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So wanted LED tail lights in my 87 so I made some.


odie1969

Well-Known Member
Firefighter
EMT / Paramedic
Joined
Aug 8, 2007
Messages
1,266
City
tempe Az
Vehicle Year
1987
Transmission
Automatic
I thought it would be cool to have LED tail lights in my 87 but I really didn't want altezzas so I came up with a plan to try to build my own. So I decided that I first needed to learn how others are put together. So I looked around craigslist till I found a pair of cheap lead lights for a tahao that were cracked and scratched for $20. So I then had to brake apart my old lens. lucky that the lens were 20yaers old and came apart with just a screwdrivers.
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I then took the led housing with the reflectors(sharp chrome pieces) and cut them to fit in the orginal housing. I epoxyed the reflectors to the housing to keep them in the right postion.
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After I got everything placed where I liked it. I then resealed the lens to the housing with clear silicone and held it together with rubber bands to keep the pressure on.
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I hope you guys like this I will get a pic of the truck when it all done I also have the third brake light as a led but that it a off the self replacement bulb.
 
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i like how simple it is...thats an A-to-B solution if i ever did see one. they are also nice and bright.

wish they were a little more symmetrical though...the odd shape throws the look off.

how did you go about getting a "dim" and a "bright" out of them for the tail/brake/turn functions?
 
i like how simple it is...thats an A-to-B solution if i ever did see one. they are also nice and bright.

wish they were a little more symmetrical though...the odd shape throws the look off.

how did you go about getting a "dim" and a "bright" out of them for the tail/brake/turn functions?

the Leds have to diodes in each light. so the marker/parking lights are dim. and when you hit the brakes/turn signal the brighter diode lights up. and ya I wish they were a little more symmetrical but that what I had. and I hate to say it but that was the easy way to get it to fit. If I was to do it Again witch I might on my 01 I think I will go buy a cheap set of led trailer lights or something of that sort. and make my own reflectors.
 
Those remind me of the lights I custom made on my 89. I even did the same with the housing. I custom made them, with 10mm LEDs. There was about 70 or so per side, and man were they bright. It defiantly got attention. It was probably one of the last modifications I did before the body work and the rollover. They were easier to do then expected, It just took forever to get all the LEDs sodded. Also, do you have the problem with the flasher not flashing, if you are, just switch to an electro-mechanical flasher. (for those of you who don't know, the LEDs are an ultra low load on the system and act like a blown bulb). They look good.
 
So is the IAF always on the front line then?
 
No. The IAFF is.

Props on the creativity. I may try this at some point. You should submit this to the tech library. Definately a more cost effective solution to LED lighting than some options out there.
 

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