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LED conversion: High Mount Brake light

trucku

Explorer Addict
Joined
January 25, 2005
Messages
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City, State
Queens, New York and living in Budd Lake, NJ now.
Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 Explorer XLS 4.0 4x4
Parts needed for conversion:
1) 13x 10mm LEDs the brighter the better with resistors for a 12volt system (yes I know running is 14 volts). I bought my LEDs from eBay and they were supposed to send me 560ohm resistors, but sent 470ohm ones instead. I used them anyways to get the most brightness out of LEDs while pushing burning them out. If they burn out I will put in some extra resistors to bring up the ohms.

2) Drill bits 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8. I used a drill to make the 1/8 and 1/4 holes (go slow or the bit will catch and possibly break the reflector, go slowly). To be on the safe side after the 1/4 bit catch a few times, I hand twisted the 3/8 bit.
This worked for me, but I am sure someone can come up with an easier way. I did think about heating the largest bit and plunging it into the plastic to make my holes, but did not want to make a mess or worse.

3) You will need heat shrink tubing to cover the positive leads of the LEDs and the resistors.
4) Electrical tape
5) Solder 60/40 and soldering iron (I tried the "Cold Heat solder iron" and solder it did not work for this kind of soldering. I spent lots of time just trying to get the one resistor soldered to the LED)
6) Thin stranded automotive wire about 2 feet
7) Needle nose pliers
8) Crazy glue, silicone glue or hot glue stick gun (whatever you have)


Read all steps first before doing mod. I had to make changes in the end to make the light work better.

Wanting LED brake lights like the newer cars on the road, I decided to make my own. I picked my high mount brake light as it will be the easiest to convert to LED. Can't say I was unhappy with the brightness of the brake light, but some LEDs would be better... and not get super hot, as you can see with the melted housing and reflector.

After taking apart the housing I started to make my holes. The current brake light had 5 lights. I decided to put one LED on each side of the stock holes. This will give me a total of 13 LEDs mounted.

The plastic reflector looks pretty brittle so I decided to start with a small drill bit and work my way up to a 3/8 inch bit. After making all the holes they needed to be files slightly so the LEDs would fit nicely.
I used some crazy clue to keep them from falling out and then hot glued all the LEDs in place.


I soldered the resistors to the Positive leads on the LEDs. I stripped the insulation off of 2 lengths of wire 12” each. After soldering the wire to Resistors (positive side), I wrapped it all with electrical tape so it does not short out if it makes contact with the body. I left the negative side of the soldered wires unwrapped. I used my tester to find the positive wire from the truck and then knew where to solder my leads. I utilized the stick sockets on the black plastic bulb holder. This was done so I can plug the connector from the truck right in without any issues. I wanted to keep the truck side as stock as possible so if I had issues I can just plug in a stock brake light setup.

NOTE: You will notice the LEDs sit at a 45° angle to all the stock holes. I will skip ahead and say that this will not work too well. I thought the reflectors would be enough to shine all the light out through the brake light, but it was not. What I had to do was take every angled led out ( pain as they were glued) and make the angled holes oblong so the LEDs can all face outwards like the 5 in the stock holes. I used a small 3v battery to test all the LEDs. I tried my best to align them all straight to get the maximum amount of light through brake light. Once again I crazy glued them to hold them still then hot glued them securely.
Unfortunately I had a picture of this procedure, but deleted it by accident from my camera and the light is already mounted.

This was a very loosely detailed write-up. I did not go into every single step, because for many it would be the basics you should know if you’re going to attempt this.

The results were IMO worth it. I am still a newbie with my digital camera so the picture of the brake light in operation does not do it any justice. You can see the different bright spots of the LEDs. The difference is most noticed in daylight or bright light conditions. You can see the LEDs in the sunlight unlike the stock bulbs.

Thanks
 

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Thanks :salute:

Part / Model : X921-50

White LED Set of 50 Super Bright 10mm 130000mcd+ NR F/R

Each Order = 50 LED(s)
Applications:

* Advertising Signs
* Indicators
* Traffic
* Automotive Lighting
* Home Lighting

Features:

* Ultra High Intensity Rating (130000mcd+)
* Sharp Color Rendering
* Low Power Consumption
* Longer Life Time
* I.C. Compatible

Typical Electrical & Optical Characteristics

(Ta=25 Degree C) :

DC forward voltage : VF (IF =20mA)


3.2V-3.4V Typ, 3.8V Max

DC reverse current : IR (VR =5V)


100uA

Intensity luminous : Iv (IF =20mA)


130000mcd+

Packing Dimension

Radiation Diagram

Viewing Angle: 12 Degree

10mm White Narrow

No they are not the Luxeon LEDs. I think the Luxeon were like $5 each, but not sure. I bought 50 Super Bright LEDs and resistors for $18 shipped from ebay. The resistors are 470 ohm resistors.
 






Nice job,and good write up.I may try this sometime.
 






Can this please be moved to " Article Submission For Elite Explorer Membership"


Thanks guys
 












So 3rd gen don't have LED 3rd brake lights from the factory? Yet 2nd gens (only 98-01) do? That knda nutty.. Only Ford.:rolleyes:
 






Looks good. The only thing I do different when converting red lensed lights to LED is use red LED's.
 






It will not be as bright if you use red LEDs. I tried them and the whites were much much brighter. The housing does the color changing and the led supplies the brightness. Now I would use Red leds with a clear housing
 






It will not be as bright if you use red LEDs. I tried them and the whites were much much brighter. The housing does the color changing and the led supplies the brightness. Now I would use Red leds with a clear housing

It all depends on what mcd value the lights have and what resister you are using. I use 18000mcd red LED's and I will have to check the resisters I use. With the right light/resistor combo, it's plenty bright. How many ohms are the resisters you're using? First pic is of the stock signal light bulb in the mirror of my F-150, second pic is of an 8 LED conversion.

right.JPG


left.JPG
 






Read my first post, all the information is there.
My resistor combination will keep the LEDs alive long.

Post your write up...lights look good :thumbsup:
 






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