Improving the trunk light

Here is a teaser pic:



Install will happen tomorrow if I can get enough time, so I will have a night pic.

-Loki

I can't get enough of these trunk light posts!
I cannot sleep at night knowing my trunk is dim.

tyrntlzrdking said:

I can't get enough of these trunk light posts!
I cannot sleep at night knowing my trunk is dim.

Click to expand...

It is a concern for some people...hence the product demand.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

LokiWolf said:

It is a concern for some people...hence the product demand.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Click to expand...

Thanks for the conversation today, we learned a lot - lokiwolf pointed out to us that some people tap into their trunk wires so they have the OEM bulb and the LED strip.

Ours will only be a simple plug and play where you plug directly into your housing adapter and then run the wire and strip to the center of your trunk.

A few benefits of ours vs tapping into the wires:
Easier, less work, creating a simple plug and play installation
we will have velcro and 3m tape- you can attach to your trunk lining or metal liner depending on what you have
the wire is black so it can be easily concealed.
ours has a resistor attached to avoid any errors, or light dimming when your other lights shut off.
It will also be a brighter light, these should be brighter than other strip LEDs we have seen - lokiwolf will create a honest review on that though.


Thank you

C'mon, c'mon Loki. Enough teasing. Those of us with dim wits and dim trunk lights want to see your work!
I bought some very clever Chinese VW "saddle bags" (thanks, norm!), installed neatly on either side of the trunk, and the right side one completely blocks the OEM light. My $12 upgraded lights went with the traded 2012...sigh...

tdiatlast said:

C'mon, c'mon Loki. Enough teasing. Those of us with dim wits and dim trunk lights want to see your work!
I bought some very clever Chinese VW "saddle bags" (thanks, nord!), installed neatly on either side of the trunk, and the right side one completely blocks the OEM light. My $12 upgraded lights went with the traded 2012...sigh...

Click to expand...

Working on it today. The social life of my 5 year old keeps getting in the way of my mods!

-Loki

Yada yada yada...yawn.....this is worthless without pics...

Get that child an agent and get to work...

...forget the agent...rubber room...with a light on, of course...

Nice....

tyrntlzrdking said:

I can't get enough of these trunk light posts!
I cannot sleep at night knowing my trunk is dim.

Click to expand...

I'm working on HID lights for my interior door lights if you're interested.

kulak said:

I'm working on HID lights for my interior door lights if you're interested.

Click to expand...

Why? LED's are just as bright, don't have a ballast, and will last 10 times longer...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Here is the important one first!



Much better than stock. Took me about 15 minutes to install, and you only need a small flat head screwdriver.

Here is where I mounted it:



Here is the cable route:





Here is the factory light assembly apart. Be careful with the metal on the assembly, you could damage it if you aren't careful.



Here is the bulb adapter inserted.



In the above picture, you will notice the red at the top, that is wrong. It needs to be flipped, the kit is sensitive to -/+. In the below pic, notice I pulled the pigtail towards the factory clip. You have to, because the metal assembly only has space there. The 2nd picture below shows it assembled.




Any questions, just yell.

-Loki


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

A couple of million $ questions:
Cost?
And does it work with deAutoKey LED replacement light that installs in the factory location?

Palouse said:

A couple of million $ questions:
Cost?
And does it work with deAutoKey LED replacement light that installs in the factory location?

Click to expand...

DeAutoKey would have to answer the cost part. I was their Beta, so needless to say, my cost is not the same.

As you saw in the pictures, it replaces the bulb. The assembly stays, but their is no longer a bulb there. Personally I am going to work on a way to remedy that. I have a few ideas.

-Loki

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Definitely interested in this.

Regards

We can get a group buy price here if we can get 10 people interested.

It will be $29.99 shipped for a group buy of 10.

Price will be $39.99 shipped on these.

Some benefits of this kit:
-long wire that is a stealthy black so it is easily concealed in your trunk liner and it will be easy to run the wire to the center of the trunk with no additional wiring.

-Also, the extra wire can be tucked into the trunk housing, so it is not messy.

-Resistor: The correct resistor is welded and sealed so the light will not dim when trunk is opened, it will avoid any errors that might appear with aftermarket LED strips, and it will produce a brighter light as it has the correct resistor that will allow it to give max volts.

-3 adapters included so it will fit all car models, comes with a bayonet adapter, a wedge, and a spring loaded 42mm festoon.

-Double sided tape on the actual LED strip, and velcro that can be attached if needed, this will work with any trunk liner.

Please let us know if you are interested, we can get these out to you Mid-May.

Thank you

That looks to be a nice, plug-and-play solution. I personally prefer the superbrightleds.com option, as the six individual LEDs can provide light to back of the trunk where it is needed most. It also leaves the stock light in place, and only cost $15. I can understand there are those who will not be comfortable tapping into two wires, so this should be a better option for them.

I agree with Josh. $30-40 seems pricey to me, but for the convenience of "plug and play", many will opt for this as a solution.
Good luck with the group sale!

tdiatlast said:

I agree with Josh. $30-40 seems pricey to me, but for the convenience of "plug and play", many will opt for this as a solution.
Good luck with the group sale!

Click to expand...

I'm going to pass too just because of the price. The only cool feature is the "plug and play" and those plugs are cheap.

T10 W5W Adapter (W3W and W5W are the same size bulb)

Having just installed a deAutoKey Led light, I too will pass, and learn to like (I do) the bright right in the wrong (it helps most of the time) place

Palouse said:

Having just installed a deAutoKey Led light, I too will pass, and learn to like (I do) the bright right in the wrong (it helps most of the time) place

Click to expand...

tdiatlast said:

I agree with Josh. $30-40 seems pricey to me, but for the convenience of "plug and play", many will opt for this as a solution.
Good luck with the group sale!

Click to expand...

JoshMcMadMac said:

That looks to be a nice, plug-and-play solution. I personally prefer the superbrightleds.com option, as the six individual LEDs can provide light to back of the trunk where it is needed most. It also leaves the stock light in place, and only cost $15. I can understand there are those who will not be comfortable tapping into two wires, so this should be a better option for them.

Click to expand...

We understand. Plug and play also means that you do not have to cut into the wires, it is not just about the plug you pictured.

JoshMcMadMac: The price is right on board with all LEDs on the market. This is a 48 LED light strip... the most we ever seen was a 30 LED strip.The one tested was a 39 LED strip. A very very small % of people out there will take the time to cut any wires like being shown, but we are considering that kit and sent LokiWolf the LED housing to see how he can plug into that and have the LED strip.

tdiatlast:Since this is a universal LED strip we already had the buyers for many other car models. This will be ready to sell in May. We already had interest, we can try to lower the price, but you are looking at less LEDs than 48 with a lower price.

Palouse: Not 100% sure what you exactly mean, but this will NOT be in the same location as the OEM trunk housing, we do not want to confuse anyone on that, it will be located in the middle of the trunk and it will light the back also.

Instead of placing the Trunk strip across the trunk, you can also place it long ways, so light shines from front to back, the amount of lumens and LEDs will light up any trunk fully... We think this will be one of the best plug and play strip Trunk LED options on the market.

$30-40 is not outrageous. I spent $25 for two dim LED strips, maybe $5 for an aluminum bar to mount them to, connectors, etc. And the LEDs were as much blue as white.... If I hadn't already done that, I'd be buying this.

TDI in MT said:

$30-40 is not outrageous. I spent $25 for two dim LED strips, maybe $5 for an aluminum bar to mount them to, connectors, etc. And the LEDs were as much blue as white.... If I hadn't already done that, I'd be buying this.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that feedback, don't forget that our product is FREE shipping.

That is a great point, and we might have forgot to mention it, this will be a very clear white light temperature.

Thank you

JoshMcMadMac said:

That looks to be a nice, plug-and-play solution. I personally prefer the superbrightleds.com option, as the six individual LEDs can provide light to back of the trunk where it is needed most. It also leaves the stock light in place, and only cost $15. I can understand there are those who will not be comfortable tapping into two wires, so this should be a better option for them.

Click to expand...

I agree. I installed 8 superbrights for less than $25. It's like daylight everywhere inside the trunk. But frankly, had this product been avail I probably would have done it out of convenience despite the higher cost and less light output.

But given the egregiously poor light output of the OEM design, I suspect the market for the deAutoKey solution is potentially as big as the number of Passat owners. They just need to figure out how to tap into that market vs a very technical DIY site like TDiClub.

deAutoKey said:

Some benefits of this kit:
-long wire that is a stealthy black so it is easily concealed in your trunk liner and it will be easy to run the wire to the center of the trunk with no additional wiring.

Click to expand...

How long is the LED strip?

TDI in MT said:

How long is the LED strip?

Click to expand...

48 LEDs will be 32 inches, is that an issue? it seemed like the perfect amount to get from one end to the other, either way.

Let us know, we can modify it to 45.

Thank you

deAutoKey said:

This is a 48 LED light strip... the most we ever seen was a 30 LED strip.The one tested was a 39 LED strip.

Click to expand...

So the kit being sold in May will have 9 more LED's than the one I tested?

deAutoKey said:

Instead of placing the Trunk strip across the trunk, you can also place it long ways, so light shines from front to back, the amount of lumens and LEDs will light up any trunk fully... We think this will be one of the best plug and play strip Trunk LED options on the market.

Click to expand...

Those of us with SEL's that have the Sub, front to back is a little more challenging.

It is truly easy to install. The hardest part is getting in to the factory housing, and as long as you take your time and are careful, no issues. 15 minute install.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

deAutoKey said:

We can get a group buy price here if we can get 10 people interested.
It will be $29.99 shipped for a group buy of 10.
Price will be $39.99 shipped on these.
Some benefits of this kit:
-long wire that is a stealthy black so it is easily concealed in your trunk liner and it will be easy to run the wire to the center of the trunk with no additional wiring.
-Also, the extra wire can be tucked into the trunk housing, so it is not messy.
-Resistor: The correct resistor is welded and sealed so the light will not dim when trunk is opened, it will avoid any errors that might appear with aftermarket LED strips, and it will produce a brighter light as it has the correct resistor that will allow it to give max volts.
-3 adapters included so it will fit all car models, comes with a bayonet adapter, a wedge, and a spring loaded 42mm festoon.
-Double sided tape on the actual LED strip, and velcro that can be attached if needed, this will work with any trunk liner.
Please let us know if you are interested, we can get these out to you Mid-May.
Thank you

Click to expand...

I am very interested in this, especially if it's a group buy. Only problem is I live in Canada, so I dont know how much shipping would be.

dopplerfx said:

I am very interested in this, especially if it's a group buy. Only problem is I live in Canada, so I dont know how much shipping would be.

Click to expand...

Same here, same problem.

LokiWolf said:

So the kit being sold in May will have 9 more LED's than the one I tested?



Those of us with SEL's that have the Sub, front to back is a little more challenging.

It is truly easy to install. The hardest part is getting in to the factory housing, and as long as you take your time and are careful, no issues. 15 minute install.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Click to expand...

yes, we figured people could cut if they want less LEDs, the price is right on these at 48 LEDs.

The on you tested at 39 LEDs was already bright, so we hope this will be brighter, people can really put these anyway they want, diagonal, horizontal, vertical in their trunk. We don't suggest placing on the side to avoid being blinded by the LEDs.

There is no group buy as you can see the interest in this thread is too small, we already have them sold and they will be in many different model cars. These will be up for sale at regular price in a few weeks:
-48 LED strip
-Bright Crisp White
-Error free
-Plug & Play
-Stealthy black wire throughout so it is easy to hide
-Velcro and strong automotive grade 3M tape depending on the surface of your car's trunk - velcro will allow for an easy removal and re-installation at anytime.
-3 adapters so it will fit any car you'd like - Bay9s Bayonet / 194wedge / 42mm spring loaded Festoon so you can adjust to make it smaller


We have not seen anything like this on the market, and the ones we have seen only had 30 LEDs..

Thank you