typhoonorchid

That IS pretty cool, looks OEM....not ricey at all.

So were you saying above, that just replacing your stock bulbs with those LED replacement bulbs are not very effective during the day? I wasn't quite following that part.

leov36

when i first did this mod, everything worked great, now im having a problem with my passanger side light, the brake/blinker is dimmer than the driver side (this is the same problem 1epoxybox had) when i bypassed the modded trailer harness, the brightness came back. so its either a problem with the trailer harness, or the resistors. i used the same exact resistors as snowromance suggested. i need help!

scionkidd

I know its too much to ask... but can this be done for the TYCs for the tC?
can i please get the wiring diagram

snowromance

"LED bulbs" that you buy and plug in the socket of your tail lights are complete garbage. They are illegal and will very easily turn someone rear ending you into your fault in the event of an accident. In the daytime, they are practically invisible. At night they illuminate enough to be seen but are not 1/2 as bright as standard filament bulbs. LED plug in bulbs get 2 thumbs down, always. Setting up your LED tail lights to function in this manner is the best option out of anything.

i still don't know what to say about this. i have had no problems at all thus far. have you tried swapping in another trailer harness? you can always buy one and take it back if it doesnt fix the problem. in fact, the one that i bought was in a taped up package someone had returned already :-)

it most definitely can be done. follow the same exact way i did these for the XB. you will stand out on the road far more with LED tail lights functioning as the signal as well. follow the cheezy diagram i made in paint i posted in this thread.

scionkidd

what is the cruise control resistors for?

snowromance

the resistors you are referring to make it so you can still use your cruise control and (in the xb...) not have warning lights on the dash. you need the added resistance in the turn signal circuit to keep the flash rate the same, and also need it in the brake light circuit because for some reason the ecu NEEDS to see you have brake light bulbs working in order to function correctly... or so it seems. im not sure their exact theory on that one.

scionkidd

thanks it makes sense...

i'll see if i can get my hands on the TYC's... I LOVE LED INDICATORS(excuse my british english) thats y i have anzo taillights... but i love the TYC's!!! it doesnt look that hard to do so i'll try it as soon as i get the TYC's.

where did u get the "towing accesory" from?

btw thanks for all your input... and the lights look awesome

snowromance

i got the electronic tail light converter from none other than WAL-MART. i hate that place, but they have the best price on Mobil 1 and electronic tail light converters

leov36

ok, im pretty sure its my converter thats causing my problem. i switched the two taillights, and when i did the passanger side was still dimmer. i have the same exact converter as 1epoxybox posted up, so im thinking they are not the greatest converters. ill see if i can buy a different one somewhere.

boombox069

hey snowromance, awsome write up!!!!!!
i did the conversion and added the resistors to both sides so they wouldnt blink fast and the warning lights not to turn on.

everything was working good until i got the Oznium Piranha Bar and hooked it up to my third brake light. now i have to tap the brake a couple of times for them to light up.

i was reading back a few pages, was i also supposed to put a resistor on the 3rd brake light wires.
what could be the problem

snowromance

thanks man. it was something so simple that would make these lights look SO much better... I had to share it with everyone instead of just keeping it to myself :-)

im a little confused with your question... you have to "tap the brake a couple of times for them to light up"...

for what to light up? i dont understand this. i dont really know anything about the piranha bar except that it's made from an LED that's night really bright enough IMO to be used for a signal or indicating light. inside the vehicle is fine, but i do not recommend them for a brake light at all.

I am running the sonar lights, with my mod, and one of my LED 3rd brakelights and I have no problems as long as I have the resistors installed across my turn signal circuits AND brake light circuits, like in the diagram.

sure you got it wired correctly? thanks again, and glad you like it.

boombox069

the tail lights whrere lighting up bright and at the same time when i hit the brakes.....
then a friend showed me a link to another tech here on s.l.

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=224423


where they used this particular light bar as thier 3rd break light....
now sometimes when i hit the breaks none of the lights turn on (tail/3rd brake light) at night when i have all the lights on, all work fine. but the same thing sometimes i have to tap the breaks twice to "wake up the brake lights" either way (with all lights on at night or in the day when none of the lights are on)
a little better? any help would be greatly appriciated
should i put a resistor on the 3rd brake lght or bypass the wire at the top for the 3rd brake and just run a straight wire to the led tails or what do u think

Bsbox

If you don't have cruise control can you omit the 8ohm 20W resistors?

snowromance

no. you will still get the warning lights on the dash. these cars need to see what they think is working, filament light bulbs in the brake light circuit for the car to function normally (no warning lights on the dash). the way you fix that when using LED is using an approximately 20watt resistor wired parallel in the brake light circuit.

Bsbox

where did you order your resistors from? superbrightleds doesn't have that size. since you said the way you have in in the schamtic works perfectly i want to stick to it exactly....I want to do this mod and put 4 luxeon leds in for the reverse lights so the are mega bright. Do you foresee any issues with that idea? I only ask because you said you used the stock filament bulbs for reverse lights. Right now i only have filament bulbs as turns and use some other pretty bight LED bulbs for reverse. I did have LED turn bulbs with 3 or 6 ohm resistors on each side but took all that out because they sucked during the day. Safety is the priority...looks are second. BTW i'm still loving my 3rd brake light retrofit you made for me.

snowromance

the 50watt i just grabbed on ebay i think, i dont remember for sure. what's important is the wattage. the resistor needs to "suck" at least the same as a standard filament bulb. the 20watt i just needed the same day and grabbed from radio shack down the street out of their little component drawers. They don't sell 50watt so i took a chance and as it turned out, the 20watts worked just fine for the brake lighting circuit.

The luxeon LEDs create alot of heat, unlike Lumileds superflux. As long as they are sinked i wouldn't foresee them being a problem. How are you going to install them? Are you going to cut out the backside of the lights behind the reverse sections for them to provide an even spread of light? That's my next plan so far really :-) I just used 4 clear light bulbs for reverse for now until i get around to future modifications.

No way! Really!? (sarcasm lol) I think everyone tries or more hopes that they will work. Don't worry, you are not the first one. AT LEAST YOU ARE SMART ENOUGH TO SEE THEY ARE NO WAY NEAR BRIGHT ENOUGH. You wouldn't believe how many people just run plug&play "LED bulbs" as their brake or turn signal lighting and insist they are bright enough. I'm sorry but those things are invisible in the daytime. Just wait until they get plowed into and have to learn the hard way that a rear end accident becomes your fault when you install crap "LED bulbs" in your tail lights. All of them are garbage. It's just nice hearing someone intelligent enough to realize this. There's very few of you out there :-)

If you need any more help, feel free to ask. I understand that for some people this project can seem like a wiring nightmare but it is so worth it when you're done. The outcome is awesome for turn signals. What's funny is when someone with the same exact lights approach you and are like "where did you get THOSE ones!!"

Bsbox

the luxeon bulbs are plug and play if we're understanding each other. they are 7440 single luxeon bulb units with a 130 degree spread if i remember correctly and are like $20 a piece. i wasn't going to cut anything...just plug them in. i currently use two 7440 multi-led bulbs as reverse lights but they are not the luxeon and i'm not using any resistors with them...no problem. i want to use four luxeon...one for each of the 7443/7440 sockets. it would be just like how you are using filament bulbs there but i would use these luxeon bulbs. do you have any concerns with that as far as overheating or needing resistors in addition to what's in you schematic? Would this cause any problems that you can see? this would be along with your trailer converter brake/turn mod of course. sorry if i'm hard to understand but it's 3am here. I forgot to mention that the reason i like and want to stick with led reverse bulbs is because i want them to match the led license plate bulbs i have.

snowromance

added new video to original post with the license plate lights i put together.

snowromance

ok i thought you were going to do something custom with Luxeon LEDs. if they are just a plug&play "LED bulb" i dont really have much faith in it. no matter what LED they claim to use. If they really are using Luxeons (and that's a very good high power LED) and there is no visible heatsink on the LEDs i wouldn't waste my time with them as they are bound to overheat and fail on you. Those LEDs require heatsinking if you want any longevity out of them. Feel free to try them out, it's your money, but don't be surprised if they die on you. They should have no effect on the electronic tail light converter as the reverse light circuit never goes through the converter. it stays isolated and in fact is the only thing being connected when you plug in the stock wire harness if you have it wired exactly like mine.

I know what you mean about uniformity... i like to keep all my lighting as close as possible to the same color temperatures. As soon as i have some time i'm going to be gutting the back of these sonar tails and swapping LEDs and adding a custom reverse board with even light disbursement.

PregoRollerSkate

Can you not take the yellow and black wire and just tap them into the existing led wires?