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Originally Posted by mdogg
It's a very Euro thing.
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Yep, exactly. In order to drive it in Europe you need that. While it is not required here in US, actually it makes perfect sense. If you drive in heavy fog (sometimes we have nice fog in Sacramento area) the only way to see the car in front of you is when driver steps on brakes. Red markers are not visible in fog at all. Euro "rear for lights" are additional red "marker" light of the same brightness as brake lights. They need to be at least 10 inches of the ground and not higher than 3 ft. And 4 inches away from a red marker light (don't ask me why). Don't need to be symmetrical - one on the left side is enough.
One option often used is replacing bulb of the left backup light with red LED (and routed to separate switch). Other option (which I like more) is to replace rear red reflector plates with "real" LED powered lights.
I was hoping for answer, that in some models these slots are used for red reflector plates like in many other cars have, and just my T4R is "cheap low end" version which has black plastic inserts in there. It is easier to convert reflector plates to "real" lights than making one from scratch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdogg
Not to mention you'll have to consider if you want it to have the existing asymmetric design OR make it symmetrical and blend it into the existing black trim pieces. Best of luck.
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The symmetry is only cosmetic issue (I don't say it is not important). I would need only 5W of LED light which will give more light than 20W incandescent bulb so technology is available, just a matter of making it the easiest way.