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99 Escalade (sold) 03 Escalade EXT (sold) - 07 Escalade EXT
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1,363 Posts
prob cheapest to source the bulbs individually ... i seen sets on eBay for like $60 ... i think theres a site www.superbrightleds.com that has good deals
I just bought some stuff from v-leds.com. I posted the summary below at another forum. Forgot to post it here. I took way too long typin it up, but whatever...
I wanted to do an interior LED upgrade, but I wasn't sure what to get so I purchased a bunch of different stuff from v-leds.com (someone posted they are better than superbrightleds.com) and below is my review. First of all, if you're going to do this, I suggest getting 6K or 8K "cool white" bulbs. The 3K "soft white" bulbs will look similar to your incandescant bulbs which means you won't accomplish much. The 6K bulbs are what you see in the new Lexus, Audi, BMW, etc. vehicles from the factory. Also, you could easily spend over $200 doing this upgrade to get everything SUPER bright (more LEDs on each fixture means more light, but also higher cost), but I'm not one of those people who goes for overkill...esp when times are tough and I've got other expenses. That being said, if you don't change out all the bulbs, your truck will look bad.
211_3HP_W_6K: HID 6K White High Power 3LED Festoon dome bulb. $12.99 each. This bulb goes in the domes and puddle lights on the outside mirrors. I wanted purchase the $6.99 festoon bulb but they were out of stock on that so I shelled out for the more expensive bulb that is supposedly brighter. That was probably a good thing. These bulbs provide about the same amount of light as the stock 211s, but there are 3 in each dome fixture plus the 2 outside which means you'll need 8 total to change all the bulbs. I'm thinking I'll put the $6.99 LED in the reading lights in the way back since no one will ever use those and just shell out the loot for the rest of them. This LED didn't fit perfectly in the holder in the domes so after you get the polarity correct (for any of these LEDs, if they don't light initially spin them 180 degrees and they should work), you may need to turn them in the holder to get them to light. FYI you'll want to change the ones on the outside mirrors to make everything match. When its dark, the LEDs in the interior cast a nice cool white light over the seats, etc. that's clearly visible from the outside, but the truck looks silly/cheap/[email protected]$$ed/things don't match with the stock bulbs still in the puddle lights. So if you're doing this job, make sure you purchase LEDs to throw in the mirrors too.
194_INV_W: HID White Inverted Cone Wedge Base. 194 $1.99/pair. I bought these just to see what V-LED's cheapest bulb could do. Don't waste time with these things...its only 1 LED and its not bright enough to illuminate much. I put it in the light thats on the 2nd row floor, but even there it looks weak. Just not enough light so don't bother with this product. You might install one in the ashtray light if you're so hard core that you're replacing that bulb as well...I might do that as opposed to throwing the things away if it fits there.
194_HP2_W: HID White High Power License Plate 194 $9.99/pair. These guys went in the front map lights and work great. They are brighter than the stock incandescants and look great.
194_5_SMT_W: HID 6K White SMT 5 LED Light Bulb 194 $9.99/pair. I stuck these in the footwells in the front since they have LEDs on all sides and light up 180 degrees. They work great in that space since they are a little brighter than the stock bulbs and they do illuminate the entire footwell.
194_4_W: SUPER HID White 4 LED Wedge Base 194 $4.99/pair. I bought these hoping they'd work in the door reflectors since they are cheaper than the 194_5_SMT_W. Turns out they look good there. Maybe a little brighter than the stock bulbs and they light things up fine even though most of the light comes straight out of them (compared to the 194_5_SMT_W that shines out at all angles). I only bought one pair initially, but will get 4 more to finish off the other two doors and I'm thinking another of these bulbs will look better on the 2nd row floor. Small note...you'll need to drill out the plastic in the reflectors with a 1/2" bit so the base of the LED fits in there. After doing that though, everything still snaps back together.
So that's my summary. I spent $60 ($6 shipping) for the first round of LEDs and am calculating that I'll need to spend $80 to finish off the rest of the truck. The festoon LEDs are what kills the budget since they are the most expensive and there are 8 of them. I recommend doing all the bulbs in the truck though if you're going to do this mod including the puddles. Putco sells a kit for the truck that includes 6 interior festoon LEDs and 2 LEDs for the maplights for ~$160, but I do not suggest going with that kit since the door reflectors, footwells, 2nd row floor and puddle lights will still be incandescent and things will look stupid/not match. You'll know what I mean once you've installed a couple of the LEDs and then look at the remaining incandescents...you need to do everything or nothing at all on this job otherwise your truck will look silly. I can't stress that enough...a manufacturer would not mix the two types of bulbs because they project drastically different light so don't do that to your truck either. So hopefully this gives you a better idea of which LEDs will work for your upgrade and shows approximately how much you'll need to spend. I'm very pleased with the results thus far since it makes things look drastically different/more modern and will finish off the project as soon as v-leds can deliver the rest of what I need.
I wanted to do an interior LED upgrade, but I wasn't sure what to get so I purchased a bunch of different stuff from v-leds.com (someone posted they are better than superbrightleds.com) and below is my review. First of all, if you're going to do this, I suggest getting 6K or 8K "cool white" bulbs. The 3K "soft white" bulbs will look similar to your incandescant bulbs which means you won't accomplish much. The 6K bulbs are what you see in the new Lexus, Audi, BMW, etc. vehicles from the factory. Also, you could easily spend over $200 doing this upgrade to get everything SUPER bright (more LEDs on each fixture means more light, but also higher cost), but I'm not one of those people who goes for overkill...esp when times are tough and I've got other expenses. That being said, if you don't change out all the bulbs, your truck will look bad.
211_3HP_W_6K: HID 6K White High Power 3LED Festoon dome bulb. $12.99 each. This bulb goes in the domes and puddle lights on the outside mirrors. I wanted purchase the $6.99 festoon bulb but they were out of stock on that so I shelled out for the more expensive bulb that is supposedly brighter. That was probably a good thing. These bulbs provide about the same amount of light as the stock 211s, but there are 3 in each dome fixture plus the 2 outside which means you'll need 8 total to change all the bulbs. I'm thinking I'll put the $6.99 LED in the reading lights in the way back since no one will ever use those and just shell out the loot for the rest of them. This LED didn't fit perfectly in the holder in the domes so after you get the polarity correct (for any of these LEDs, if they don't light initially spin them 180 degrees and they should work), you may need to turn them in the holder to get them to light. FYI you'll want to change the ones on the outside mirrors to make everything match. When its dark, the LEDs in the interior cast a nice cool white light over the seats, etc. that's clearly visible from the outside, but the truck looks silly/cheap/[email protected]$$ed/things don't match with the stock bulbs still in the puddle lights. So if you're doing this job, make sure you purchase LEDs to throw in the mirrors too.
194_INV_W: HID White Inverted Cone Wedge Base. 194 $1.99/pair. I bought these just to see what V-LED's cheapest bulb could do. Don't waste time with these things...its only 1 LED and its not bright enough to illuminate much. I put it in the light thats on the 2nd row floor, but even there it looks weak. Just not enough light so don't bother with this product. You might install one in the ashtray light if you're so hard core that you're replacing that bulb as well...I might do that as opposed to throwing the things away if it fits there.
194_HP2_W: HID White High Power License Plate 194 $9.99/pair. These guys went in the front map lights and work great. They are brighter than the stock incandescants and look great.
194_5_SMT_W: HID 6K White SMT 5 LED Light Bulb 194 $9.99/pair. I stuck these in the footwells in the front since they have LEDs on all sides and light up 180 degrees. They work great in that space since they are a little brighter than the stock bulbs and they do illuminate the entire footwell.
194_4_W: SUPER HID White 4 LED Wedge Base 194 $4.99/pair. I bought these hoping they'd work in the door reflectors since they are cheaper than the 194_5_SMT_W. Turns out they look good there. Maybe a little brighter than the stock bulbs and they light things up fine even though most of the light comes straight out of them (compared to the 194_5_SMT_W that shines out at all angles). I only bought one pair initially, but will get 4 more to finish off the other two doors and I'm thinking another of these bulbs will look better on the 2nd row floor. Small note...you'll need to drill out the plastic in the reflectors with a 1/2" bit so the base of the LED fits in there. After doing that though, everything still snaps back together.
So that's my summary. I spent $60 ($6 shipping) for the first round of LEDs and am calculating that I'll need to spend $80 to finish off the rest of the truck. The festoon LEDs are what kills the budget since they are the most expensive and there are 8 of them. I recommend doing all the bulbs in the truck though if you're going to do this mod including the puddles. Putco sells a kit for the truck that includes 6 interior festoon LEDs and 2 LEDs for the maplights for ~$160, but I do not suggest going with that kit since the door reflectors, footwells, 2nd row floor and puddle lights will still be incandescent and things will look stupid/not match. You'll know what I mean once you've installed a couple of the LEDs and then look at the remaining incandescents...you need to do everything or nothing at all on this job otherwise your truck will look silly. I can't stress that enough...a manufacturer would not mix the two types of bulbs because they project drastically different light so don't do that to your truck either. So hopefully this gives you a better idea of which LEDs will work for your upgrade and shows approximately how much you'll need to spend. I'm very pleased with the results thus far since it makes things look drastically different/more modern and will finish off the project as soon as v-leds can deliver the rest of what I need.
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