We went through LAX yesterday with three pieces of checked luggage. We arrived at 1:30 p.m. and it was a zoo because a fully-loaded KLM 747 from Amsterdam landed at the same time, and baggage was REALLY messed up (about 45 minutes before our bags came out). I chatted with our flight attendant during the wait. He said NZ baggage is usually available by the time passengers get through immigration

Immigration & Customs were moving quickly. It took about an hour, total, to get out of the terminal, and another 20 minutes to walk to Terminal 7 and get through security.

I don't know about the earlier AKL-LAX flights, but the flight attendant did say operations usually went pretty smoothly. As always, your mileage may vary. If it were me, I'd take the chance with the 1.5 hour connection.