ebay/dmax/origin/*insert "real" brand* taillights dim as shit?

[Teh Luckinator]

Does anyone have half clear half red taillights for their S13 coupe or hatch? My girlfriend has the ebay ones on her hatch, and they're dim as shit son! And she bought some LEDs from some dude on here and they're still dim. Same shit for the coupe ones, DIMMMMMM.

No I don't want some "OMG LED YOUR SHIT ZIPTIED SON SOCIETY MIKE OMG" I'm just wondering if anyone has actual "name brand" shit. Like Dmax, Origin, etc. For those with real shit are they dim too? I'm not talking about barely dimmer than stock, I'm talking about holy shit is that guy's lights on?

OMG ZIPTIEDDDD WRITEUPPPPPPPP

[newb_driver]

myles has ebay ones. and yes, dim as shit. ask him.

[Matej]

Something must be wrong with your wiring. All the ones I've seen are way brighter than stock.

[newb_driver]

Originally Posted by Matej

Something must be wrong with your wiring. All the ones I've seen are way brighter than stock.

ebay tail lights?

no i haven't checked if i'm getting right voltage. i know i blew the bulbs on the inside tail light, so i'm not that bright.

i thought using LED bulbs would be brighter, but i bought the ones were advertised here and they were dim as shit.

[HS13KLS]

Originally Posted by Matej

Something must be wrong with your wiring. All the ones I've seen are way brighter than stock.

haha nice thats roskis car

those are real dmax though

[S14DB]

Have you checked the bulb bases with a multimeter to see if you are getting 12-14v there?
Did you try with new bulbs or go to the LEDs?

[WISH ONE]

yeah mine are bright as hell too... usually the fake ones will give you more of a pinkish tone instead of the bright red, thats the difference between name brand and ebay IMO

[ROIDMONKEY]

my tail lights are origin using LED bulbs from LED something(forgot the name) and they r fine no super crazy bright like a cadi but they r fine

[Teknolust72]

You probably arent getting enough voltage to your lights. Pretty common for S13s due to their age.

I'm running D Max S14 LED tail lights are they are REALLY bright...

[racepar1]

I have handled a set of dmax tails and a set of e-bay ones, they are the same shit. If you look at the manufacturer markings on the lights the same exact company makes both.

[Matej]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure they're all the same, just sold under different names.

[Flybert]

He's talking about the s13 coupe tails. Yes, they are dim as shit. You need to get the proper LED bulbs to actually see the brake lights in the day time. I just noticed at the rack this weekend that Quoc Ly had some nice LED bulbs on his white daily s13 coupe. I need to PM him and find out what they are because I want them for my lights as well.

[newb_driver]

yea he's talking about coupe tail lights cuz he doesn't want them to be as dim as mine =X damn, the ebay ones didn't look like it had that great of quality... i just thought that was ebay though =X i put weather strip stuff on it.. but for some reason, it still looks like it will leak easily, but iono, i guess we'll see?

yea the ebay ones didn't come with bulbs or anything.. so i just stocked one, but still looked sorta dim. any suggestions on brand of led bulbs?

[undesiredshoe]

No plug and play LED bulb is going to be brighter than a regular light bulb....they just say that so people will buy them.

[LA_phantom_240]

Originally Posted by undesiredshoe

No plug and play LED bulb is going to be brighter than a regular light bulb....they just say that so people will buy them.

QFT

Want bright LED tails? Build them. Or buy properly built tails. Plug-n-Play never works well

[newb_driver]

Originally Posted by LA_phantom_240

QFT

Want bright LED tails? Build them. Or buy properly built tails. Plug-n-Play never works well

wait so your sayng that dmax and origin and stuff don't use 'plug n play' style bulbs? i thought they provided bulbs when you purchased their tail lights? or do i have all backwards?

[LA_phantom_240]

Originally Posted by newb_driver

wait so your sayng that dmax and origin and stuff don't use 'plug n play' style bulbs? i thought they provided bulbs when you purchased their tail lights? or do i have all backwards?

I have no idea what they use. I've never looked into them before.

Originally Posted by Gorilla Unit 33

YOU SIR are way wrong. I have the LED's from SuperBrightLEDs.com installed on my coupe Origin Smoked Taillights. When the brake is applied, the Led's light up bright enough to make you think that the lens your looking at isnt even smoked. The right LED's are going to be brighter then a bulb, the ebay special LED's are only going to be similar to a bulb output if not dimmer.

I will also admit the Origin Tails are the same as the Ebay companies. the only way to tell if they came from Origin is by the model number on the box.

Which LEDs from them is the question. The thing about LEDs is that they do look bright when you look right at them, but they don't illuminate the entire fixture. Filament bulbs produce light in all directions, which does illuminate the entire light. Watt for watt, LEDs do put out a lot more lumens than filament type bulbs, but the equipment needed to run these kinds of LEDs aren't plug and play. LEDs with that level of output need separate drivers and need a heatsink. I've never seen any plug and play crap with a heatsink, so I can pretty much guarantee that none of the PnP stuff uses really high output LEDs... Not to mention that once you get into the 1, 3, 5, and up wattage LEDs, we're starting to talk $15 or better PER LED.

[Gorilla Unit 33]

Originally Posted by newb_driver

wait so your sayng that dmax and origin and stuff don't use 'plug n play' style bulbs? i thought they provided bulbs when you purchased their tail lights? or do i have all backwards?

i dont know about dmax but Origin tails use the factory lighting...

Originally Posted by LA_phantom_240

Which LEDs from them is the question. The thing about LEDs is that they do look bright when you look right at them, but they don't illuminate the entire fixture. Filament bulbs produce light in all directions, which does illuminate the entire light. Watt for watt, LEDs do put out a lot more lumens than filament type bulbs, but the equipment needed to run these kinds of LEDs aren't plug and play. LEDs with that level of output need separate drivers and need a heatsink. I've never seen any plug and play crap with a heatsink, so I can pretty much guarantee that none of the PnP stuff uses really high output LEDs... Not to mention that once you get into the 1, 3, 5, and up wattage LEDs, we're starting to talk $15 or better PER LED.

These are the exact 1157's and 1156's im using in my car:

the 5 watt LX5 series bulbs. YES they are expensive, somwhere arround $30 a bulb. I use dual intensity red ones for my brake lights and single intensity white ones for the tun signals. THERE BRIGHT, im going to have to take a picture of the car with the flashers and brakes on to show you i guess. No modification for anything. Unless hyper flashing turnsignals bother you then all you need to do is wire in something like a resistor that takes it slower to flash and thats simple. Another thing that helps is if you take the reflectors on the lighting panel and bend them so the curve is wider with will help spread the light through the housing, but these LED's are already a wide output with a 180 degree beam.

[Gorilla Unit 33]

Originally Posted by undesiredshoe

No plug and play LED bulb is going to be brighter than a regular light bulb....they just say that so people will buy them.

YOU SIR are way wrong. I have the LED's from SuperBrightLEDs.com installed on my coupe Origin Smoked Taillights. When the brake is applied, the Led's light up bright enough to make you think that the lens your looking at isnt even smoked. The right LED's are going to be brighter then a bulb, the ebay special LED's are only going to be similar to a bulb output if not dimmer.

I will also admit the Origin Tails are the same as the Ebay companies. the only way to tell if they came from Origin is by the model number on the box.

[Geno750]

My car had these tail lights on it till I went to oem kouki's, but they were bright.

[g6civcx]

Question. When you unclip the bulb holder and activate the lights, does the bulb look dim, or is the lens making the bulb look dim?

Meaning, if you looked at the bulb outside of the housing, is the bulb still dimmed? If so, sounds like you have a wiring problem not related to the taillight lenses.

If not, the problem is in the lens. Go back to DOT/SAE stamped lens and see the difference.

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by g6civcx

Question. When you unclip the bulb holder and activate the lights, does the bulb look dim, or is the lens making the bulb look dim?

Meaning, if you looked at the bulb outside of the housing, is the bulb still dimmed? If so, sounds like you have a wiring problem not related to the taillight lenses.

Unclip the bulb holder from the inside of the car away from the lens assembly. Hit the lights. What happens?

If you want help, I strongly suggest you do what people ask you to do

[sileighty83]

venturing a guess but maybe, some other electronics stuff on the car is taking too much power away, and making the lights dim. I know it does that on mine cuz my battery is weak. ( I need an optima) If your battery is weak or low on watts other electronic parts will grab more from it such as, a stereo system, HID's, etc. or maybe it needs a new alternator?

Then again it is Ebay and I have seen some weird shit parts from there.

[newb_driver]

wow, haha ugh well i'm not a hundred percent sure what the problem is.. but i doubt it is the wiring though. it would be nice to have brighter tail lights, but i don't know at the price of 15 - 30 a piece. which in the end, could be a little pricey for me. especially if most of the time i'm in the car then staring it with the lights on.

i'll try to get pics up later or something, then you guys can judge.

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by newb_driver

wow, haha ugh well i'm not a hundred percent sure what the problem is.. but i doubt it is the wiring though.

If you not 100% sure, then you don't know. If the guy knew 100%, he wouldn't be asking.

Stick around long enough and you'll see all the hairy stuff people do. The tailight wires could be held on with duct tape for all we know.

[DMaxUSA]

Just to clarify on the quality of lighting pieces from D Max, Origin, Vertex, URAS or whatever.....

True, the majority of the lights may resemble "Ebay stuff", but there are literally hundreds of factories that produce these types of lights, and they are not all made the same. Sometimes a piece from one factory is replicated by another company, even including the same markings and boxes, but with inferior workmanship or materials.

Companies like D Max, Origin, Vertex or whatever, buy their light components from reputable factories. Customers in Japan are very aware of quality, so we try our hardest to provide quality goods, and we are very selective of which factories we buy these products from. For example, D Max clear sidemarkers are exactly the same as URAS because we buy it from the same supplier because of their quality.

HOWEVER, when it comes to ebay, you are not necessarily dealing with one of the better made companies, you are actually dealing with a RESELLER who is trying to make as much profit as possible by reducing their unit cost. So to do that, that reseller will buy whatever item looks the same from whichever factory will give him the best deal. So what does that mean? Simply, Ebay sellers are not as trustworthy as you think.

Sorry to go off topic.....

[Gorilla Unit 33]

Originally Posted by DMaxUSA

Just to clarify on the quality of lighting pieces from D Max, Origin, Vertex, URAS or whatever.....

True, the majority of the lights may resemble "Ebay stuff", but there are literally hundreds of factories that produce these types of lights, and they are not all made the same. Sometimes a piece from one factory is replicated by another company, even including the same markings and boxes, but with inferior workmanship or materials.

Companies like D Max, Origin, Vertex or whatever, buy their light components from reputable factories. Customers in Japan are very aware of quality, so we try our hardest to provide quality goods, and we are very selective of which factories we buy these products from. For example, D Max clear sidemarkers are exactly the same as URAS because we buy it from the same supplier because of their quality.

HOWEVER, when it comes to ebay, you are not necessarily dealing with one of the better made companies, you are actually dealing with a RESELLER who is trying to make as much profit as possible by reducing their unit cost. So to do that, that reseller will buy whatever item looks the same from whichever factory will give him the best deal. So what does that mean? Simply, Ebay sellers are not as trustworthy as you think.

Sorry to go off topic.....

so what your saying is if i put a set of ebay tails next to a set of origin/dmax tails you could tell me which is which? i find this hard to believe cause my friends ebay set's are exactly like my origin set. Theres no "quality" differences that i could tell at all, maybe theres minute things you could tell us which makes the $150+ differences?

[240cracker]

i got my coupe halfs from ebay.

clean...

[Pank]

Originally Posted by Gorilla Unit 33

so what your saying is if i put a set of ebay tails next to a set of origin/dmax tails you could tell me which is which? i find this hard to believe cause my friends ebay set's are exactly like my origin set. Theres no "quality" differences that i could tell at all, maybe theres minute things you could tell us which makes the $150+ differences?

they may look the same while brand new, one may have cheaper clear plastic that may yellow earlier, more brittle

not that i would know, though. never owned any.

how long till someone makes aftermarket tails for the FC?
c'mon dmax

[DMaxUSA]

Originally Posted by Gorilla Unit 33

so what your saying is if i put a set of ebay tails next to a set of origin/dmax tails you could tell me which is which? i find this hard to believe cause my friends ebay set's are exactly like my origin set. Theres no "quality" differences that i could tell at all, maybe theres minute things you could tell us which makes the $150+ differences?

Originally Posted by Pank

they may look the same while brand new, one may have cheaper clear plastic that may yellow earlier, more brittle

not that i would know, though. never owned any.

how long till someone makes aftermarket tails for the FC?
c'mon dmax

Yes, you may have gotten lucky on a set of ebay ones that seem to match perfectly with the Origin ones. But there is no guarantee that the particular seller on ebay is selling a component that came from the same supplier. When you buy a brand name one, you are paying the extra price for the assurance of quality from a quality supplier.

A lot of the quality issues comes from similar things that Pank had mentioned. Will the plastic stay glossy and clear? Will the sealant prevent moisture from building up? How good is the fitment? Will the plastic melt from hi-wattage bulbs after long hours of use? etc etc....

To me, thats worth the extra price. To others, maybe not....