So I want to change the license plate lights...

[Infinitidood412]

I am wondering who has changed the license plate bulbs on the Q and what kind of lights they bought. Are they size 168 or 194? What shade/color works best? I need to get them ASAP so if you could respond and maybe even show some pictures that would be great! Help me make my decision!!! (maybe a eBay link )

[W O T]

Like replace them with LEDS n what not? I replaced them earlier this year and I BELIEVE (so Im really not much help ) I just grabbed a few 194's i had laying around

I wouldnt put LEDS or colours in there though, pretty much just draws attention to your car ie makes your licencse plate more noticable to cops etc, your choice though

[Infinitidood412]

The main reason i posted this is because on the bulbs itself it says "194" but websites and stuff say i need a 168 or w/e

PLEASE HELP ME OUT check out this ebay thing, it says i need 168'shttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ories

[Qxxx4]

i got "168" but usually other sizes fit the same socket...as odd as it is. I for example ordered #74 bulbs for my dash lights, yet they were also called T10 or soemthing.

you have no idea what i have in store to install this spring...i ordered a ton of new crap on ebay this week.....expect some cool things soon!

dont cheap out on LED's get super bright ones. the LED's i got are unidirectional so they point up opposed to at the plate....look at the bulbbs yourself to see what I mean. if your LED's arent bright enough you could get a ticket. mine are just birght enough to not get me introuble but also not make my plate GLEAM to everyone my digits.

[Qxxx4]

btw...try to not go rice and get anything besides white. lol

also...dont buy those LED's...I got 10 of mine for $6 shipped. If you go for those "specialized" kits your just being a sucker because a 168 bulb is the same anywhere.

also the 168 bulbs work for corner lights and third brake light and with my custom euros....reverse (not yours though)

[Infinitidood412]

ha got any extra from the 10 you have? ill buy 2

[longhornsqx4]

btw...try to not go rice and get anything besides white. lol

also...dont buy those LED's...I got 10 of mine for $6 shipped. If you go for those "specialized" kits your just being a sucker because a 168 bulb is the same anywhere.

also the 168 bulbs work for corner lights and third brake light and with my custom euros....reverse (not yours though)

You talk about rice alot, and hating it, yet youve got altezzas and grills and coloured turn signals and all you seem to care about is LED's. No offence man, but your a ricer, you dont need a wing and fartcan to be one.

And to the op, use stock bulbs, they light up your freaking lisence plate, spend your money elsewhere, and if you do get LEDS, keep it white. Cops look for this type of crap

[longhornsqx4]

And there 194's btw

[Qxxx4]

good point i guess. call me a ricer. but were all entitled to our own personal taste. The altezzas do give a good look in my opinion and its the most complimented piece of my q. My old light was busted so i figured why not get something diff instead of that.

And you can diss my LED's but im a final year electronics engineering student and LED's are an obsession of mine. My goal is to have a revamped q that can compare to todays luxury vehicles. I sit inside many vehicles with regular halogens and it feels old to me compared to my q. And if you havent noticed, all the new cars are LED. Brighter, more efficient, and i never have to replace them...call me rice but im just doing what I want to on my q. You dont see me on here bashing off roaders or streeters alike, you have to respect everyones personal opinion but blue LED license plate lights, or a neon glow light around a license plate is corny.....but i guess my qx4 is too to you.

congrats, ive been a member on here for a while and your the first person to ever really take a stab at me, sorry for having an opinon.

[longhornsqx4]

Wasnt dissing you, Im all about personal taste, just said that you say the word ricer and say other cars are riced out, when so is yours. Just hypocritcal is all

[Qxxx4]

Wasnt dissing you, Im all about personal taste, just said that you say the word ricer and say other cars are riced out, when so is yours. Just hypocritcal is all

fine its riced out. i guess were all ricers then considering how many of us on this forum have converted to HID's for better night vision, gotten chicken coup grilles (THEY SERVE A PURPOSE.....a huge rock hit the bottom grille today and BENT the mesh all the way back, but it saved my radiator), convert to LED so we never have to change bulbs again, convert to LED for improved visibility inside and a cleaner look outside (dont tell me you dont like the QX56 taillights, LED), put subs in our rides for better sound, put louder exhausts for an improved engine note not to wake the neighbours, add off road lighting for those dark nights on the trail, tint our lights because...its just cool looking at least for some of us, tint our windows to protect our leather from UV....what else is considered rice to you but practical to us....i really dont care if you "meant" to offend me or not but dont go calling people ricers on this forum because i wont f***ing stand for it.

rice to me is POINTLESS upgrades like body kits, carbon fibre hoods, and dyed interiors.

[Qxxx4]

And there 194's btw

he has same year as mine too.

[AJRK]

Wasnt dissing you, Im all about personal taste, just said that you say the word ricer and say other cars are riced out, when so is yours. Just hypocritcal is all

I've seen his car "in person" a few times. I don't think it's riced out.

[Adnan]

Wasnt dissing you, Im all about personal taste, just said that you say the word ricer and say other cars are riced out, when so is yours. Just hypocritcal is all

dude what the hell? where talking about LED lights here?since when are they supposed to mimick any performance enhancing modification?

Brian's truck is my one of my favorite R50s on the board because its just soo damn simple and sleek.If it were riced out i would be able to spot it a mile away which isnt the case,neither is it Qxxx4's intention

[QX4dahuneys]

Hey Qxxx4,

I've seen a lot of your posts around this board and your upgrades on your truck are great. Just wondering where you get your bright LED's from. I use to get them from this site autodynamic.com but did not like them due to their brightness which are very low and the quality is not as good. I had 2 burn out in less than 3 weeks. Never buying from their again. I've seen a couple of post where others buy up 16 leds in one rack, I mean I find that to be bright. Let me know.

[K03sport]

To the OP...

A 168 and 194 bulb are the same bulb. The only difference is wattage.

168 = 3w (usually used on the interior, runs cooler)194 = 5w (usually used on the exterior, runs warmer)

These bulbs are interchangable. It just depends on how much light you want and if heat matters.

Using LEDs in the license plate holder might be okay, but it is possible for them to wear out quicker due to the heat generated in that confined space. Also, lots of LEDs for cars are based on 12v, but when a car is running, it is using 13-14v. I had 6-LED festoon bulbs (on my VW's plate) and then ended up burning out due to the heat and the fact that they were designed around a 12v power source, not 13-14. I put regular bulbs back in.

There are 14v LEDs on the market (i.e. Ziza), but they will run you about $50US for a pair of 6-LED festoon style bulbs. Granted, the light is much more upscale looking, but $50 for license plate lights...that's crazy.

[JonathanPrem]

Cool there a thread for this. I just bought a set of Clear white led lights. But can get them installed cause my bolts are f$$ken rusted so badly. Any ways of taking off a rust/maybe but stripped bolt. Btw its a 02 pathfinder.

Tanks

[Empty V]

If his is a ricer then I guess mine is too. I've got LED reverse lights, license plate lights, dome lights, map lights, climate control lights, some dash lights(turning signals and warning lights) and about to upgrade my fogs to HIDs. Ohh yeah lets not forget the audio system. Does dynamatting your entire car to lower road noise and increase sound quality make it ricer? How about adding nav unit or a dash kit, does that make it a ricer? How about a(next month) 2" lift with 32's and 16x8 Mickey Thompson Side Biters, does that make it a ricer? I think your definition of ricer is a little skewed bro. Not bashing you just trying to clarify what most of the world post 2001 thinks the definition of ricer is.

Billy the Pseudo Ricer
Modified by Empty V at 2:20 AM 3/28/2009

[Qxxx4]

lol empty v i cant wait to see all that.

as for the LED's i buy them on ebay for the most part....but half the ones i buy are garbage the other half is gold. its just luck really. I bought 3 sets of dome light each board had 36 LED's 1 out of the 3 burnt out in a week, the others, working gre4at. My map lights, never gave me a problem those leds were great.

[NutsPathfinder]

Check out http://www.v-leds.com that is were i got my leds from. I went with white they look just like what qxxx4 has.

[Infinitidood412]

thanks for the link...just what i needed

[Empty V]

thanks for the link...just what i needed

I buy from http://www.autolumination.com/ and http://www.superbrightleds.com/

Billy

[Infinitidood412]

To switch over to LED lights i don't need to do anything except plug them into the same socket correct?

[NutsPathfinder]

To switch over to LED lights i don't need to do anything except plug them into the same socket correct?

Thats all.

[K03sport]

To switch over to LED lights i don't need to do anything except plug them into the same socket correct?

Correct.

The only time you might need to add an in-line resistor is when putting them in a place that uses resistance to determine blink speed...i.e. turn signals.

An LED in the turn signal will or can make yours blink faster, similar to a burned out bulb. As far as putting LEDS in other places, it is just plug and play.

[Qxxx4]

yeah there are flasher relays on the market for the turn signals...easier than soldering in resistances. I ordered one, until then keeping the regular bulbs in. Also brake lights wont work properly with LED, youll only get ON, or OFF, not the dim setting when your driving at night (brakes not on but dim to see you) I still havent figured it out yet, I installed a big a** resistor but it didnt work properly so those are staying regular halogen for now.

If your going to do LED, do it right! and go to those sites, stay away from ebay, im realizing that after all my trial and error with premade LED lighting, the 12-14V variance problem is 100% true.

[Infinitidood412]

Qxxx4, do you have 1 LED or 6 lol or anything in the middle?

[K03sport]

Also brake lights wont work properly with LED, youll only get ON, or OFF, not the dim setting when your driving at night (brakes not on but dim to see you) I still havent figured it out yet, I installed a big a** resistor but it didnt work properly so those are staying regular halogen for now.

LEDs don't work well in dual filament bulb locations unelss they are specificaly desgned for dual intensity purposes.

Some motocycle guys wire up 90 LEDs in the tail light, but run two different size resistors for there running light vs. brake light. However, they use the same 90 LEDs to do both. It is all about how its wired.

I think LEDs are fine for inside and license plate lights, but for marker, turn and running and brake lights, I'll stick with filament bulbs. They're cheaper too.

[Qxxx4]

Qxxx4, do you have 1 LED or 6 lol or anything in the middle?

what??

[W O T]

He wants to buy LEDs off of you, the ones you used, you said you had 10.