LED's in the rear reflectors
LED's in the rear reflectors
Well I got my inspiration from a RX that was driving infront of me one day.I noticed that he had a light in his reflector and I thought it looked good. So I got some LEDs and I had a project on the way. It took some time to figure out a good tapered pattern ( if you have ever seen the back of the reflector you would know this was a little bit hard to do)but from a few tries I got this one. The start of the video shows the LED in the daytime. The rest of the video shows the LEDs in the night. I didnt want the lights on all the time so it only lights up once I step on the brake. The entire project took about 9 hours including getting parts and trial and error.
I know its one of a kind because I made it
.
Im going to try to get a video with the car in motion.
The link to the youtube video is below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpDR-PwVOSE
Tools you will need are
1) Craftsman crimpers/ Wire strippers
2) 3M or Duck tape
3) Dermal or Saw
4) Drill gun with three sizes of drill bits ( ¼ , 1/8 and 1/16)
5) Screwdriver.
Materials you will need are
1) Silicone clear $4
2) Super Glue (any kind) $3
3) 18-22 gauge Red Wire connectors ring type (pack of 100 homedepot) $6
4) 18-22 gauge Red Wire connectors Male (pack of 100 homedepot) $6
5) 18- 22 gauge Red Wire Connectors Female (pack of 100 homedepot) $6
6) Two 4 stripped terminal blocks ( from homedepot) $6 each
7) Two wire taps 18-22 gauge red ( from homedepot) $5
8) At least 50 flat top 5mm 9- 12V LEDs $60
Some of the steps will be confusing but use the Pictures to help.
Well the fist thing to do will be to take off the bumper reflectors unless you can get your hands on a spare set. Follow this thread to remove the bumper. It should take about 10 to 15 min max.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ng-method.html
The reflectors have one screw holding them to the bumper. Once the reflectors are removed you will have to cut the bumper. There are two spots to cut it will be indicated within the pictures. Make sure you don’t cut the center section that allows the reflector to hold onto the bumper. 5 min
The next step will take the longest time. It also will depend on how many LEDs you will want to run in the reflector. I ran 26 but used 24 Im going to use the other 2 for another project later on. Strip about ½ inch of the insulation of the positive and negative wires from the LEDs. Then connect about 3- 4 of them together. Twist all 3-4 of the positive LED wires together and then crimp them using one of the ring terminals. Do the same thing to the negative wires from the same 3- 4 LEDs. At the end of it you should have 6 to 8 terminals that are positive wires from the LEDs all crimped to ring terminals. You should have 6 to 8 terminals that are the negative wires from the LEDs.
Do this step again for the other reflector.
Once this is done use one side of the terminal block to the wires you just crimped. You will use the screwdriver. The layout should go Positive, Negative, Positive, Negative. Attach 3 of the positive ring terminals from the LEDs to the fist section of the terminal block. Then attach the other 3 positive terminals to the third section of the terminal block. Use the 2nd and 4th sections of the terminal block to attach the negative ring terminals from the LEDs.
Now your going to have to Attach the jumping wires. Use a small wire to jump the 1st and 3rd positive terminals. Use another wie to jump the 2nd and 4th negative terminals.
Run a Positive wire that will supply the power from the Terminal block to the tail light connector. For the LEDS to come on with the brake light Splice the middle wire on the connector. If you want the LEDs on all the time splice the Left wire I forgot the color. Just check with a multimeter for a constant 12V.
Run a negative wire that will go from the terminal block to the rear of the body frame. I used a sell drilling screw about 1/8 inch to screw the ground to the wire to the frame. I also sanded the paint around the area where the screw went for a good ground contact. Once this was done I placed silicone around it.
Once this is done test the LEDs with a 9V battery.
With this done your going to have to layout the pattern that you want on the Reflectors. I used a pencil and a scale to position the LEDs where I wanted them. Make sure you step drill the holes. Start with a small bit then work your way up to a 1/4. If you make a mistake then you can correct it with the larger drill.
With this done you can then place the LEDs in the reflector. To hold them in position use a small amount of superglue. Once there in place you can place the clear silicone over them to water proof them. Don’t apply a lot just use enough to cover the LED and the hole. Keep in mind if your going to want to REMOVE an LED your not going to want to remove a lot of Silicone.
Now you can attach the Terminal block to the back of the car or the bumper. Depends on what you want to do. I used silicone and epoxy to put it on the bumper. Im going to take the bumper off in a while to do another project and see if it came off. If so ill attach it to the rear of the car. There’s a lot of room so just find a place where the bumper isn’t in the way.
Make sure and test out the LEDs once there installed before you put on the bumper.
Let me know if you have any questions. It’s a time consuming MOD but I think it looks great once finished.
Ask questions if you need to.
I know its one of a kind because I made it
. Im going to try to get a video with the car in motion.
The link to the youtube video is below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpDR-PwVOSE
Tools you will need are
1) Craftsman crimpers/ Wire strippers
2) 3M or Duck tape
3) Dermal or Saw
4) Drill gun with three sizes of drill bits ( ¼ , 1/8 and 1/16)
5) Screwdriver.
Materials you will need are
1) Silicone clear $4
2) Super Glue (any kind) $3
3) 18-22 gauge Red Wire connectors ring type (pack of 100 homedepot) $6
4) 18-22 gauge Red Wire connectors Male (pack of 100 homedepot) $6
5) 18- 22 gauge Red Wire Connectors Female (pack of 100 homedepot) $6
6) Two 4 stripped terminal blocks ( from homedepot) $6 each
7) Two wire taps 18-22 gauge red ( from homedepot) $5
8) At least 50 flat top 5mm 9- 12V LEDs $60
Some of the steps will be confusing but use the Pictures to help.
Well the fist thing to do will be to take off the bumper reflectors unless you can get your hands on a spare set. Follow this thread to remove the bumper. It should take about 10 to 15 min max.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ng-method.html
The reflectors have one screw holding them to the bumper. Once the reflectors are removed you will have to cut the bumper. There are two spots to cut it will be indicated within the pictures. Make sure you don’t cut the center section that allows the reflector to hold onto the bumper. 5 min
The next step will take the longest time. It also will depend on how many LEDs you will want to run in the reflector. I ran 26 but used 24 Im going to use the other 2 for another project later on. Strip about ½ inch of the insulation of the positive and negative wires from the LEDs. Then connect about 3- 4 of them together. Twist all 3-4 of the positive LED wires together and then crimp them using one of the ring terminals. Do the same thing to the negative wires from the same 3- 4 LEDs. At the end of it you should have 6 to 8 terminals that are positive wires from the LEDs all crimped to ring terminals. You should have 6 to 8 terminals that are the negative wires from the LEDs.
Do this step again for the other reflector.
Once this is done use one side of the terminal block to the wires you just crimped. You will use the screwdriver. The layout should go Positive, Negative, Positive, Negative. Attach 3 of the positive ring terminals from the LEDs to the fist section of the terminal block. Then attach the other 3 positive terminals to the third section of the terminal block. Use the 2nd and 4th sections of the terminal block to attach the negative ring terminals from the LEDs.
Now your going to have to Attach the jumping wires. Use a small wire to jump the 1st and 3rd positive terminals. Use another wie to jump the 2nd and 4th negative terminals.
Run a Positive wire that will supply the power from the Terminal block to the tail light connector. For the LEDS to come on with the brake light Splice the middle wire on the connector. If you want the LEDs on all the time splice the Left wire I forgot the color. Just check with a multimeter for a constant 12V.
Run a negative wire that will go from the terminal block to the rear of the body frame. I used a sell drilling screw about 1/8 inch to screw the ground to the wire to the frame. I also sanded the paint around the area where the screw went for a good ground contact. Once this was done I placed silicone around it.
Once this is done test the LEDs with a 9V battery.
With this done your going to have to layout the pattern that you want on the Reflectors. I used a pencil and a scale to position the LEDs where I wanted them. Make sure you step drill the holes. Start with a small bit then work your way up to a 1/4. If you make a mistake then you can correct it with the larger drill.
With this done you can then place the LEDs in the reflector. To hold them in position use a small amount of superglue. Once there in place you can place the clear silicone over them to water proof them. Don’t apply a lot just use enough to cover the LED and the hole. Keep in mind if your going to want to REMOVE an LED your not going to want to remove a lot of Silicone.
Now you can attach the Terminal block to the back of the car or the bumper. Depends on what you want to do. I used silicone and epoxy to put it on the bumper. Im going to take the bumper off in a while to do another project and see if it came off. If so ill attach it to the rear of the car. There’s a lot of room so just find a place where the bumper isn’t in the way.
Make sure and test out the LEDs once there installed before you put on the bumper.
Let me know if you have any questions. It’s a time consuming MOD but I think it looks great once finished.
Ask questions if you need to.
Last edited by uz07lex; Mar 28, 2011 at 06:39 PM. Reason: Made a DIY
... but if i would do it... i would just have it on while the rear light is on, otherwise, it's a bit busy with 5 brake lights on the back in total.
