snowromance

So i finally completed the full retros of the stock tail lights the way i pictured them from the beginning. All the work has finally payed off.

Here are the pics over the last couple weeks to help anyone wanting retro the entire tail lights themselves... i know a couple people already have.

stock tail lights


gutted and painted gloss black.


first parts of shaped PC board. added another strip to fill the gap in the upper section as well.


some closeups of the LEDs and soldering on the back of the board as i started making connections.








because I am a nerd i solder all the components to be seen on the outside. like the cool clear gameboys when they came out :-)




i went the route of modifying the stock wire harness and splicing in extra wires to the +/- of each light. Remember LEDs are POLARITY specific. will not work if power and ground is not hooked up accordingly.

again like with my 3rd brakelight retro...this can be returned to stock with another pair of stock tail lights very easily. I didnt like the stock setup of how all the lights were connected through the back of the tail light housing at all anyways.

side by side lens off




side by side lens on.


one light installed to compare against stock.


close-up


and then both lights installed and FINALLY done.


here is in the daylight with just the parking/running lights on.




First off i would like to thank Cadillac, as i completely jacked their design of the new escalade's running lights pattern with the strip of LEDs down the edge. I love the way it looks so thats why i stole it. But im running a completely different turn signal and reverse lights setup so i still claim this as MINE.

All the rest of LEDs in the running/braking portion come on once the brakes are applied and they are wired to be brighter as well for a definite difference in running from braking. The turn signal section shines amber in color. I chose to keep the reflector in there to make it look legal and stock. and at the bottom are the white LEDs that come on for reverse lights. they have that slight bluish color to them, somewhere around 6000k color temperature.

182 total LEDs for both lights. most of the aftermarket ones have 48 LEDs total ive seen, and the signal and reverse are just ghetto plug in filament bulb slots. hence the reason i made my own...

hopefully this helps someone else get the ball rolling on their very own custom retro :-)

brnttoast

Those are cool, I have been toying the idea myself. Where are the resistors? I didn't notice any in the pics.

ROBs-xB

so do the turn signals light up sectioned in a pattern
or do they just blink all together

Ekolu2004

that is sick i wish i had the free time to do that.... =(

snowromance

you can see all the resistors on the upper boards here...


http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...s/DSCF0323.jpg

the turn signals all blink together. There is absolutely no flashy blinky cool sequences of light strands illuminating at different times in these lights.

BoiseAuctioneer

so hawt want to touch the hiney

snowromance

haha. glad you like them.

snowromance

ok here are 2 daytime pics showing running from braking...





hopefully get some night pics up soon.

this also shows my new 3rd brakelight i made the other day and the new exhaust tip. man those tips from autozone are cheap and look great :-)

silverBoX

lights look good man!

snowromance

thanx man. i wish you guys could all see these in person. im still waiting for that first...

"where did you get those tail lights?" cuz they are still the stock light assemblies.

noservice2001

hmm... amazing job there....

peteski

One word: NICE!

Nice touch was to paint the non-reflectorized parts of the reflector black. Im my taillights mod I covered those with silver tape.

I do agree that Caddy SRX and 'slade's taillights look awesome. For many years the tall and skinny taillights were Caddy trademark. Looks like they have sort of gone back to that style.

noservice2001

instead of clear... why not a helix taillight?



or




mod from these, this way its not as "diffused" as the stockies....

snowromance

I love the clear lense of the Helix. Just dont like the $225 price tag to get a pair solely to remove the lense and swap it o my stock housings...if it would even fit.

The Helix look like a good starter assembly to retrofit though...

snowromance

figured it was time to post a video of them in action...



hope that gives a better idea of how they look working. just have to remember its more clean in person and you dont see glare like with video.

jsa3mm

I really wish I were educated in the field of LEDs enough to do that.

snowromance

its not that hard man...just take your time and read about basic electronic principles...if you're still in school i suggest taking an electronics class for a semester.

im always willing to help people with questions too :-)

Gothbox

wow that looks great.

do you think you could make a 3rd brake light as wide as the back glass, and how much would you charge?

thanx.

MrMcNuggett

Why do all the cool people that do cool stuff have to live so far away from me. I want some of these,
I agree with Gothbox, i like his idea. Can you make me a DIY kit and mail it to me, I know how to solder just need a diagram to show me where to put what and the wiring diagram to hook up to the stock wiring.

Gothbox

hey Donnie, if you make one for yourself, are you going to make a 3rd brake light the width of the back glass? Or tail lights?
if you do a 3rd brake light and it works out easy for you will you be willing to make me one, I would be able to drive and pick it up from you.