cool

 

yea sure man. i have all the parts and supplies you would need. the cost for a DIY kit is gonna average about $1 per LED. not because that is how much i will let them go for individually...i would include the board, LEDs, and resistors, with free help how to hook everything up :-)

for reference... the ones i make and help other people make that fits in your stock 3rd brake light assembly has 20. The extra long bar that i made for my box has 60. i thought about going across the whole back window but everyone aleady complains that im blinding them how it is now so im just gonna leave it as is.

if anybody wants a DIY kit for any LED projects let me know... i got everything you need so you dont have to search online. i buy in bulk :-)

 

dang man thats alot of work. that isnt something i could make in a few hours like the regular 3rd brake lights. honestly, i dont think you would be interested in this 1, because mounting it will probably be a pain, and 2, the cost. Mine has 60 LEDs....to extend to the edges of the window would most likely double that if not a little bit more, and many hours in making it...i would have to charge you like $200 to make it even worth my time. im sorry :-(

If i thought you would be in love with it when it was done, i would offer to make it. But the biggest problem with making a big bar of LEDs across the back window is MOUNTING it. I think mine looks rather cheesy if you look up close in the daytime as its just glued to the chrome reflector of the stock 3rd brake light assembly with no lense or anything over it.

I am definitely open to ideas if anyone on this forum has an idea of how to mount the huge strip of PC board and LEDs in the back window area there. im stumped on that part as to how to make it a "clean" install.

 

You betcha, oh yeah i still aint seen that grill installed yet When you gonna let me see it glowin.

 

Cool man, Let me get some money together and i will PM ya , i think this would be a good project for the winter since i don't like to go outside in the cold, I hate the cold.

 

I don't know if you can see the black sheet of acrylic at the bottom of this picture or not. What about cutting a long strip of acrylic and putting edges on it and attaching that to the reflector? You really don't need that chrome reflector. it would cover the board like the black shroud does on stock xBs.

 

that is a VERY good idea...ill see what i can come up with. a sheet of abs plastic would work i think too. i guess i would just have to make my own shrouds.

 

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I was also thinking it would look even cleaner if you could modify the current shroud to fit over the black bar shroud you would make. Know what I am saying?

 

well thanx for the info, yea thats a little more then I would like to pay for something like that. I must say that if I had the cash that I would deff let you make me something b/c yours are really good looking.

 

PM sent Donnie.

 

This is something I've been thinking about for awhile now but never had the ***** to do.

What value resistors did you use and are the LEDs wired in series or parallel? How did you prevent the fast blinking of the turn signals?

 

you'd be amazed at what you can do if you just go for it :-)

i wired everything in series-parallel. used many different resistance values 100, 120, 330, etc... (depends on how much resistance i needed in the circuit). i controlled the flash rate with 8ohm/50watt resistors and i think it was 8ohm/20watt resistors i used in the brake light circuit so that i'd still be able to use my cruise control.

Believe it or not, cars now have some kind of resistance check going on with the cruise control brain and associated brake light wiring that prevent the use of cruise control if it doesnt sense via resistance that you have brake light bulbs. crazy stuff i dont understand.

 

where did you get the LEDs? Was wondering about the specs of those LEDs.

 

I use the only real superflux LEDs on the market... bench checked from the manufacturer. These are rated at 70mA unlike the ones you find on ebay and other websites rated at 20mA.


LUMILEDS

 

What would it cost me to have a set made that would just fit above the reflector and do just the brake and turn signal functions? I candied my lenses and that way I would use the stock backup light.

 

are you talking me make the boards with LEDs and sending them to you so you can install them?

 

Sorry I was not clear. You said you had the stuff available for do it yourself kits that you had assembled. If it is just soldering stuff together I could probably do that myself. I would just need to components for maybe two sets of tailights. My zip code is 30040.

Thanks

Gardiner

 

so you would need a couple sections of PC board(~$25). if you go with my exact design you would need 152 LEDs (~$75), 36 resistors(~$7)

and im assuming you have a soldering iron and solder. so you'd be looking at right around $110.

thats for 1 set of tail lights. if you wanted supplies for 2 sets of tail lights... double everything, i would just say $200 shipped.

the one thing with LED projects...cost adds up quickly :-( you will find that making your own custom LED tail lights sometimes cost more than buying aftermarket. But then again, aftermarket dont give that satisfaction from creating something yourself from scratch.

lemme know if you're interested. i do have everything you need :-)

 

Bump because I am finally back in the states from Europe and am able to help with questions about retro-ing your tail lights.

Hope everyone is doing well.

 

Welcome back, sir.