white, piaa super plasma gtx, and silver stars. NOthing gets really white, or even comes to close. Not sure if you like this idea...but i've seen killercams's car with the 2500k yellow bulbs and that just made it a cool yellow color...

[LE05]

Originally Posted by eledan

What about our turn signal lights? I realize there is no use giving them custom bulbs since they have orange housing...has anyone successfully removed the housing without damaging the light?


I need to update my sig, windows have been tinted...

this is why i like the gen 5.5 headlights better.... the only orange in the headlights are the side marker lights. i've gotten rid of the ugly orange turn signal bulbs, and replaced them with silverstar signal bulbs. gives it a nice bluish color when off. i've really gotta find time to take pictures of my car. its too dirty right now though

[eledan]

Originally Posted by Webb26

Everyone is corrrect...since the DRL's opperate at such a low voltage you wont get much of a difference...if any. I tried stock, piaa xtreme white, piaa super plasma gtx, and silver stars. NOthing gets really white, or even comes to close. Not sure if you like this idea...but i've seen killercams's car with the 2500k yellow bulbs and that just made it a cool yellow color...

It might come to that...what if I use something like 10000k ultra-blues, will that offset the yellow effect? I don't care about intensity as much as color at this point (I live in the city so I barely, if ever, use high beams anyway...) Ideally I'd like to have white DRL's and orange-yellow pinpoints of lights (instead of the dispersed yellow due to the housing) to compliment the DRL's. Super white fogs and HIDs would be nice, too...but I don't feel that comfortable tackling a retrofit project at the moment. It's going to happen if I have the car for long enough, though.

whitechocolate: Did you have to do anything special to reassemble your headlamps? In other words, do they snap apart or do you have to cut them open and then reseal them? Same goes for the tail lights too, if you've removed them too.

[aSiAnRiCk]

Originally Posted by eledan

But I frequently drive with the DRL's (well, the notch just above them so the orange lights are on as well)

the parking lights?

[Webb26]

Originally Posted by eledan

It might come to that...what if I use something like 10000k ultra-blues, will that offset the yellow effect? I don't care about intensity as much as color at this point (I live in the city so I barely, if ever, use high beams anyway...) Ideally I'd like to have white DRL's and orange-yellow pinpoints of lights (instead of the dispersed yellow due to the housing) to compliment the DRL's. Super white fogs and HIDs would be nice, too...but I don't feel that comfortable tackling a retrofit project at the moment. It's going to happen if I have the car for long enough, though.

whitechocolate: Did you have to do anything special to reassemble your headlamps? In other words, do they snap apart or do you have to cut them open and then reseal them? Same goes for the tail lights too, if you've removed them too.

honestly i couldn't find anything near white...i've tried a lot of bulbs...but its jsut the way the drls work imo. Since the coloris already orange yellow...and you add yellow to it...it'll only be more golden of a color..

[thapranksta]

It would probably be best to leave the bulbs as stock. If you put anything else in there, your DRLs will still be yellow but your high beams will start to suffer depending on how blue the bulb is.

[eledan]

Originally Posted by eledan

whitechocolate: Did you have to do anything special to reassemble your headlamps? In other words, do they snap apart or do you have to cut them open and then reseal them? Same goes for the tail lights too, if you've removed them too.

Bump...anyone know?

[thapranksta]

To open my headlights, I baked them in the oven. I'm not sure if white3ch0c0late did the same thing. To put them back together, I also put them in the oven so the glue can warm up and then pushed the back and front of the headlight back together.

There are different methods like a heat gun that also work.

[carlo$]

no matter what you do they will not shine bright. w/ DRLs on the lights only get 1/4 of the rated power to the bulb. if you install 80watt bulbs you will only shine 20watts. if you install 40watt bulbs you will only shine 10watts. etc. the only thing you can do is modify your car so the full high beam comes on when set to DRLs automatic. this mod is very simple to do, just a hassle to splice wires. for your fogs this is how you make them come on indep of any other lights, click here: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2379797/7

[thapranksta]

^That would blind the fuck outta people all day long. LOL. Why would he want to do that?