Aftermarket Tail Light Options

[will_p]

Luckily i didnt need harness, got them installed tonight. Seem to be a very good quality and they look great. I'll try to make a link with some pics soon.

 

[Rainlord]

Finally finished installing mine. I figured out how to exchange the wiring harness for the new one, which involves taking off the cargo net holders (screws) of the inside of the trunk first, then yanking like a madman on the panels there (it's one huge panel on each side). I didn't get the panels off completely, no idea what was holding them in, but I got them off enough to get a view down inside and was able to reach in and unclip/reclip the new harness. If someone else has to do this, just reach in, unclip the old harness first. Around that area there's some black foam-y stuff where the wire goes to the headlight, push that to the side a bit, and pull the whole wire out from the back of the headlight (the big black plastic plug on the harness just pulls out). Then snake the new one in and grab it from inside, and clip it in, then push the black plug back into the hole. Re-adjust the black foam stuff and you're done. Here's a picture of the clip you're after:

Definitely wasn't a fun process. I also highly suggest that whoever does this - make sure when you transfer the screw-in part of the headlight over that it the clips on it are on correctly, or it won't be a snug fit. (Also, if you're doing this transfer, make sure you have two reverse bulbs that fit the new harness as the old ones will not). Result was definitely worth it (smoked black ones) and they seem really good quality (for plastic).

If anyone wants more details on any of that, let me know

 

[will_p]

yep that's what mine looks like except on a white explorer... looks great Rainlord! I didn't have any trouble with the reverse bulb fitting, so if you have the newer harness like mine you shouldn't need anything extra. Also if you don't mind me asking what kind of cross bars are those and do you like the quality?

 

[Rainlord]

The bulbs went in easy, it was more the harness that took forever to exchange on my car, but I think even late 2012 models they changed the harness to the one that everyone seems to have already (the one the lights call for). I also don't know why my old harnesses had 1 tap on the left and 3 on the right to some wires I've no clue what they are or where they go, but I moved those over just in case. This car has a lot of weird wire-things going on with it from whoever owned it before.

The crossbars are "Thule Aeroblade" (item number: 8923160004). I got them from REI as they ship internationally. Also got these locks for them. They're really, really great. At some specific speed, like between 40-45km/h I can sometimes (rarely) hear them (or if it's blowing a really hard crosswind), but otherwise I never hear them. Usually the people that complain about noise install them too far forward. They're super sturdy as well. I got them with the intention of getting a roof cargo box, haven't bought one yet though.

 

[peterk9]

....... or it won't be a snug fit.......

Speaking of a "snug fit", looks like you're kind of pushing the limits of thet parking spot.

Peter

 

[will_p]

what lengths did you get? i haven't been able to figure out what lengths i need for the explorer since its so wide compared to most vehicles. thanks!!

 

[Rainlord]

what lengths did you get? i haven't been able to figure out what lengths i need for the explorer since its so wide compared to most vehicles. thanks!!

Oops I forgot that part, they are XL, in black

 

[peterk9]

Oops I forgot that part, they are XL, I'm black

I think you meant your tail lights are black.

Peter

 

[Rainlord]

I think you meant your tail lights are black.

Peter

Lol, autocorrect gone bad. I meant the bars are black!

 

[Rainlord]

Running into an odd issue with the rear right light. The left works perfectly, but when I turn on the right blinker, the car goes into hyperflash on it. The light also doesn't blink. However, the warning lights do make the light blink, so the light itself is working. I've tried a 25W resistor and a 50W on the blinker wire (blinker to ground) but neither worked/made a difference. The 25W did nothing really and 50W made nothing go through, probably too much resistance. I tried putting a resistor instead of a light on the end and that caused the hyperflash to stop (but then I have no blinker at all of course). If I disable the hyperflash with forscan in the BCM it seems nothing blinks on the rear right (I set both rows to 0000). If I don't plug in the blinker light at all (just a dead end cable so to speak) the car still hyperflashes. So it's expecting something resistance-wise at the rear clearly. Front right blinker works in every case so it's not a fuse issue. I've contacted the seller as well, but anyone have any idea what else to try? I just find it odd that left works, right doesn't, and all those combinations of tests didn't work...

 

[thefranchise713]

If you are editing with FORScan, don't use resistors. (I'm guessing you didn't, but bore repeating just in case.)

Sometimes the bulbs are finicky--try a different bulb brand. I've got some Amazon specials that haven't had any real issues with confusing the BCM, but sometimes the pins don't make contact. My bumper came off last week which required the taillights to come out and bulbs from the harness. Tech didn't have them working when I got it back, so I had to manipulate the pins a bit to suit.

Hazards are a bit interesting in this car, by default it won't hyperflash even with LEDs at the corners and the bulb sense turned on, but turn on an individual side and you'll have hyperblink issues.

 

[Rainlord]

If you are editing with FORScan, don't use resistors. (I'm guessing you didn't, but bore repeating just in case.)

Sometimes the bulbs are finicky--try a different bulb brand. I've got some Amazon specials that haven't had any real issues with confusing the BCM, but sometimes the pins don't make contact. My bumper came off last week which required the taillights to come out and bulbs from the harness. Tech didn't have them working when I got it back, so I had to manipulate the pins a bit to suit.

Hazards are a bit interesting in this car, by default it won't hyperflash even with LEDs at the corners and the bulb sense turned on, but turn on an individual side and you'll have hyperblink issues.

Interesting on the Hazards. I'm going to try the forscan codes again tomorrow and do a bit more testing of various combinations. I can't change the actual LED blinker as that's part of the light fixture itself. But I could try to wire up the old light to it in addition just to see if that has an effect on the hyperflash, and if the blinker works at all then.

 

[thefranchise713]

My bad--brain was on aftermarket bulbs, I forgot about this being a whole assembly.

 

[Rainlord]

I'll add that in my attempts to get the rear right light to blink properly (with the engine running as that's only when it doesn't work, minus hazards), I've come to realize that it's probably a faulty light/wiring. The car throws an error code in the BCM whenever the light's blinker wires are attached that says -- Rear Turn Signal: "circuit short to ground" --. I tried googling that but I'm still not 100% sure if it's saying there's no ground detected (bad), or there's electricity coming through in the ground (also bad), and I've not been able to test it really as whenever this happens, the car cuts the power to the blinker right away (you can restart it by stopping the blinker and starting it again). I tried bridging the negative/ground of the light over to the other ground that's in that harness, but that didn't help.

Hopefully the seller will sort this out. I will say that trying to open the light is a no go, it must be glued down and then they put screws in to hold it together better. Can't argue the quality there...

Edit: In contact with seller now who wants me to try switching the lights around to see if it makes a difference (so it's not car-related), will try that and see. He also said to switch the resistors on them, which I'm not sure what he means as there's no detachable resistor as far as I can see. There's a black "bar" with two wires which could very well be the resistor, but it doesn't come off in any easy way without cutting the wires.

Edit 2: Looks like it's my car. I tested putting the rear right tail right on the rear left wires, and it works fine there. The seller has been really helpful to try to figure out the issue, so today I'll rip open the panel again and see if it's a harness-related issue and/or if I can find what's causing the short to ground.

Edit 3: Probably last edit. I gave up on making it work "factory style". I think the car might have had an issue on the right blinker for a long time, but for whatever reason, not everything triggers it. I ended up running a 12V cable to a relay that I stuck on the back of the headlight, using the flasher wire (purple) as trigger wire (all other wires should make sense). That "fixes" it. Not pretty, doesn't make me happy, and a relay is "clicky", but at this point I can't think what else to try except a potentially expensive dealer visit where they rip the car apart trying to figure it out why the car thinks there's a short. I hope no one else runs into this! If someone knows if there's a "silent" car relay, hit me up

 

[deadlyapp]

Ordered a pair of these earlier this week and will be installing them this weekend. Excited about how they look.

 

[deadlyapp]

Decided not to wait and installed these in the dark yesterday evening. Install is very simple, although I was a bit of an idiot and forgot to bolt the mounting brackets before fitting the first tailight. Reverse bulb and twist mount worked perfectly, but realize you need to take the rubber O-ring/grommet off your stock tail lights in order to get a tight fitment.

Bulbs all work great and I had no issue with hyperflash or any issues as mentioned by the above poster. Fitment isn't as good as stock, with about an eighth inch gap, but it doesn't bother me yet and could probably be improved slightly. Side note, the mounting method using those two captured metal pins is real stupid. Needs a ton of force to remove the tailight and then seating the new tailight is a struggle to sort out if you have the pin fully seated. Oh well.

 

[SHAD0W]

I'll add that in my attempts to get the rear right light to blink properly (with the engine running as that's only when it doesn't work, minus hazards.....

I recall seeing hyperflash issues mentioned a looonng time ago on these threads, and people kept mentioning resistors in the rear, mounting methods, etc.. Some folks reached out to me via PM, and I've always suggested that the resistors be mounted in the front, with the front signals. I have no particular rhyme or reason for this, aside from wanting to mount the resistors on a metal surface. Mounting them in the rear left no other option but to mount the resistor on the plastic body of the tail lamp--despite being an easy location to maintain and access, when compared to the front. But mounting them in the front have yielded no problems for me or anyone that reached out to me, so far. So in short, try mounting the resistors up front instead of in the rear. Tail lights lookin sharp! Good luck.

 

[klr-b-scl]

Finally pulled the trigger today. Ebay is giving a 20% discount on anything today so I bought some taillights for me and of course something for the wife so she doesn't kill me! Hahahaha

 

[expoman55]

Howdy, There are a lot of mods out there but I dont remember seeing any on rear lights. I stumbled across these by Torcia Auto and found them interesting.. actually Quite ingenious No drill or rewiring just really plug and play..

Wondered what you all think of them. I am posting 2 links as one is about the lights and the other is the install. I would not even consider them if the install wasnt so simple.. Does make them a little steroidy so to speak.

Thoughts? BTW they are 1/2 price on ebay. Have to watch the install video to appreciate their engineering I think.

 

[peterk9]

This has already been posted. I believe they are the same lights. In fact, some member have already done the mod. Still trying to find the posts.

Peter