Black out tail lights/led turn bulb

Rogue-Runner

Rogue-Runner

New member
I've been wanting to bake the tail lights and delete all the chrome. Most blacked out aftermarket lights keep the chrome in the reflector bowl for the turn signal. I'd like to black that out too, but the chrome there actually serves a purpose. Painting the bowl would reduce visibility for drivers behind me when I turn. However, I've seen led turn signal bulbs that are super bright, and am wondering if the brightness of the LED bulb would compensate for the reduced visibility. Anyone done this before?


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I deleted the chrome in my headlight turn signals because my Lasfit turn signal bulbs are super bright and I don't see the need for the chrome
 
Rogue-Runner said:
I've been wanting to bake the tail lights and delete all the chrome. Most blacked out aftermarket lights keep the chrome in the reflector bowl for the turn signal. I'd like to black that out too, but the chrome there actually serves a purpose. Painting the bowl would reduce visibility for drivers behind me when I turn. However, I've seen led turn signal bulbs that are super bright, and am wondering if the brightness of the LED bulb would compensate for the reduced visibility. Anyone done this before?
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While I haven't personally done it before, I did order some black out tail lights from Kustom 54, and requested to completely black out all the chrome. The turn signal brightness seems only slightly diminished, and not a big enough difference to worry about changing the bulb. I bought extra bright LED bulbs for the reverse lights, and while the bulb itself is an almost blinding super bright white, the lack of chrome doesn't allow the light to spread very well. So reversing at night requires a little extra care due to the lessened visibility but people behind can DEFINITELY tell when I'm in reverse.

I'm sure an extra bright LED turn signal bulb would be more noticeable, but I haven't had any issues with anyone seeing my blinker, night or day.
 
I got the black aftermarket taillights then put a tinted lamin-x piece over the turn signal section. Looks blacked out and I didn’t have to open my lights
 
You cant bake the tail lights open because they're not sealed with butyl/permaseal and are actually a whole piece. They would actually have to be cut open then plastic welded back together then sealed. Get an ultrasonic cutter or you can get away with a oscillating multi tool to cut them open
 
aceee said:
You cant bake the tail lights open because they're not sealed with butyl/permaseal and are actually a whole piece. They would actually have to be cut open then plastic welded back together then sealed. Get an ultrasonic cutter or you can get away with a oscillating multi tool to cut them open
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Darn! I assumed I could open them up. I was looking forward to the project. I plant to undertake a total retrofit for the headlights, so I hoped baking the rear and deleting the chrome would give me useful experience before I do my big headlight project. Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into those options.
 
Rogue-Runner said:
Darn! I assumed I could open them up. I was looking forward to the project. I plant to undertake a total retrofit for the headlights, so I hoped baking the rear and deleting the chrome would give me useful experience before I do my big headlight project. Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into those options.
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I just did a retrofit on my headlights. Stay away lol. That permaseal is no joke. I got frustrated opening them up and ended up paying someone locally to open them up for me. Luckily he only charged me $150 and he opened them op PERFECT. I did everything else myself, made custom brackets for the projectors i used, painted some parts of the housing, installed clear corners, and installed an led drl/turn signal strip. It was a project i had laying around for almost a year but finally got down to doing it. It was actually pretty fun and might build another set later down the line
 
aceee said:
I just did a retrofit on my headlights. Stay away lol. That permaseal is no joke. I got frustrated opening them up and ended up paying someone locally to open them up for me. Luckily he only charged me $150 and he opened them op PERFECT. I did everything else myself, made custom brackets for the projectors i used, painted some parts of the housing, installed clear corners, and installed an led drl/turn signal strip. It was a project i had laying around for almost a year but finally got down to doing it. It was actually pretty fun and might build another set later down the line
Click to expand...

Yeah, the permaseal is a nightmare, I can attest to this. I haven't finished my retro because I haven't had time to deal with removing all of that junk. The entire retro is done except for removing the perma and resealing them
 
I painted my taillights with VHT Nightshades. Taped off the reverse light and brake light. I don't see any chrome and even the factory bulbs are bright enough but I have thought about getting the LED lights just to be safe. Very cheap too. I have a full article going on Trail4runner.com soon for it.

eljefe-albums-smoked-taillights-picture58739-rsz-img-8131-a.jpg
 
ElJefe said:
I painted my taillights with VHT Nightshades. Taped off the reverse light and brake light. I don't see any chrome and even the factory bulbs are bright enough but I have thought about getting the LED lights just to be safe. Very cheap too. I have a full article going on Trail4runner.com soon for it.

eljefe-albums-smoked-taillights-picture58739-rsz-img-8131-a.jpg
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Yup. That looks pretty rad.
 
97BlackAckCL said:
Yeah, the permaseal is a nightmare, I can attest to this. I haven't finished my retro because I haven't had time to deal with removing all of that junk. The entire retro is done except for removing the perma and resealing them
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removing the permaseal for me actually wasnt that bad and only took about an hour each light. I had more of an issue separating open the lights. I used a heat gun to remove the permaseal from the channels. Just heat an area up real good, try to lift up a whole chunk, then gradually heat and peal the permaseal as you go. Luckily for me, majority of it would stay as a whole and come off together as i heated/pulled the strip of permaseal.
 
this is relevant to my interests. I've blacked out everything now except the valances and the taillights. I'd prefer a plug and play option, has anyone found a good complete blacked out option to purchase? I found some on here a while ago, but they had bad reviews everywhere I looked.
 
cccolin said:
this is relevant to my interests. I've blacked out everything now except the valances and the taillights. I'd prefer a plug and play option, has anyone found a good complete blacked out option to purchase? I found some on here a while ago, but they had bad reviews everywhere I looked.
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Kustom 54 uses brand new OEM taillights, so they're plug and play, and you can choose which parts you want them to black out. I left the red reflectors alone, but blacked out the rest.

4run-jpg.46403
 
RunTheJoules said:
Kustom 54 uses brand new OEM taillights, so they're plug and play, and you can choose which parts you want them to black out. I left the red reflectors alone, but blacked out the rest.

4run-jpg.46403
Click to expand...

nice thanks. so do they crack them open and paint the insides?
 
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