Sequential LED Rear Bumper Reflectors

[SpaceGrey_E70]

Here is a little DIY I did to convert my rear bumper reflectors into working running/brake/signal lights. I don't think I've seen anyone do this yet. I think it improves the look of the rear quite a bit and lot more visible light for safety.

Below are the reflectors that I ordered (you could also use your stock ones - my left stock one was damaged). I found them to be as good of quality as OEM. You can see the seller and price I paid ($CDN).




I opened them up with a dremel using a very fine grinding disc. Be sure to not grind away any extra plastic from the reflector housing, if you grind away too much material the housing will fit tighter than original and then the LED board will be too thick.

I couldn't find any specific module for my vehicle so I ordered a pair I liked that was long enough that I could cut down to fit and thin enough to fit in the small reflector housing. Next is a screenshot of the sequential LED module I ordered. They also have non-sequential available to order if you prefer. Brand I believe is exLED.




LED board front. Was cut to fit the reflector housing (cutting the board did not wreck any function of the remaining LEDs).




Next I made a hole for wiring to pass through (make sure the hole is on the outer side of the fin on the backside of the reflector housing - otherwise the wiring has no room when installing and gets crushed). I heated up a screwdriver pick and pushed it through. Also I used a black sticker from Walmart (I think it was originally for writing on with chalk) as backing so that when the black LED board was attached there was no grey plastic outline surrounding it.




Backside of reflector where hole comes through.




Photo of wiring passing through the hole made.




I used Gorilla Glue to glue the board onto the reflector. Clamps and tape were used to hold the board on while glue dried.




This is the epoxy I used to seal the front red reflector to the back.




I used clamps again to hold the two pieces together and waited over night for it to dry. Any excess material I wiped away. If there was still some that I missed after it dried a used a dremel to smooth it off. You can also see in this next photo that I put masking tape on some areas to prevent the epoxy from getting on the face of the reflector (it would be VERY difficult to remove).




This is the module that came with the LED board which controls the running/brake/signal light functions.




I tested which wires were running/brake/signal/ground on my OEM taillight wiring and then spliced my module above into the correct wires. The module was labeled ("T+" = signal, "GRD" = ground, "ILL+" = running light, "Brake+" = brake), pretty simple - just make sure to check their soldering, a couple of mine broke free.

Lastly, here is a video of the final results. I am very, very pleased with the end result. I am by no means a pro at soldering, etc. but I think this was quite an easy job, but time consuming.

[95wildtt]

Great job... Looks Really Good!

Thanks for the great DIY and Video.

[NorthCountryGuy]

Nicely thought out.
Very good careful work.
Looks very good.
Well done.

[Deftronix]

Have been wanting to do this for a few years, thanks for the reference to a pcb that works out well for it. Going to give this a shot, they look great!

To solve your flickering problem on the other lights at startup code to disable "voltage monitoring" on those circuits with something like carly. They will stop flickering.