D_Unit

Great work! Can't wait to hear back your results.

I don't if anyone mentioned it before, but will a HID kit fit in there? There so cheap nowadays, why not custom fab one in there? Will the stock wiring suffice?

chicotunner07

it looks like a single TC factory fog light could fit in there, looks about the same size!!

rockthebeef

The angle and size of that housing looks a lot like the fog lights from a 2002-2004 Xterra. That was my car before I got the xB. Check it out.

http://www.xterraparts.com/Merchant2...de=999F1-WD222

Papa

The taillights from the Rumion are available from newscionparts.com for $295.00/pair. That's a pricey fix, but it would give you a back-up light built into each taillight assembly. You could probably wire it up to use the original solo back-up light at the same time....

Artsx

someone should organize a group buy on LED backup lights, im game

jimmbomb

Well if you read the post here, you'l see that alot of different people have bought & tried alot of different LEDs & incandecants too & so far NO ONE is happy except...."toyotaisme" who says he's satisified, BUT wont tell us which car has the up-grade or what the up-grade even is!!!
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=190178
see his post here..
anyways I came up MT in my search for a replacement fitxure. I am comtemplating installing a rectangular 'driving' light under the bumper on the other side.. I found a 38 watt hallogen slim rectangular set.. about an inch high & 4 inches long..
But you know you cant just 'tap' into the existing wiring as it's too small to carry the current. I'm going to have to go with the relay & run a seperate 'power' wire. I plan on running a fused power wire from my amp (under the passanger seat), to the back.. under the spare & out the plug to underneath. BUT!! It's too cold for silicone sealant use now. & I dont see it getting over 60 degrees for another 3-4 months.. sigggggghhhhhhhhhhhh........
Any you guys with with those fixtures pictured, you wanna send me them, I'll try & fit them in, but I just dont like the size of the stock wiring to the reverse light. Got to go bigger if you wanna run more watts, right?? do you???... jh

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

You let me down, Jimmbomb... I had such high hopes that you'd find a suitable replacement BU lite assy. As for the stock BU lite wiring, I wouldn't go more than 35W on it and even that may be pushing it.

BTW, I had to back down a friend's dark, long and winding driveway the other night and it was quite a challenge. I had to stop and make corrections several times. The single 21W BU lite is woefully inadequate IMO and I curse the Toyota engineer who thought it would look 'cool'.

Back to the drawing board...

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

Who wants to be the first to try this 25W T-20 halogen bulb?

http://www.sigmaautomotive.com/lighting/catz.php

Too expensive for me but maybe we could do a group buy or find a cheaper source for them?

miketf1

JESUS! $50 for 1 light reverse light!? i thought the autolumination guys were overpriced...

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

But it's JDM!!!

I agree that $50 is outrageous but I'm running out of cheap options. I found a 3" round 64 LED cluster that could work well provided that you crack open the BU lite housing to install it. It's $120... The other option I'm still considering is to replace the stock BU lite assy with a 4" fog light but that isn't cheap either and requires re-wiring.

Anyway, I emailed Sigma about a possible group buy but they'll have to provide a substantial discount to make this worthwhile for most. Maybe someone with a JDM contact could get them for us? CATZ lists their retail price at ~3500 yen which is about $32 USD.

CIONIDE

iTrader: (1)

Nice find Fred, glad to see you haven't given up the search.

If you've already established contact with Sigma by email, did you ask for one sample bulb and give them this link so that they can see the overwhelming interest? He11, I'd even pay the $50 if they give a 30-day unconditional money back satisfaction guarantee. Usually no return policy on light bulbs, and I'm tired of paying for stuff that doesn't work.

Also, how many watts are the LED's on the 64 bulb cluster? The LED cluster I tried from autolumination was 36 bulbs and produced far less lumens than 21watt stock bulb.

Thanks for the continued efforts.

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

Great ideas! Pity I thought of neither... I'll email them again and do as you suggest. I'd gladly pay $50 for two bulbs but have a hard time with $50 for only one. Still, if it works well, it would be worth it for the ease of installation and lack of better options.

After re-thinking the LED cluster, it won't work. It would be great for being seen but far too directional for a BU lite. I don't even remember the LED wattage but I really don't think it would work out anyway.

Thank you for your continued efforts as well and fwiw I also emailed Daniel Stern to see if he has any suggestions. While at his site I came upon one more half-baked idea. The 35W H8 bulb might work without frying the stock wiring or melting the housing. Maybe I should just order some more of those GY6.35 base halogens and some T20 bases and give that a try. Hell, if it works I could make more, sell them at a small profit and they'd still cost a fraction of the CATZ bulbs.

BTW, one more thought on the subject. Since halogen bulbs are ~20% more efficient than standard incandescents, those 25W CATZ bulbs are probably only 40% brighter than a 21W 7440 and not the 139% claimed.

CIONIDE

iTrader: (1)

Correct you are Fred, and they are trying to be also (I think it's just the language barrier). 100% of the amount of lumens would be the exact same, when they say "Up 139%" they actually mean the lumens of their bulb are 139% of the lumens of the other bulb. They even give lumen outputs of 460 vs. 640. 640 is 139% of 460. It's the word "Up" that is actually incorrect.

Supra469

Very nice. What camera is that. Details, please.

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

I hate it when people say something is "150% more/better/brighter/whatever" when it's really only 50%. Very misleading and often intentionally so.

As for our weak BU lite problem, it appears we now have another option. Just get a $800 DVD player and a backup camera to save $50 on a halogen bulb!

CIONIDE

iTrader: (1)

Fred, I noticed that on the Sigma site the Catz bulbs say F.O.B. Japan. If you find out if they have them in stock in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, maybe if we ask really nicely a local MA Scionlife member can go try them out for us before purchasing (wrczx3 is 30 miles away, and spike443 is 40 miles away) hint, hint, hint.

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

Good idea, CIONIDE. Now all we need is a volunteer.

I received a response from Sigma already:

CIONIDE

iTrader: (1)

It's 3am in Maryland, do you ever sleep?

It sucks that they have to be ordered from Japan; obviously no group buy until we know it's a good solution with better visibility over distance (we already know it's not about the "brightness" claims).

My guess would be for the Standard White (3,100K), since I've already seen that a blue tinted Xtreme White incandescent bulb with 28% (128% haha) more wattage than a regular incandescent bulb actually produced less visible light at distance.

Ask them if Catz is willing to put their money where their mouth is, and send you one sample bulb free of charge. If it's as good as they say it is, and you can post some pics to prove it is what they say it is, then I'll put up the front money for a quantity purchase and deal with drop shipping for members that want it.

First let's see what they say about a sample. If it gets that far, and the bulb looks good to you and I, we can then put up a posting to see what kind of purchase interest there would be. Even in a group buy, I don't expect the price to drop too significantly.

Please run it by Sigma, and see what they think.

Thanks for doing the leg/finger work on this.

uberspeed

But, but, it's NAV too! lol

D_Unit

Thanks Midget Ears, you've been helpful once again. My Avic D3 and backup camera should be done sometime this month by the master Bing of Simplicity Sound... I know, I know, hold the applause...

But anyways, if you guys are willing to dish out $50 on a bulb, why not just split on an HID kit? I used to be a member at HIDplanet.com and did a custom HID retrofit on my bimmer using a FX35 projector + a TSX lens in my headlights, so I can't imagine this being any harder. For a backup light, I am sure a cheap HID kit will do just fine with a relay and proper harness. Anyone know how difficult it would be to run some power wires to the backup light?