sfprankster's (mis)adventures modding a 2014 Prius Model Three

The LED's do not get as warm as the stock halogen bulbs and are much cooler to the touch when lit. The LED body is aluminum and acts as a heatsink. The bulk of the LED's are located in the base section of this particular bulb. The total amount of time the LED is lit, when backing up, is very short so they should never get very hot. Personally, I haven't noticed any camera washout from either set of LED's. The amount of ambient light where I live is minimal and the reverse LED lights brighten the area and increase visibility dramatically. Anything I can do to offset my gf's lack of night vision is money well spent.


VLEDS has more reverse light options(5k or 6k color, less lumen output) available that are less obnoxious >HERE<

I'm not a huge fan of black wheels either, but that is dependent upon the vehicle color. Some look very nice with the black wheels, others kind of meh. For me, rim color choice was more aesthetics and creating a unique style, so white with polished lips became the choice..

The plastic wheel covers made me cringe everytime I heard them flex when hitting any road reflector or small hole. So they had to go immediately. As others have pointed out, Toyota reserves the nicer looking alloy wheels, sans wheel covers, for their top tier models. Otherwise, everyone would purchase the less expensive models, like myself.

 

The "make sure you can see me after dark" (mis)adventures...


Exterior LED Installation:
Operation Exterior LED is in full swing, Amber Platinum 21 LED Turn Signal Bulbs and an Electronic 4 LED Flasher delivered today from VLEDS. Swapping the front turn signal bulbs to LED's is going to test my mechanical skills. Actually having to remove a pair of bolts and clips, then replacing said bolts and clips.


Not looking forward to the contortionist skills needed to change the flasher unit.


Last on the list of exterior LED's, the 5k parking light LED's(to match my 5k HID headlights).


...and a 3rd brake light Flasher Module, mostly to be obnoxious to those behind and an additional safety factor, to complete the exterior LED conversion.



To be continued.....



Promo code "10OCT" still works for 10% off at VLEDS.

 

Any suggestions as to the easiest way to sew on a Wheelskin cover?


Taped fingers?
Band Aids?
Gloves?
Pliers?

I watched a few youtube videos(Installation Tips using bare fingers and Official Installation using gloves) and I am looking for the least painful version.

 

The "make sure you can see me after dark" (mis)adventures continues...


Too many LED's...
Not enough time this weekend to install them...

Had to work all weekend, if you call hanging out at my friends winery in Paso Robles for the Harvest Festival "work".

Exterior LED Update:
After returning home and meeting a few friends for dinner in the South Bay, I got a single pair of 5k LED's, from VLEDS, installed in the parking/marker lights. A fairly tight squeeze, but not too bad.


Before:


After:


Tight squeeze on the passenger side to remove the socket to expose the halogen bulb, not much help with the wires being a little on the short side.



Still have the turn signals and the second parking/marker lights to convert to LED's. Not looking forward to the turn signal flasher swap. I took a peek to locate the flasher under the dash and the location is a tough bugger to reach. Going to be difficult to reach while planking over the door frame into the driver footwell. Once I get the flasher unit changed, the turn signal and parking lights LED's will be a breeze to convert.

Carbon Fiber Vinyl Fog Light Cutoffs:
Time to make some cutoffs for the HID fog lights. I found an image on Amazon of a LED fog light for the idea.



Rough draft onto carbon fiber vinyl.


Hobby knife with a new blade and other automotive specialty tools(Mason wide mouth lid).


Turned on the fog lights to give the lens a little warmth to help the vinyl to adhere.




A couple of pics of the light pattern, taken after dusk, of my fog lights w/cutoffs effectiveness, taken without flash or additional lights.

3k HID fog lights w/cutoffs :


5k HID headlights:


3k HID fog lights & 5k HID headlights:


Side view of both lights:


Frontal view of both lights:



The fog light cutoffs no longer allow the yellow light to shine above the headlight pattern cutoff, yet still allow the fog lights to brighten everything from the front bumper to the mid point of the headlights pattern.

Won't know if I need to adjust the cutoffs, until I hit the mountain roads on the way home from work tomorrow night.

 

The "make sure you can see me after dark" (mis)adventures continues...


I began the conversion to turn signal LED's, with the addition of an electronic LED flasher, and converted the rear turn signals to LED's(yeah, I know, do the easy ones first).

LED Flasher Module & Turn Signal LED Installation:
I began by removing the footwell LED cover to access the area under the steering column. Changing the flasher was done using the Hellen Keller/Ray Charles method of feel the "clicks" to locate the flasher under the dash. Once located, the clip to the plug was the easy part. The clip to remove the flasher unit was another story altogether. Once the "clicks" stopped, feeling around for the clip to remove the flasher was a prolonged experience and took much longer than I expected. This is a plug 'n play mod, that requires a minimum of tools(phillips and small flat screwdriver) to complete.

Electronic flasher:


Stock halogen bulbs:


Amber platinum LED's:


Now all of the halogen bulbs in rear have been converted to LED's. Only remaining set to change are the front turn signals.

I highly recommend to take a >insert favorite pain medication here< if you have any back issues before beginning this endeavor. Planking under the steering wheel, on the door sill, while attempting to locate the flasher is not an easy task. If I had known how long it would take, I would gladly pay someone to do it for me.

 

The "I can see the light" (mis)adventures...


Door LED Update:
I swapped the iJDMTOY door LED's, that I previously installed, with a pair of 5k white LED's from VLEDS. The difference between the two is night and day(pun intended ). The VLEDS 5k white LED's are mounted facing the same direction and have a built in circuit, so that the LED can be plugged in either direction, in other words, there are no polarity issues as with most LED's.


Stock halogen bulb:


iJDMTOY LED:


VLEDS LED:






License Plate LED Update:
Since I have been replacing the stock halogen bulbs with LED's throughout the car, I have replaced the license plate LED's from iJDMTOY's to a 5k set from VLEDS, to match the front parking lights and reverse lights. The LED's are the same as I installed into the door lights, a directional LED that has a built in circuit to allow the LED to be plugged in either direction. The directional layout allows more focused light to shine over the license plate area.





Antenna Update:
Installed a white anodized, aluminum, stubby antenna. I'm not worried about reception issues, with over 18TBs(yes, that's correct, 18 terrabytes) of live music recordings, I very rarely use the radio.




Front Turn Signal LED's Installed:

Thus completes the LED conversion on my Faux Five Prius.



New toys, rear hatch cargo lights, arrived from Japan over the weekend...

Ordered on Oct 16 from Share Style and received on Oct 26.
Time to get to work on the rear hatch area. I waited for the hatch cargo lights to arrive, before beginning the rear wiper delete, 3rd brake light flasher module and now the hatch cargo light mods together.


...and a couple of requested color swatches from Clazzio for a set of seat covers.

 

You have to make sure they are plugged all the way in with equal pressure from behind the socket and the bulb. An audible click can be heard when they are plugged in completely.

...and a claw tool makes retrieval a breeze.


Available from Lowe's for a couple dollars.

 

The same bulb base(194) can be used in the doors, license plate, map, vanity and parking lights. I replaced a pair of LED's, from iJDMTOY, with the LED's from VLEDS linked below, into the door and license plate lights. This particular LED, focuses more light directly through the door light lens and license plate with the SMD's mounted 90 degrees in relation to the base. Personally, I wouldn't use this particular model for the map or vanity lights.

5K WHITE 4 LED HIGH POWER FLANK BULBS 194 168 158 160LM | 1 PAIR from VLEDS

 

Stock halogen:

Platinum amber LED from VLEDS:


You can easily see the difference in the amount of light filling the reflector during the daylight. The color is a slightly different hue(more yellow, less orange) vs the stock halogen bulb.

 

The "I need your attention" (mis)adventures...


3rd Brake Light Flasher Module:
Installed a brake light flasher module from VLEDS today, only on the 3rd brake light mounted on the rear spoiler. You need to remove the interior panels on the rear hatch to access the wires to make the connections to the 3rd brake light. Removing the light from the outside, underneath the spoiler, doesn't give any location to mount the module or enough wire to make a solid connection. This module will work on all the rear brake lights, but I chose to only modify the 3rd brake light.

Package contents(brake light flasher module, velcro, mini zip ties, screws), body panel tools and spare panel clips(just in case ):


Rear interior panels removed and the 3rd brake light connector unplugged:


I nestled the module into the corner near the rear wiper motor. The interior panel has slight bulge to allow mounting the module with velcro or double sided tape. I used a nearby bolt for a ground connection(black wire from the module). I removed a small amount of tape, that attaches the brake light wires to the small white, plastic tab, to expose enough wire to make the connections. You will have to cut the positive(blue wire) wire going to the module to make the rest of the connections. To find the positive wire, simply use a continuity tester, available at any hardware, building materials or automotive parts stores. The red wire from the module goes to the battery side of the cut blue wire and the yellow module wire goes to the brake light side of the cut blue wire. I soldered the connections and tested the brake light to ensure proper functioning and then used a hair dryer to shrink the tubing over the connections. Lastly, you remount the interior panels with pressure applied to the panel clips.

 

...and so begins the Rear Wiper Delete Mod.

Plug options, plastic and metal:


Plastic:


Metal:


If I do this correctly, I'll have time to install the cargo lights into the rear hatch, while I have the interior panels removed.

 

The "make the sun go away" (mis)adventures...


Front Window Visor:
Visited my friends, Hueng and Tony at Computerized Tinting in San Jose and had them make a visor using Llumar CTX 5 tint.

 

More (mis)adventures with Plastidip...


PlastiDip Toyota Badges:
Began the "fun with plastidip" adventures today by spraying the front and rear toyota badges.

Chrome with my carbon fiber vinyl backgrounds:


Ready for cleaning with a 50/50 mix of water, rubbing alcohol and a microfiber towel:

Don't forget to get all the way into the corners and to let them thoroughly dry before spraying.

After four thin layers of white with 10-15 minutes drying time between layers:


After two wet layers of the pearlizer:


Front badge mounted:




Have to wait until another day to do the rest of the hybrid badges with the rain clouds thickening overhead.