LED 3rd Brake Light DIY

[004Gunner]

I ordered a flexible LED strip from Oznium.com and made my own LED 3rd brake light using the existing bulb base and brake light housing. It's almost the same as the aftermarket LED 3rd brake light, but a lot less $. The 4.7" strip is $6.99 and nearly fills the length of the housing. I was hoping to fit more in there so I ordered the 9.5", but ended up having to cut it down to the 4.7" since the LEDs have to be cut in groups of 3. Easy DIY mod if anyone is interested!

 

[bgmac]

:thumb3:

 

[JAC]

Looks good...I like it!..

 

[KellyJ]

Nice I might try and do this too, so I can have full LED's in the back. I'm assuming no ABS light with this 3rd brake light? Also, what kind of rear deflector is that?

 

[LINY4Runner]

:bigok:

i like! well done, sir!

 

[Elton H]

looks pretty good im gonna make a custom one using 20 or soo useing real lumiled superflux led's

 

[SilverBullet01]

looks pretty good im gonna make a custom one using 20 or soo useing real lumiled superflux led's

pictars or shens when you do it

 

[004Gunner]

Nice I might try and do this too, so I can have full LED's in the back. I'm assuming no ABS light with this 3rd brake light? Also, what kind of rear deflector is that?

No ABS light and the deflector is the EGR DustGuard. This one mounts with 2 brackets on the side and tape on the top so no holes or permanent mods required.

 

[KellyJ]

No ABS light and the deflector is the EGR DustGuard. This one mounts with 2 brackets on the side and tape on the top so no holes or permanent mods required.

Cool thanks for the info :bigok:

 

[SilverBullet01]

No ABS light and the deflector is the EGR DustGuard. This one mounts with 2 brackets on the side and tape on the top so no holes or permanent mods required.

do you have led's in your tail lights as well or are those still hallogen bulbs?

 

[004Gunner]

do you have led's in your tail lights as well or are those still hallogen bulbs?

No those are still halogen in my tails. No $$ for that upgrade yet :cry2:

 

[SilverBullet01]

did you put resistors in your 3rd brake light? if you didnt, most likely your abs light will be coming on if and when you switch to led tails

 

[004Gunner]

did you put resistors in your 3rd brake light? if you didnt, most likely your abs light will be coming on if and when you switch to led tails

No resistors. When I checked the resistance of the LED strip versus the resistance of a 921 bulb, the difference was so small I figured it would be negligible. IIRC the difference was less than 1 ohm. That reminds me that I was planning on measuring the resistances myself but completely forgot

 

[awpsome]

how did you mount the leds and wire it up? thanks

 

[004Gunner]

how did you mount the leds and wire it up? thanks

The LED strip is mounted onto 2 "L" shaped brackets with 3M automotive moulding tape and the brackets are mounted the same way to the base of the brake light housing. The brackets are small, each leg of the bracket being approx. 3/4", and were actually speaker mounting brackets I had left over. The LED strip was pre-wired so I just cut the wire shorter to fit in the housing and crimped spade connectors onto the ends. I used the 18-22 ga. spade connectors and just bent them slightly to squeeze between the electrical contacts of the brake light bulb socket. The only thing removed from the brake light was the 921 bulb. Hopefully these other pics will help!

 

[awpsome]

oh i see wow sweet thanks for the pics really helped.
now i gotta find some l brackets and some leds ahha
thanks a lot

 

[Elton H]

and heres mine about a hour or so of my time $15-20 for led's comes in a tube of 60 $5 dollars for the resistors and $3 dollars for the perf board all info can be found at www.hidplanet.com

 

[SilverBullet01]

elton, do you have led tails? and how big are your resistors so that would work properly?

 

[Elton H]

no led tails :cry2: i ran them 4 ea in series with a 68ohm 1w resistor as my truck runs at 14v

 

[s20004runner]

bringing back an old thread...

this looks fun.