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
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
