Has anyone blacked out the inside of their tail lights?

[SilverBullet01]

So I'm no stranger to opening lights, but I'm curious if anyone has painted the inside of their taillights to mute the bright red color. I'm debating on doing this instead of painting the exterior with a "tint spray".

Currently I have an 05 with stock tails, but I'm looking at blacking out the interior on a set of 06+ tails to see how it looks.

Also considering blacking out the inside of my dog lights (not the projector of course) just to mute all the chrome on the front end.

Has anyone out there done or seen this done yet?

 

[riceandpho]

they have a aftermarket thats blacked out. i think depo makes them.
Depo Toyota 4 Runner 03 09 JDM Black Style Bezel LED Rear Tail Light Lamp Pair | eBay

 

[howlindaug]

I haven't ever seen this and I'm having a hard time visualizing it. Anxious to see photos if/when you do it.

 

[SilverBullet01]

they have a aftermarket thats blacked out. i think depo makes them.
Depo Toyota 4 Runner 03 09 JDM Black Style Bezel LED Rear Tail Light Lamp Pair | eBay

So I've debated on these, but my thoughts are more along the lines of getting the stock style with the red outer plastic, and painting the interior behind it to get more of a look like this but not quite as dark.



My idea is that by painting the inside it would give a cleaner, longer lasting finish than tinting the tail light. Plus here in California, the law puts me a fault for any accidents to the rear with a tinted light, so I wanted to see if I could find a loophole.

 

[Oneluv13T4R]

Yeah you can do it on the inside ....as long as its not on the outside here in Ca.n Unless you wanna just give them another reason to pull u over.

I just did my all of my front end lights last night and was gonna do the tail and third brake light as well.

 

[DesertCanyons]

Dark brake lights

I just don't see the advantage of doing this. I want my tail lights bright so people don't tailgate me. When I step on the brakes I want to be seen.

I think you're talking about a dark appearance when it's not lit but still goes bright red when on. Sounds cool as long as it lights up bright when you step on the brake.

 

[SilverBullet01]

I just don't see the advantage of doing this. I want my tail lights bright so people don't tailgate me. When I step on the brakes I want to be seen.

I think you're talking about a dark appearance when it's not lit but still goes bright red when on. Sounds cool as long as it lights up bright when you step on the brake.

That's my exact intention! I don't want to sacrifice light output, and I won't be blacking out where most of the light comes from, as in any of the reflector housings on the inside. I just want an Led tail that's not so bright red when off.

 

[S p a r k y]

That's my exact intention! I don't want to sacrifice light output, and I won't be blacking out where most of the light comes from, as in any of the reflector housings on the inside. I just want an Led tail that's not so bright red when off.

Many have tried, you can't successfully seperate the 4th gen tail lights like you can the headlights! Go with aftermarket already blacked.

 

[gaterose]

x2 I am one of those many.

My '03 tails started to warp before the glue softened at all.

 

[S p a r k y]

x2 I am one of those many.

My '03 tails started to warp before the glue softened at all.

The "many have tried" comment really just referred to you anyway, lol!

 

[SilverBullet01]

Alright, guess that's a no go.

What about the fog lights? I may try and pull those apart to black out the reflector bowl since that doesn't do much anyways. Plus if I have it open I might try to flex my retrofitting skills and swap out the lens with a clearer lense for better output.

 

[Morphyne]

You would think that the people selling these things would show a picture of them installed. I think they would sell more...

 

[gaterose]

Alright, guess that's a no go.

What about the fog lights? I may try and pull those apart to black out the reflector bowl since that doesn't do much anyways. Plus if I have it open I might try to flex my retrofitting skills and swap out the lens with a clearer lense for better output.

The fog lights (at least on '03-05s I'm certain) can be baked open like the headlights. I did it with mine.