DIY marker lights in grille

P

peakbaggerwolf

New member
After looking around for some in grille “raptor-style” marker lights and finding lots of solutions, I discovered I really liked the round ones. I definitely couldn’t justify spending 100 dollars on a set so I decided to build my own. I ordered the same round leds from amazon and designed a bracket for them. I have a 3D printer and most of these style lights seem to be 3D printed anyway so why not? Here is the first revision while I’m waiting for the lights to be delivered.
de12cbeee166cf8b1aa8e5f0623998de.jpg


Here it is mounted in the grille.
f437e71d3b06c3ac5a48ddd3f250a429.jpg


Don’t pay attention to how dirty everything is. We’ve had some pretty good storms and everything is salty. I should mention I also jumped on the bandwagon and ordered a Chinese TRD pro grille so I’ll post a pic when everything is installed.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Register to hide this ad
Subbed!! I'm jealous. I want a 3D printer!

How will the 3d printed material hold up in the elements? are there different grades of 3D printing material for different uses?

I bought the YotaLED lights and do *NOT* like that it's a rectangular shape light housing squished into the diamond shaped grill holes. Your approach is much nicer!

Kudos. Make 2 sets and I'll buy one! :)
 
I used PLA which is a pretty common material (ABS being the other). I’ve done quite a few projects with it but nothing that will stay exposed outside 24/7 so it will be interesting to see how it holds up. I believe it’s the same stuff they use for injection molding so I’m not too worried about it. That’s the thing about 3D printing, if it breaks after a few months just print out a new one. I may try some ABS ones and see the difference.

I also was not that impressed with the rectangle versions and mostly the fact that you have to zip tie them in. We’ll see how these turn out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
peakbaggerwolf said:
I also was not that impressed with the rectangle versions and mostly the fact that you have to zip tie them in. We’ll see how these turn out.
Click to expand...

I had the round eagle eye ones originally, however the lights did not match the color of the stock side markers. I'd be interested in some triangular mounts to get rid of the zip ties... it you're willing to print them.
 
Apparently amazon delivers on Sunday. Here are the brackets ready to install and wire up. I’ll wait for my Chinese pro grille to come in to install them.

63fad09b8bf103da3ef759474d650c86.jpg


a3328bfd9e61c85f199a47e9641982d7.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
peakbaggerwolf said:
Apparently amazon delivers on Sunday. Here are the brackets ready to install and wire up. I’ll wait for my Chinese pro grille to come in to install them.

63fad09b8bf103da3ef759474d650c86.jpg


a3328bfd9e61c85f199a47e9641982d7.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Well done! Make sure to post pics after you install.
 
File?

peakbaggerwolf said:
After looking around for some in grille “raptor-style” marker lights and finding lots of solutions, I discovered I really liked the round ones. I definitely couldn’t justify spending 100 dollars on a set so I decided to build my own. I ordered the same round leds from amazon and designed a bracket for them. I have a 3D printer and most of these style lights seem to be 3D printed anyway so why not? Here is the first revision while I’m waiting for the lights to be delivered.
de12cbeee166cf8b1aa8e5f0623998de.jpg


Here it is mounted in the grille.
f437e71d3b06c3ac5a48ddd3f250a429.jpg


Don’t pay attention to how dirty everything is. We’ve had some pretty good storms and everything is salty. I should mention I also jumped on the bandwagon and ordered a Chinese TRD pro grille so I’ll post a pic when everything is installed.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Would you be willing to post the file for those of us with access to a 3d printer?!? :high5:
 
So I've been busy the last week but my Chinese pro grille came in and I got that installed and the lights wired up yesterday. I used some metric bolts and some extra wire and heat shrink I had laying around to finish the install. I decided to tap into the driver-side side marker light (green wire) because I wanted them to be on whenever the marker lights are on and not necessarily when the ignition is on and without having to add an external switch.

41023cda77e4e9ecaac22d70f537b440.jpg


I removed the inner fender well to gain access to the connector and pushed it up through to the engine bay to make it easier to work on. There was not a whole lot of space to splice in but I was able to get it re-connected to the bulb.

d47919163d94e8ab3604f694a36a456c.jpg


I still need to route the wires and zip tie everything up but this shows the way I wired everything. I took each of the leads from the three lights and ran the wires to a point close to the battery. I then soldered them into a slightly bigger gauge wire which then connected to the tap and the ground near the battery. All in all it took me about an hour with the soldering and the heat shrink.

4beea653b854d2cd01d7f45aa1c76096.jpg


e0c30c94ec4bb045c75ce04e08196527.jpg


d41e1a9dcd32b57bdac4a8634b693be2.jpg


I haven't driven around with them too much but I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Count me as one of your fans! I've used the little round LED lights with the thread and a nut, using two rubber washers (in front and behind the grill) to hold them in place. Only problem I have is the lights don't last very long. I've started looking at these LED's with the rubber grommet, but hadn't figured out a good way to mount them.
 
HanginInUtah said:
Count me as one of your fans! I've used the little round LED lights with the thread and a nut, using two rubber washers (in front and behind the grill) to hold them in place. Only problem I have is the lights don't last very long. I've started looking at these LED's with the rubber grommet, but hadn't figured out a good way to mount them.
Click to expand...

Thanks! We'll see how long these hold up but they seem pretty solid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 386 (members: 3, guests: 383)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,310
Messages
3,554,080
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top