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Turn Signal Mod

7K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  supra_toy 
#1 ·
Decided to finally mod my front turn signal to a two filament bulb. Here's how I did it -
I used a socket that I could fit in the existing housing. This is the one I used. This company supplies most of the major auto parts chains so you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. You'll need two, of course, and two #1157 bulbs.



First remove the existing socket from the housing. Remove the tape around the soldered ground wire connection




Cut the two wires on the lamp socket (NOT the connector) and strip the ends of the wire



Splice the wires together using but joint connectors and crimping pliers. The black wire on the socket goes to the white/black stripe, the brown wire goes to the green/white stripe. Then cut the green wire leading to the marker light in half and strip the two ends.



Take the two green wires and twist them together and crimp one end of the but connector on. Crimp the blue wire on the other end.



Tape all the ends of the butt joint connectord to prevent any moisture from causing a short and be sure to tape up the soldered ground wire.






The shape of the GM socket is different than the shape of the Toyota housing so you have to insert one prong on the socket and rotate it till the other two line up. Then just push it in and twist . It's a nice tight fit



You can put the bulb in backwards so before you reattach the turn signal housing test the lights to make sure the 4 watt filament is the one on with the headlights and the 27 watt is the turn signal. When you're done it looks like this



With turn signal



If anybody knows of a 1157 socket that fits our cars be sure to post it - otherwise this works fine. Next project the foglamps!
 
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#2 ·
CQ this has "sticky" all over it!! Nice job!! I also see you did the amber light mod on the fog running light must really look nice at night!!
 
#5 ·
Here's a better picture.



Soldering's cool it's just easier for me to use the connectors. Disappointed with the yellow LED bulbs though. My next minimod is for the fogs. Will post when done.
 
#9 ·
Dave, the side marker could be set to blink or stay on with the park lamps, just depending which of the green wires from the socket you run to it. The black/white is a ground, one of the greens flashes with the turn signal, the other is constant with the park lamps.
 
#10 ·
I used part number 85881 instead of 85875, so I could use #3157 bulbs instead of #1157, the socket was less expensive but much better than the other (newer technology). You don't have to worry about the 1157s being in backwards and the pins popping out of the plastic socket, the newer 3157s are positive lock snap in bulbs.:

The How To of the write-up is the same, just using a better socket
 
#11 ·
I Wonder if a mod similar to this can be done on the 83 and back style bumper?
On the wrap-around turn signals do both the lights only flash when the signal is on, or does mini-bulb come on with the park-light?
 
#12 · (Edited)
If anybody knows of a 1157 socket that fits our cars be sure to post it - otherwise this works fine. Next project the foglamps!
I found that the GM style socket (NAPA part #:787111 GM 3 wire) doesn't fit very well like you described (Used it on my red car anyway, after returning one that was defective out the box)

I found some perfect sockets for the 1157 2 filament bulbs, at Walmart of all places, good construction with a shallower mounting than the NAPA socket, and clearly better construction and gasket, at less that half the price! ($6.99 2/pc free shipping, arrived many days sooner than projected)..)sold by Tasharina Corp through Walmart

https://www.walmart.com/ip/1157-Bul...ght-Harness-Wire-LED-Tail-Plug-2-Pcs/45515673

will
 
#13 ·
There is actually an easier way to do this while retaining your factory socket housing, which requires a little bit of modding.

You would pick up a pair of 1157 dual filament pigtail connectors (similar to the pic below) and substitute it into the existing factory unit (wiring in the new low/high filament wires). On the dual filament bulb, you would need to cut off one of the side nubs so that you can fit it into the factory housing (cant remember off-hand if it is the high or low positioned one. it's been a long time since I've done this). You would then need to position the pigtail so that the correct connector on the pigtail matches up with your bulb connector (hi/lo filament). This involves rotating it until you get the correct positioning.

 
#14 ·
#15 ·
price is now $8.99 as of 10/15/2020. After the recent damage to my corner light I used one of these to replace the napa brand socket I had in there, MUCH better fit. I'm going to buy more of these...
 
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