LED Third Brake Light with Turn Signals! [Archive]

lonnie

04-09-2009, 12:40 PM

I've been inspired by members on here to create my own version of the LED third brake light. Figured I'd get the thread creating out of the way. I will be utilizing the ideas of members that have already done the LED conversion mod. The design I came up with is below....Belive it or not it took me some time to figure out how to do this so that the signal lights would still be distinguishable from the brake light when the brake light is applied. This is what I came up with.
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Right now I'm waiting for my LED's to be delivered, and in the mean time I have made my template to cut the material that the LED's will rest on. I will also be painting the inside of the housing black...I think it will make the LED's stand out more. It may not be many people interested in this type of modification, but I figured I'd post something from begining to end that way if someone wants to do it they can. This will be a very easy process that anyone with no wiring expierence can complete in 30 mins. So bear with me it is going to take about a week for the LED's to get here so in the interim I may just post pics of things that I have done to prepare for there arrival, then post pics of mounting them in the housing and final assembly and wire. This whole project should be done next weekend!

kevin1114

04-09-2009, 01:32 PM

Nice i can't wait to see the finished product!

NickAlero2000

04-09-2009, 02:08 PM

Should come out good...prolly will have to use a lot of LED's to make it turn out nice, make sure you allow for that in the template.

lonnie

04-09-2009, 02:38 PM

Yeah I thinking now on squeezing all of that in there, but I'm excited to get this going. Been thinking about this for a long time now!

cavaliers60

04-09-2009, 03:47 PM

Just my opinion, but I really don't see the point in having turn signals in the MIDDLE of the car..........

lonnie

04-09-2009, 06:22 PM

Just my opinion, but I really don't see the point in having turn signals in the MIDDLE of the car..........
Its different thats all. No reason at all I just think its cool, and no one else has it.

I also find my self drawn to the the middle of the car that is in front of me as well. There have been studies that showed that Third brake lights have reduced accidents significantly, and I'm just improving on the design...I'm sure I'm not the only one that sees the third brake light first before I see anything else.

cherrington17

04-09-2009, 06:45 PM

lonnie

04-09-2009, 07:06 PM

it really makes me wonder why mine isn't as bright as it should be.

w/o the red cover, it could light up my project room like it was daytime. now with that cover on it, its really dim. (nearly as dim as stock, if not more) i'm confused.

65 leds should be really freak'n bright!
do they have resistors on them...could be to much? I got 2ft of ribbon style flixible leds in cool white...I don't know how many LED's that is but it cost 30 bucks so it better be allot..LOL

Hey have you tried spraying the reflecter with a more reflective material. I want to try and cut the light down so that the LED's can bee seen...don't really need it to be bright due to the fact that I hooked the other tail lights up to be brake lights as well.

cherrington17

04-09-2009, 07:10 PM

the plexy they are mounted in, is painted black, on the back side. (very lightly)

and no, they are wired in series.

lonnie

04-09-2009, 07:19 PM

the plexy they are mounted in, is painted black, on the back side. (very lightly)

and no, they are wired in series.
You know by having them hooked in series you are dividing the voltage between them all? Could be the source of your dim problem...of course I'm assuming that you have two leads (+) and (-) coming from the assembly. If you are running all the same color then you could hook them up parallel and give each LED the full 12v...unless they are low volt LED's

cherrington17

04-09-2009, 07:55 PM

3.6V. grouped in clusters of 4. and they are most definitely running at full brightness. without the red reflector infront of it.. it leaves spots in your eyes... for nearly an hour. :lol:

(made that mistake several dozen times while testing connections)

nixon

04-10-2009, 02:05 PM

oh dear god i hated doing that...telling my friend no wait one sec before u hook that...ohh jesus thats bright

lonnie

04-13-2009, 07:27 PM

Well got the LED's today and I ordered the wrong type of ribbon LED's. I needed the ones that your can bend when laying flat...Well I got the ones that can wrap around but not bend...So I have to order some more.

On another note oznium is a rip off. I paid and extra 4 bucks for shipping by regular mail, and the shipping cost was only 83 cents....RIP OFF indeed! They charged me a flat rate for two 12inch strips.

heineck

04-13-2009, 07:34 PM

im interested to see how this comes out

cherrington17

04-13-2009, 07:39 PM

lonnie

04-13-2009, 07:46 PM

They should know better the to charge me 4 bucks for that crap. Oh well but I'll have to order more in order to finish this. So now I have to order about 7 more bucks of LED's and get charged 4 bucks for shipping. The things I do to be different..LOL

cherrington17

04-13-2009, 07:49 PM

whats the link to the ones you ordered?

lonnie

04-13-2009, 07:50 PM

I just thought of this insteadd of wrapping the signal LED's around the brake LED's I can make two straight lines of LED's and just divde the second one evenly for the signals. I think its like 18 on a 12inch strip so I can do 9 for the left and etc for the right. The big think now is finding a material to mount them to.

They come with the 3M adhesive on the back which is a plus! I'm thinking of just using some card board or that modeling foam?

http://www.oznium.com/led-ribbon

cherrington17

04-13-2009, 07:52 PM

plexi?

lonnie

04-13-2009, 07:53 PM

This is what I am going to have to get if I don't to the double line thing.
http://www.oznium.com/led-flex-strips

cherrington17

04-13-2009, 07:53 PM

so.... what was it that you ordered?

lonnie

04-13-2009, 07:54 PM

plexi?
Well I thought about that but I'm working with limited tools. Being that I switched jobs so I'm thinking of something that is stiff but fairly easy to cut with hand tools. These LED's wont put off any heat really.

lonnie

04-13-2009, 07:55 PM

so.... what was it that you ordered?
I ordered the Led ribbon, but will have to get some of the flexi.

cherrington17

04-13-2009, 07:56 PM

http://www.oznium.com/led-ribbon ??

if you end up not using them.. i'll probably buy them off ya. :lol:

lonnie

04-13-2009, 07:56 PM

http://www.oznium.com/led-ribbon ??

if you end up not using them.. i'll probably buy them off ya. :lol:
I'll let you know. I damn sure wont charge 4 bucks for shipping ...LOL

I will say this it is a pretty good product...very well done, and very neat.

This is the way to go when there are clearance issues or finding a way to mount them. I could just stick them to the inside if I wanted to but I wouldn't be able to see the LED's.

PappaSmurf

04-14-2009, 01:14 AM

Lonnie,
If you continue on with this project maybe I would be willing to pay the shipping for you. However it comes off the bill of you making me one too. LOL
-Smurf-

lonnie

04-14-2009, 07:47 AM

Lonnie,
If you continue on with this project maybe I would be willing to pay the shipping for you. However it comes off the bill of you making me one too. LOL
-Smurf-HaHa I should have this done this weekend, unless I go on this annual bike ride on the beach, and I'll get pics up just got to figure out if I'm going to use the ones I got....which I paid a fortune for....or if I'm going to go all flexi or not. :lol: :lol:

We will see, if a enough people like them enough I would be willing to make them just for the cost to ship it to that person. They of course would have to send me there brake light of course.....We'll see! This is just a little project to keep me out of trouble..:lol:

Nate's Alero

04-14-2009, 08:46 AM

well, ill pay for you or someone to make me one! i want one wit at least 80 leds... please?

lonnie

04-14-2009, 08:51 AM

well, ill pay for you or someone to make me one! i want one wit at least 80 leds... please?
You may want to go with Cherry's design then..with my design I will only need about 36. I think Cherry's has like 85 or some ungodly amount of LED's :lol:. Cav's only has one strip in his of like 16 to 18 LED's to mimick the impala's LED tail light.

Nate's Alero

04-14-2009, 08:52 AM

You may want to go with Cherry's design then..with my design I will only need about 36. I think Cherry's has like 85 or some ungodly amount of LED's :lol:. Cav's only has one strip in his of like 16 to 18 LED's to mimick the impala's LED tail light.

well, i do like the turn signal idea, can you possibly make me one? 36 should blind someone is placed correctly :lol:

lonnie

04-14-2009, 08:56 AM

well, i do like the turn signal idea, can you possibly make me one? 36 should blind someone is placed correctly :lol:
Well let me figure it out first and if it works out then sure.

Nate's Alero

04-14-2009, 08:59 AM

Well let me figure it out first and if it works out then sure.

haha ok,

me=lazy

you=smart

me+your light = :yahoo:

cherrington17

04-14-2009, 09:02 AM

You may want to go with Cherry's design then..with my design I will only need about 36. I think Cherry's has like 85 or some ungodly amount of LED's :lol:. Cav's only has one strip in his of like 16 to 18 LED's to mimick the impala's LED tail light.

hey! only 65!

and mine isn't bright at all. :glare: i'll try to remember to get pics tonight.

lonnie

04-14-2009, 09:09 AM

hey! only 65!

and mine isn't bright at all. :glare: i'll try to remember to get pics tonight.
Who was it using like 80 to 100...I think it was the guy making all the custom lights! Yeah get pics and post here..I want to see if you can see the LED's...if you can try and take them like 10 to 15ft away..if you don't mind.

lonnie

04-15-2009, 01:55 PM

Being that I was off because I was sick...I decided to get started. First I completely changed my mind on how I was going to mount them. After much debate I decided to cut a piece of shoe box that was stiff enough to support the ribbon LED's.
6348
Self explanitory...soldering..and it was a bitch to solder these surface mounts..maybe it was because of the type of wire I had, and not having a clamp..but it was still a bitch.LOL
6350
After the templae was cut and the wires soldered to the LED strip I mounted the first LED strip to it. I mounted it on the dark side to cut down on any reflections...will this work..I don't know but I will see...LOL..I also painted the inside of the reflector housing a non reflective green to cut down on any reflections as well.
6349
Here is the start of one of the Turn Signal Led strips
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After getting the soldering done on both strips I mounted them on the template...you may or may not be able to see but the strips actually over lap one another..just so that they could fit within the reflector.
6352
And here it is My Third Brake Light with Turn signals..the black\red leads are for the brake light, and the green\black leads are for the turn signals. I haven't put it together with the housing yet because as I mentioned above I painted it and I'm waiting for it to dry. Secondly I have to get some silicone and run a bead around the inside edge of the reflector just to protect the strip even more. Is it necessary maybe not but it keeps me sane.
6353
And this is what it looks like from the front...not to noticeable that it has been changed unless it is in the light and the strip reflects the light. These Leds are suppose to have a viewing angle of 120 degrees from 0 so it should look good no matter what angle. The proof will come this weekend. Maybe...Maybe not?
6354

I'll post up some pics of it all together later on. Not going to install this until this weekend so we'll see.
If you do a project like this it would be best to test the LED's first...it didn't dawn on me until it was glued in to the reflector...luckily..(knock on wood) they all appeared to be working.

lonnie

04-15-2009, 02:04 PM

Here are some pics with the lens mounted back on the reflector. Excuse me if I call something the wrong name...I'm sick sue me...LOL

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6356

6357

lonnie

04-15-2009, 07:16 PM

I'm thinking about doing the side mirror turn signal mod now! These surface mounts will be perfect for that.

cavaliers60

04-15-2009, 07:28 PM

Its different thats all. No reason at all I just think its cool, and no one else has it.

I also find my self drawn to the the middle of the car that is in front of me as well. There have been studies that showed that Third brake lights have reduced accidents significantly, and I'm just improving on the design...I'm sure I'm not the only one that sees the third brake light first before I see anything else.

That's true.... Goodluck with it and I can't wait to see the finished product.

cavaliers60

04-15-2009, 07:34 PM

Looks good. I'm thinking about redoing my LED 3rd brake light in the fall. I also need to put LEDs in my passenger mirror so both mirrors have the turn signals again...

lonnie

04-15-2009, 07:40 PM

Looks good. I'm thinking about redoing my LED 3rd brake light in the fall. I also need to put LEDs in my passenger mirror so both mirrors have the turn signals again...
Thanks!

Yeah I was going back through the old threads and wanted to ask you if you took your mirror off? Cause I think these surface mount LED's that I used for the Third brake light would be perfect for this application. These things are expensive but they give you the advantage of mounting in a small space. The adhesive backing is an added bonus.

I'm thinking of getting two more 12 inch strips and mounting them on the inside of the mirror on the top. I just have to get the mirror off without breaking it.

cherrington17

04-15-2009, 07:56 PM

mine wouldn't come off. i broke the mounts AND motor trying to pry it free. so if it doesn't come off easily... LEAVE IT.

cavaliers60

04-15-2009, 08:13 PM

I had no issues taking mine off. I just grabbed it by the bottom and gently pulled up and out. They came off nicely.

lonnie

04-15-2009, 09:47 PM

It must be the year of car or something...I'll hold off on that until I can figure it out.

In the mean time...I had an epiphany..."It would be nice to just plug this thing in instead of tapping into a bunch of wires"....so I did just that I took the part that the bulbs go into and ran 3 lines of solder two for the grounds and one for the power. I had to look at the drawing to figure which was which and then I marked them with sharpie red and black respectively. Below of some pics of just that....so now I only have to tap the hot wire on the signals...this is going to be a real easy install. Only problem I have had is that a bit of the glue seeped out in to the red lens...I'm hoping that it doesn't take away to bad but I'll see.
6358

6359

6360

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6362

Nate's Alero

04-15-2009, 09:49 PM

looking good!

lonnie

04-15-2009, 09:55 PM

looking good!
Thank you...I'll see how it works this weekend. I'll try to do a video with the camera...or my cell phone...and post it some where...I don't know...getting there...LOL

I wonder if this is going to cause any lights to pop on...I already have LED's for all my rear lights and get the fast blinking which I like...but I wonder if this will cause a light...can't wait to find out...if I get some good weather one day I get off work this wee I'll try it then.

cherrington17

04-15-2009, 10:07 PM

ha. exactly what i did... just solder the lines onto the existing copper signal wires.

speaking of which.. i gotta go take pics.

Edit: Alright. Heres my setup. Its not very bright from an angle... but its UBER bright head on. which... i guess most are.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0298.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0299.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0300.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0301.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0376.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0308.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0307.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0306.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0378.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0379.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0377.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Redesign/CIMG0380.jpg

cherrington17

04-15-2009, 10:31 PM

those connections got cleaned up and trimmed ALOT. it was rather compact when i finished. (the solder in progress pics are on my phone... i'm too lazy to get those)

from above or below.. its about as bright as the outer lights. from the center, its almost painful to look at. :lol:

its hard to tell w/ a camera.

lonnie

04-16-2009, 09:33 AM

First I'm going to push for you to be banned for putting those pics side by side....LOL

That looks pretty damn bright to me...it is on the same level as the other brake lights...Looks really good! Where did you get that plastic material from?

I took mine apart and cleaned out the super glue...I will say this..using super glue isn't the way to go....any big drops will start melting the lense...just a heads up to those out there thinking of using glue.

PappaSmurf

04-16-2009, 11:50 AM

Lonnie,
How bout you get off your lazy butt and finish this thing by taking pics. Then you can start on mine...HAHAHAHA
Just kidding.
-Smurf-

PappaSmurf

04-16-2009, 11:52 AM

Cherry,
For using "80" (or a whole crap load...36) LED's that thing looks awesome. However lonnie is going to make it to where his blink with the turn signals...PPFFFFFFT! LOL
-Smurf-

cherrington17

04-16-2009, 12:58 PM

The original plan was started by yalero. He wanted it to do turning signals AND strobe(a la knight rider) when the brake was applied. He had a multitude is shorts, and scrapped it.

I got if from him, ripped his out(LEDs were red) and did it my own way.

Plastic is dremeled and drilled plexi.

lonnie

04-16-2009, 01:30 PM

Lonnie,
How bout you get off your lazy butt and finish this thing by taking pics. Then you can start on mine...HAHAHAHA
Just kidding.
-Smurf-
LOL.....All done just got to install it...I've been sick for the last week and a half..so working on anything is hard.

lonnie

04-17-2009, 07:34 PM

Well the journey that began in the begining of the week is now complete, and I like it. Its not eye blinding bright but I didn't want it that way...I want people to be able and see the individual LED's, and I think I accomplished that. Here are some pics with out the signals hooked up yet. I actually have AVI video of the signals working I just don't know where to post them.

OFF
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ON
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All on..I wired the lights on the trunk to function as brake lights as well...but I did that along time ago.
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Night pics coming tonight...if anyone want to get a copy of the avi's of the signals working pm me your email and I'll send them. Until I can upload them somewhere. Nevermind I uploaded the videos real quick..check them out.
http://s709.photobucket.com/albums/ww99/lonnieuptegrow/

jayson_waltz

04-17-2009, 07:59 PM

holy hell you need a resistor for your turn signals.

but other than that, looks damn cool

lonnie

04-17-2009, 08:37 PM

holy hell you need a resistor for your turn signals.

but other than that, looks damn cool
I like the fast flashing thats why I left it that way...LOL...but Thanks Here's a night video...and I know my video quality sucks, but until someone buys me a new camera deal with it...:lol:
http://s709.photobucket.com/albums/ww99/lonnieuptegrow/

cherrington17

04-17-2009, 08:48 PM

lonnie.. you fail.

go ungodly bright, or GO HOME. :lol:

(will watch videos when i get home)

lonnie

04-17-2009, 08:52 PM

lonnie.. you fail.

go ungodly bright, or GO HOME. :lol:

(will watch videos when i get home)
LOL...if I did that it would involve allot more work:lol: :lol:, and tools I don't have. I made this with wire strippers, glue, silicone, LED's and a shoe box.....LOL.

You will here me fussing at my son to release the break..just disregard..LOL

lonnie

04-18-2009, 09:11 AM

Please delete this thread!

Nate's Alero

04-18-2009, 09:26 AM

Please delete this thread!

whai? i want to do this also lol

lonnie

04-18-2009, 11:53 AM

whai? i want to do this also lol
Its in the wrong place...I'm going to do a detailed how to.

PappaSmurf

04-18-2009, 09:25 PM

Lonnie,
Dude, YOu third light is sick as hell. I LOVE IT, Now hurry up and finish mine! LOL
-Smurf-

black

04-20-2009, 12:19 PM

that is kinda what i want to do..

sept, i want it to look like a cylon.

or, more to the design of the old t-bird look.

black

04-20-2009, 12:23 PM

but, looks great guys!!!!

lonnie

04-20-2009, 01:03 PM

that is kinda what i want to do..

sept, i want it to look like a cylon.

or, more to the design of the old t-bird look.Its really hard to get any kind of design on these unles you use a whole lot of very small LED's

but, looks great guys!!!!Thanks!

I'm going to try and get that how to up tonight...I haven't had time lately!

Ghadsphi

04-20-2009, 01:42 PM

Oh this was just spam I deleted. But Since I posted I'll make my peace...
Not a big fan of anything other than 1 piece I'm moving that direction markers.
Stuff on the mirrors and honestly stuff like you said, unless it blends just annoyes me. While I think it could be cool if it doesn't syn right it just kinda makes me wanna feed you 2 day old chicken mc nuggets, without sauce.
I guess I'm a big fan of the one blinking side says you're going that way school of thought. Course I'm a computer geek so if you meld it right I might rethink that.

lonnie

04-20-2009, 01:58 PM

black

04-20-2009, 02:35 PM

it just kinda makes me wanna feed you 2 day old chicken mc nuggets, without sauce.

d00d, you just harshed my mellow...

Ghadsphi

04-20-2009, 03:05 PM

Translation please...LOL?
Please drink 750ml of Captain Morgan. It'll all be clear...

cavaliers60

04-20-2009, 03:32 PM

Ghadsphi

04-20-2009, 03:49 PM

What he says, guess I just got used to our SoCal signals, or lack there of.
Round here more signals just means more money and you think people respect that. (1/10 people don't have a licence round here). Guess I should repespct it but around here it would be the same people who put cams in their cars to auto report speeders of 2mph to protect their children. Who in California, may or may not belong to the mother... and she's not sure...WTF...
WTF!?! Spam of your thread...
I don't like the idea but if is your test run, then run it. Guessing this is a predicesor to something greater, like cascading lights, that might catch on. If not you can join me in being proud of your flinstone interior.
I think he's saying he doesn't like the lights in the mirrors.... he just likes the normal way where you just have either the tail light or a turn signal light on the back and nothing else... not a bunch of flashes from different spots on the car..

I KINDA agree to that, but I really do like the LED blinkers in the side mirrors.... They are nice for when you are on the highway and you have someone on the other lane you need to merge on, they may not see the tail end of the car, but they will see the blinker in the side mirror and be nice and back off a bit so you can merge.

as far as the middle brake light, I still think it's kinda weird to have blinkers in it... I mean, yeah you tend to look at that first, but if someone is in a TURN lane, then obviously they are turning that way, and if they are turning off a road, you would see them brake, then see that they are turning by the signal off to the side..... unless you have tunnel vision, thus you shouldn't be driving. :lol:

lonnie

04-20-2009, 03:52 PM

I think he's saying he doesn't like the lights in the mirrors.... he just likes the normal way where you just have either the tail light or a turn signal light on the back and nothing else... not a bunch of flashes from different spots on the car..

I KINDA agree to that, but I really do like the LED blinkers in the side mirrors.... They are nice for when you are on the highway and you have someone on the other lane you need to merge on, they may not see the tail end of the car, but they will see the blinker in the side mirror and be nice and back off a bit so you can merge.

as far as the middle brake light, I still think it's kinda weird to have blinkers in it... I mean, yeah you tend to look at that first, but if someone is in a TURN lane, then obviously they are turning that way, and if they are turning off a road, you would see them brake, then see that they are turning by the signal off to the side..... unless you have tunnel vision, thus you shouldn't be driving. :lol:
I like the idea of blinkers in the side view mirrors..of course there are a hundred different ways to do it and one or two that works..I may give it a shot this summer but not now. I don't get passed much on the road so generally speaking people are always behind me..LOL. If anyone can't see the tail lights of a car and the side mirror at the same time then they don't need to drive either...cause they are mistaken a truck for a car...:lol: