Hello all,

I have given up on my attempt from a particular LED supplier in located in Miami and found a different place out west.

I ordered my 'full LED taillights" made by ANZO and should have them within the next few days. I got the shipping tracking number the same day I ordered them and according to that they are on the way.

Now, like I have seen listed in other places, there were some questions I had that this supplier assures me wont be a problem,,,, the lights are listed "2006 and up" and the pictured lights were for the Sonata which is where my concern is. The model year 2006 is the older bulky style as opposed to the sweet style of our 07's+. Again, the store said is was just used as an example.

Here is the kicker. I paid $228 for the complete set with free shipping. Should these lights come through and be what I hope they should be, I will post the store info and part number and some pics too!

If they are what I hope they are,,, a complete set for less than half of what KAI wants and free shipping. Sweet!

Roadguy55

This post has been edited by roadguy55: Jul 11 2008, 03:38 PM

Great price.

Hopefully they ARE for the 07 thru 09 Santa Fe.

Can't wait to see them.

David <><

I would love to see what they eventually send you....

Strike 1. The sent the Sonata lights,, as I feared. However they seem intent on finding the correct lights. So, I sent them that imotorroom link to see what they come up with. I ll continue to post my progress.

This post has been edited by trajetXG: Jul 15 2008, 07:22 PM

Hope they can find you a set for that price - I think I need a set also!

Those LEDs look sharp. Makes the rear look a lot more like a Mazda CX-9.

Hi out there in Santa Fe land.
I have been following this forum for awhile.

I, too, was concerned about the poor visibility of the 2007 Santa Fe rear turn signals (especially at night). At a distance they simply blended in with the tail (and especially the brake) lights.

My first remedy didn’t cost a thing. I simply switched the position of the two bulb sockets in the turn signal housing. My turn signal bulbs were then positioned where the brake/tail lights were originally and the brake/tail lights were repositioned on the outside of the housing where the turn signals where originally located (you still have a second brake/tail light bulb in the housing attached to the back lift door). That worked very well. It gives you a bright turn signal that can’t be missed from those driving behind you (day or night). It also gives a unique look whereby the turn signal light is situated between the two brake/tail lights on each side of the rear of the car.
If you decide to try this repositioning of the light sockets it only takes about 15 minutes to do. The wiring harnesses are held down by a simple plastic hook which is easy to dislodge and you will also need to cut a plastic wire tie in order to get enough play in the length of the wires so that you can switch the sockets. On a scale of 1 to 10 in difficulty this job rates about a 2.

***

However, when I saw the LED rear lights for the Santa Fe I was intrigued.

After thinking it over and doing some research I decided to take the plunge and I ordered both the rear LED lights and the bumper LED lights from KAI. Expensive, yes. I did get a 10 percent discount for having a multiple order over $500. I am located in Toronto, so I also saved any duty charges or sales taxes by having the order delivered to a friend in Buffalo. He then brought the shipment over the border in his car.

The rear lights went in without a hitch. They matched perfectly with the original light housings. The lights then worked like a charm. The turn signal bulbs need a resistor or else the flasher ‘flashes’ really fast (more like an emergency vehicle flasher than a turn signal). The resistor comes with the package (a rectangular black box) and simply plugs into the existing wire socket. If you prefer the ‘fast’ turn signal you can just leave the resistor unplugged. Again on a scale of difficulty (1 to 10) installing the new light housings would rate about a 3 and takes about an hour to an hour and a half to do (you want to take your time and work carefully).

The replacement rear bumper lights were much more of a challenge (I love challenges).
The LED replacement bumper lights are not a ‘stock’ item. They look like they were originally the same ‘dead’ bumper lights, but were then cut open down the sides so that the LED components could be placed inside. Then the two halves of the light housing were attached back together using a hot glue gun. It doesn’t look too pretty, but you don’t see the messy part of the fixture once the lights are mounted.
Three wires protruded out from the back of the fixture (ground, tail light and brake light). There are no instructions with the lights so you will have to test the three wires and mark them accordingly. The wires are a very thin gauge so I first wrapped them together with a good quality electrical tape and then housed them in some plastic, ‘snap-on’ wire tubing.
The time consuming and somewhat messy job since I have had my Santa Fe undercoated was ‘fishing’ the wires from the rear of the mounted bumper lights up into the ‘trunk’ of the car. On the driver’s side there were two predrilled holes which I was able to use for that purpose. However, on the passenger side the hole on the undercarriage is used for some type of switch or relay, so I had to drill my own access hole. Once I got the wires fished into the trunk it was fairly simple to splice them in to the wires coming from the rear tail lights. You will need to be familiar and comfortable with doing this type of splicing.
Hooking up the bumper lights will take about two to three hours and has a difficulty level of say 8 out of 10.
But, with that said, the LED bumper lights look great. They compliment the rear LED tail/brake lights very well.
I am sure I am now one of the very few (if not the only one) Santa Fe owners in Canada who has these LED lights.

:00000732:

And now..............the proper thing to do is.................post pictures.

:thumbsup:

David <><

Yes, please post some pics if possible!!!!!!

Thanks

Hey more importantly how do they function? I mean are they visable enough during the day? I'm sure at night they look great. As much as i'm trying to avoid ordering them I may have to give in. I like them for not only being LED they also change the appearance of the truck. Because honestly the stock lights are a little tacky......

The lights work very well overall. The tail lights have an adequate level of brightness and the brake lights are very bright and visible. The back-up lights are brighter than the originals and are a blue/white colour.

However, I am a little disappointed with the amber turn signal lights. I think they could/should be brighter.
They have about the same level of brightness as the tail lights whereby they should be the same brightness level as the brake lights (in my opinion).
I followed behind my son driving the Santa Fe in both daylight and at night time. The turn signal lights are quite bright at night time, but lack brightness during the day time (but are still better than the original side red turn signals).
One problem with LED lights used as turn signals is that they have a very narrow angle of visibility. At a side angle they are hard to see. I guess that is why even the luxury cars (Lexus, BMW, etc.) that have LED rear lights still use traditional 'bulbed' lights for their turn signals.

Another annoyance is that neither the bumper lights nor the rear lights have reflective glass/plastic in them. Thus I had to add on some after market plastic reflectors on the back and sides.
===================================================
I have included some pictures of the under carriage where I ran the wiring for the bumper lights. Sorry I did not take any pictures of the trunk area as I was installing the lights. I am very happy with the appearance and functioning of the bumper lights.

Thanks for the response.... :460:

I thought the amber might be a problem as it never appeared bright enough in the video I saw of them. I'm sure at night they are fine, but during the day need to be bright enough to be visible to other drivers. Most cars, Cadillac a good example, have their LEDs flush mounted to the turn signal lens making them more visible. Where as these have them inside tubes with make them harder to see at certain angles.

Although I'm not sure what you mean when you said "Another annoyance is that neither the bumper lights nor the rear lights have reflective glass/plastic in them. Thus I had to add on some after market plastic reflectors on the back and sides."

I would like to see how the lights look on your truck, if you have a pic of that to share.

:liebe011:

LEDs dont have the same aperture angles as halogens, incandescent bulbs etc. The LED light is more focused that's why u have differente angles to play with based in your application, from very narrow up to 120º, 145º etc.
For that reason it is not necessary to use reflectors on the back, no light is radiated by the LED over the back, may be on the sides always depending on the aperture angle.

.....Another annoyance is that neither the bumper lights nor the rear lights have reflective glass/plastic in them. Thus I had to add on some after market plastic reflectors on the back and sides.
====================================================

No sorry, I guess I didn't explain myself very well. What I meant was that there are no reflectors when the lights are all out and the car is just sitting in the dark say parked on the street. The type of reflectors that are picked up by the headlights of an oncoming car. Since the new LED light housings don't have any of that type of reflectors in them, I had to purchase 'stick on' reflective strips. The original bumper lights served this purpose of reflecting oncoming headlights.

bump...looking for an update on the LED tailight install. Now that you've had them for a while how are they, any moisture or problems. Did you change anything else to them?

This post has been edited by Din-Canada: Nov 28 2008, 08:03 PM

And how about those pictures of the finished tail lights??

This could be just the thing to silence my insufferable brother and his silly little Murano...

I'm also in Toronto, in the Markham area....i wouldn't mind meeting up with you to have a look at them. I really like the pics from the Korean site, but would like to see how they look in person.