Why do the LED swap?

T

trap-alaska

New member
I can find plenty of great information on HOW to swap your interior lights for LED, what I don't understand is the "why". I have a center console light burned out and need to replace it, as far as I know these are the original lights so they are 16 years old. Is it just about longer life and lower power draw or is there something else? The dome lights seem like they will be brighter and since they're easier to change, I can see the logic of the swap.

If I make the swap, will my dimmer still work on the dash brightness?

Am I just over thinking this and need to shut up and do the swap?
 
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Personal preference. I wanted a different color and I think that LED's look nicer, cleaner and update the look and feel of the interior.
 
because we can...

If they came with LED's there would be a thread of people swapping them out for regular lights because they were too bright, too white too...
 
I like LEDs for the dome lights and backup lights. I don't care for them for the control lights... the dim Toyota green is friendly and familiar ;)
 
trap-alaska said:
I can find plenty of great information on HOW to swap your interior lights for LED, what I don't understand is the "why". I have a center console light burned out and need to replace it, as far as I know these are the original lights so they are 16 years old. Is it just about longer life and lower power draw or is there something else? The dome lights seem like they will be brighter and since they're easier to change, I can see the logic of the swap.

If I make the swap, will my dimmer still work on the dash brightness?

Am I just over thinking this and need to shut up and do the swap?
Click to expand...

I swapped mine because the lights were burnt out and I'm not a fan of the Toyota green color, especially with the gauge cluster. It just looks so much more sharp and modern with a bright white gauge, and I picked blue for the rest to match my stereo. I've also switched out all my map lights & dome lights with much brighter LED's.

Had nothing to do with power draw for the dash, but it did for the map & dome lights. If I forget and leave a door open all night it's not a big deal. Heck, leave it open for another night and it's not a big deal.

muellernautique said:
reason why i haven't made it, couldn't seem to find this in the threads.
Click to expand...

The dimmer switch works perfectly fine with the LEDs.
 
muellernautique said:
reason why i haven't made it, couldn't seem to find this in the threads.
Click to expand...

Dimmer will still work. I swapped mine out earlier this year and it makes the lighting look more modern, personal preference. The dim green factory lights look pretty bad to me now after swapping.

LED in the ignition ring is really nice when it is dark, mine was burned out completely before I swapped.

My before:

33890229653_5028eb12a7_b.jpg


23590929868_53a2a71890_b.jpg


38376130391_2aa497eba3_b.jpg
 
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cblock406 - that does look pretty clean and modern. Thanks for all of the answers, that's about what I expected to hear. I think I am going to swap out some of the easy lights now and do the dash and center console later, maybe this summer. Thanks again.
 
People just wanna dick around because LED sounds cool and its cheap. You can swap colors with incandescents and not deal with hot spots or xyz not working because LEDs are the most modern and efficient bulb of 2001.
 
T4R2014 said:
People just wanna dick around because LED sounds cool and its cheap. You can swap colors with incandescents and not deal with hot spots or xyz not working because LEDs are the most modern and efficient bulb of 2001.
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Huh??

When I bought mine it wasn't cause they "sound cool" or "cheap"... your logic is nutty.
 
Chim said:
Huh??

When I bought mine it wasn't cause they "sound cool" or "cheap"... your logic is nutty.
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High school kids do it all the time since it's cheap. God I'm glad I'm out of there. But yeah LED is a bit of a marketing gimmick. Incandescent bulbs are just as effective. LEDs are cool but how bright does someone really need their dash lights.
 
T4R2014 said:
High school kids do it all the time since it's cheap. God I'm glad I'm out of there. But yeah LED is a bit of a marketing gimmick. Incandescent bulbs are just as effective. LEDs are cool but how bright does someone really need their dash lights.
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Yeah, I'm 40 years old and love LED's so I guess I'm just a fanboy.

It's ok to embrace technology.
 
cblock406 said:
Dimmer will still work. I swapped mine out earlier this year and it makes the lighting look more modern, personal preference. The dim green factory lights look pretty bad to me now after swapping.

LED in the ignition ring is really nice when it is dark, mine was burned out completely before I swapped.

My before:
Click to expand...

That's a darn good camera, or you're good with lighting! I tried to capture the before and after on mine but it just looked sloppy and didn't accurately show the light comparison.
 
Chim said:
Yeah, I'm 40 years old and love LED's so I guess I'm just a fanboy.

It's ok to embrace technology.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. But kinda like shoving HID bulbs into a halogen reflector, it isn't quite perfect. Though maybe there's a kit that's been tailored to the 3rd gen. Otherwise it's usually a mess of hot spots. Still don't see the benefit. Besides, LED isn't the newest tech out there.
 
gamefreakgc said:
That's a darn good camera, or you're good with lighting! I tried to capture the before and after on mine but it just looked sloppy and didn't accurately show the light comparison.
Click to expand...

Thanks! It took me a few tries on my camera getting the shutter speed just right.
 
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