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10-15-2010, 04:22 PM
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Do not touch the trim!
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,022
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3rd brake light LED project
Here's a little something I've been working on...
LINK to my 3rdBL's photobucket pages in case these images get moved or deleted.
It's still got a way to go, but it's a good start.
The backside of the PCB's have been sprayed with several coats of liquid spray electrical tape to seal the electronics.
I painted the front of the PCB's to match the reflector colors... the brown PCB could be seen a little before, now they pretty much disappear.
The red section is crazy bright! I believe the 5mm leds have a rating of 15,000 mcd each & the white leds have a rating of 12k - 15k mcd each.
Still waiting on the correct resistors & some new wiring connectors before I can glue in the red PCB.
I had the red/white lens sanded & buffed to near perfection, but it's managed to get a few scuffs & scratches while working on it, so I'll need to wet sand it back down to 1000 grit & buff it back out again after it's been assembled.
I still need to sand & paint the mounting portion due to some nicks in the black plastic from disassembling the lens.
My next one is gonna be an all red 3rd brake light for my truck. I'm going to connect the outer red led panels to my turn signals so they blink.
Thought about using 3mm leds on the next one, but that means over 2x as many leds to solder into place
__________________
'96 XLT, 4.0L, 4x4 Auto, Super Cab, K&N Filter, Dual Exhaust, 200a Alt, Clear Corners, BUGGMAN LED's, Expo Power Seats & Console, LED modded '01 Tails
Need LED's? Send me a PM
LINKS... Click 'em - - -> BUGGMAN PICS - - -BUGGMAN'S YouTube Channel - - -BUGGMAN'S FaceBook
Last edited by buggman; 11-19-2010 at 01:01 AM.
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10-15-2010, 04:33 PM
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The Old Guy
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 4,824
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
Lookin good!
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10-15-2010, 04:51 PM
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dumpster fire
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 5,363
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
i like it! i think you should make me one!
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10-15-2010, 05:17 PM
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THE COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 3,962
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
i'll take one please
__________________
2001 Ford Ranger Supercab (4dr), Oxford White, 4.0 Sohc, 4x4, Manual trans (hurst equipped), 4:10's, 3" body lift.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Demon-FX4
The Edgeman sees his prey and strikes out from the darkness.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rango88
Dont f+ck with Ch+ck
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10-15-2010, 09:13 PM
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Do not touch the trim!
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,022
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
HA! thanks guys...
You guys will have to fight Clinton over this one.
I may have to change future models a little though... the lens is a PAIN to get off.
Next time I might have to trim some of the back side off to mount the PCB's from behind (that sounded dirty for some reason)... to save a few hours fighting with the lenses.
This one will allow the OEM bulb holders to pop right in the OEM spots, although I'm looking for some better T10 bases.
Pricing TBD... I'll make up a For Sale thread when I have another one done.
Which would be the most popular? WHITE/ RED/WHITE or ALL RED??
__________________
'96 XLT, 4.0L, 4x4 Auto, Super Cab, K&N Filter, Dual Exhaust, 200a Alt, Clear Corners, BUGGMAN LED's, Expo Power Seats & Console, LED modded '01 Tails
Need LED's? Send me a PM
LINKS... Click 'em - - -> BUGGMAN PICS - - -BUGGMAN'S YouTube Channel - - -BUGGMAN'S FaceBook
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10-15-2010, 09:26 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 14,046
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
I think both will look great!!!
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10-16-2010, 01:03 PM
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Drivin Slow & Lookin Good
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,280
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
If i would buy one, it'd be an all red one.
__________________
2001 Ford Ranger XLT. 4x4 | Harvest Gold
JVC Stereo | K&N Air Filter | Bushwacker Bed Rails & Tailgate Cap | Recon LED "White Lightning" Light Bar | Smoked Corners | Curt Hitch | Low Profile Black Diamond Plate UWS Toolbox | Stock Ranger Rubber Floormats | Bwad's old '06+ Tail Lights | '08 All Red 3rd Brake Light | 15% Tinted Windows | Blacked Out Headlights | Painted Honeycomb Black | Black Ford Ovals | Fog Light Mod |Silver Star Ultras| '06+ Fender Badges | Hornblasters Air Horn | Tremor Rims
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10-16-2010, 01:15 PM
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THE COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 3,962
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
Quote:
Originally Posted by buggman
WHITE/RED/WHITE
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i'll still tak one please.lol
__________________
2001 Ford Ranger Supercab (4dr), Oxford White, 4.0 Sohc, 4x4, Manual trans (hurst equipped), 4:10's, 3" body lift.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Demon-FX4
The Edgeman sees his prey and strikes out from the darkness.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rango88
Dont f+ck with Ch+ck
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11-01-2010, 09:09 PM
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Do not touch the trim!
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,022
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
Small update...
Some progress, backwards then forwards.
I had this one all sealed up ready to go, but I had a few new ideas & I decided to take it all back apart again & start over.
I installed different resistors & added 12v regulators to all 3 panels. The old setup's brightness greatly depended on the voltage of the vehicle, ie: if your truck only puts out 12v, they would be at minimum brightness, if your truck puts out 14.4v, they'd be at max brightness.
I felt bad for those of you with only 12v output only getting the minimum brightness, so I put in voltage regulators so that no matter what voltage your truck outputs, the led panels only get 12v +/-. I was then able to use resistors that allowed max brightness at 12v +/- so everybody's led panels will have the same output.
Panel #1 is just about ready to put back together now & I've been experimenting on my all red version in the meantime.
Panels #3 and so on will have a slightly different design, as it took me half a day to get each one of the lenses off the first two.
I'm going to be designing the rest to mount from the back side which should speed up the process considerably.
At some point, I MAY even do one using more than double the amount of 3mm leds, but for now I'll be using my high output 5mm leds.
I plan on wiring the outer 2 sections of mine up to my turn signals so they blink. But if you wanted to, you could connect all 3 sections (on the all red BL's) together to have a huge amount of red light.
Or, if you use one with the cargo lights, you could connect the white sections into your reverse lights to add a little more backup lighting.
Hopefully I'll get some more pics later this week... maybe even some night time pics.
__________________
'96 XLT, 4.0L, 4x4 Auto, Super Cab, K&N Filter, Dual Exhaust, 200a Alt, Clear Corners, BUGGMAN LED's, Expo Power Seats & Console, LED modded '01 Tails
Need LED's? Send me a PM
LINKS... Click 'em - - -> BUGGMAN PICS - - -BUGGMAN'S YouTube Channel - - -BUGGMAN'S FaceBook
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11-02-2010, 06:08 AM
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grumpy old ford driver
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,286
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
nice work
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2001 Ranger Edge 4x4 , Stepside,FRF decals, 4.0L SOHC decals, Primus IQ brake controller, curt 2" rec. hitch, custom winch mount,
Tinted glass, Yellow BUGGMAN OVALS a real treat to have. OHC, CB, night vision goggles, 36" periscope,
DiabloAmarillo = The Yellow Devil
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11-03-2010, 11:02 PM
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Do not touch the trim!
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,022
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
11-4-10 Update.
Finally got a little more work done on this project & some pics too.
Here's some shots of the nearly finished product, some shots setting on my chair in the garage in pitch darkness with no flash.
No outside shots, it was raining something awful tonight.
A few shots after it's been re-assembled, buffed & painted again.
I even siliconed all the openings above the outer cargo lights & ran a nice bead of silicone around the top & down the sides to ensure a better seal (last thing I want is this dang thing to leak).
Did I mention this thing is BRIGHT?
I've just started on #3, which will have the LED panels mounted from the back side (that still sounds dirty). There will be a couple less LED's on the rest, but I doubt if 4 more LED's is gonna make that much difference.
As soon as I have #3 and so on finished, I'll be posting a For Sale thread in the Classifieds section with a link here. Pricing is TBD, but I'll try to keep 'em reasonable.
__________________
'96 XLT, 4.0L, 4x4 Auto, Super Cab, K&N Filter, Dual Exhaust, 200a Alt, Clear Corners, BUGGMAN LED's, Expo Power Seats & Console, LED modded '01 Tails
Need LED's? Send me a PM
LINKS... Click 'em - - -> BUGGMAN PICS - - -BUGGMAN'S YouTube Channel - - -BUGGMAN'S FaceBook
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11-03-2010, 11:56 PM
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Oh Yup!
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,695
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
oh this thing is saweet
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"I thought this was America!"-Randy Marsh
2003 fx4 4.10, maxed tbars, 5000k HIDS 3157 silverstar bulbs, expo ohc, alons mag light holder, 06+ tails, throttle cable mod, air box mod
360tag:BEEFS7A7US
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11-04-2010, 12:31 AM
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Turd Generation Ranger
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,972
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
That thing is sex and a half!
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1997 Ford Ranger 2.3L
It's lowered and stuff.
My Build Thread
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11-04-2010, 05:23 AM
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Ford Ranger Driver
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 775
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
Thats badass dude. I'd love to get one but I already a year ago back bought a smiked 3rd LED brake light. Once pricing is available i might change mind though.
__________________
Current Vehicle: 2000 Red Ford Ranger XLT SuperCab
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spidey2011
You should probably listen to this guy. He's actually giving you constructive advice, rather than laughing at you like the rest of us are.
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11-09-2010, 12:06 AM
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Do not touch the trim!
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,022
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Re: 3rd brake light LED project
Here's a LINK to my For Sale thread.
__________________
'96 XLT, 4.0L, 4x4 Auto, Super Cab, K&N Filter, Dual Exhaust, 200a Alt, Clear Corners, BUGGMAN LED's, Expo Power Seats & Console, LED modded '01 Tails
Need LED's? Send me a PM
LINKS... Click 'em - - -> BUGGMAN PICS - - -BUGGMAN'S YouTube Channel - - -BUGGMAN'S FaceBook
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