i finally finished making led taillights for my LS posting pics soon

hmmm, looking fwd to seeing this

Waiting for pics.

going to get the pics right now sorry bout the wait had a bad day yetserday so they should be up uin 10 mins or so

here are the pics of the lights cars really dirty and needs to be cleaned.. lemme know what u think of the lights

Hey man not to sound like i'm giving negative remarks but i think u could of did a better job looks like u just thru it up. Looks like u have some kind of skill so i would come up with somthin else. I like the idea but not the design

I applaud your efforts and originality.

with that said, it's not my taste. Some of the LED's appear to be misaligned slightly, which takes away from the overall look.

And I am not certain the overall brightness/visibility is the same as stock. Personally, I want as much visibility as possible to avoid someone from rear-ending me.

With that said, not my style. But again, I applaud your efforts.

at night these are 10x brighter then the stock taillights. I know some of them are missalgined cause i plan on doing it a better set of taillights these were my old ones which u might be able to see on the drivers side theres a hole from some ass with a pellet gun so i just did this a prototype and will make a better one that is alligined and a different pattern

thats really interesting man .. great idea.. i would even think about purchasing a pair if it was to be sold after it was dont to almost no defect.. very different look.. good job though man.

or have the LED's inside the lense. Its a neat idea.

fkn awesome.

chrome overload

I like them. I also like chrome. My 71 stang is black/argent and chrome. Black/chrome is always a good combo if you ask me.

Right idea, wrong application.

Do you have the message center on your car? If so, then how do you solve the problem of the "brake / tail lamp out" message?

Your chrome is pealing. :p

Great idea and change, its just missing something, maybe if it had more LEDs and was not so gappy between the LEDs but great job and the willingness to do this. If there was a aftermarket w/ a more refined look but definately could be seen as not your typical LS tails I would no doubt have an order placed.

the message center does not read anything its as if everything was working

Why not try and add some more LEDs to it? Definetly something new.

WOW I am coming out retirement to tell you, better luck next time. Sorry I am not be too rude but looks like arts and craft time at school went on in the back of your ride. I agree I think you get A for effort, I would try installing them inside the lense. Just my opinion thats all, good luck!

I too compliment you on your efforts and originality, but I do not like it. Having your turn signals done was kinda cool and different, but this just don't do it for me. Maybe taking the chrome pieces off of the lights and adding more LED's would make it look. Then again, to each his own.

I wonder if you can separate the tail lights like the headlight lenses? Inserting white LED's into the chrome would be brighter and keep the stock appearance. I'd also like to see some pics of the wiring job you did to stitch all those together.

hey good idea even though i dont like it but its fresh and new -- i will agree to have the LED behind the lenses

The efforts are appreciated I mean that is unique but do not show and tell us your car is dirty. Take a few minutes and clean that rear end. I mean you gotta represent with the best possible pics when your showing something off. For example, night pictures maybe would look a lot hotter so you should provide that and daytime pics.

This topic really interests me and has helped me to think out of the box... so to speak. I've tried the replacement LED bubls that fit in the stock location, but they are not bright enough and they trip my "check XXXX lamp" indicator on the message center.

I took out my R tail lamp and I think it would entirely possible to install them from the inside. This way, you could use white LED's which are cheaper and brighter, and the setup would use the stock reflectors to amplify the light. This also opens up the opportunity to cusomize the lights to make them work the way you want. You could (probably) wire them so they all work together or just install and wire them so they operate in the same manner as the stock lamps

But, I need to know some things about LED's to make this work... We need to have the LED's shine brighter for a directional signal and for a brake light. How is this done, by illuminating more LED's or is it by simply adding more current to the existing LED? I don't imagine they work like a dual fillament bulb. Anyone shed some light (pardon the pun) on how LED's work like this?

Also, how are the LED's installed. Can you simply drill through the back of the tail lamp housing the same diameter as the LED and afix them in place with some epoxy?

So, I drew up a quick image below of how I think this could work. The problem, as I stated above, is how to have the brake lights and directional lights shine brighter than just the parking lights. Also, the LED's for the parking lights have to be bright enough to see the car at night and in poor weather. And the brake / directional lights have to be much brighter than the parking lights to distinguish them as such.

Help yourself to comments and suggestions.

OK, doing some quick reading on LED's and a few more questions...

Should I use a lower (16000) mcd bulb for the parking lamp LED's and a higher (30000) mcd bulb for the brake and directionals?

What is the deal with resistors and LED's? I'm not sure what I'd need to use to make these work with a 12V car electronic system... that is if the lamps in the rear need 12V when they are lit.

most LED are 5v - so you'll have to select a resistor that creates the proper voltage drop given the number of LEDs and amps they will draw.

in my LED turn signal mirror project - I used nine LEDs soldered in parallel and then used s 560ohm resistor on one leg to drop the voltage to the proper 5v.

most of the newer bright LEDs are very directional in light - so people usually use many LEDs or create rings in reflectors to get more light 'filling' the area.

I think there are some very interesting things comming together now :)

most LED are 5v - so you'll have to select a resistor that creates the proper voltage drop given the number of LEDs and amps they will draw.

in my LED turn signal mirror project - I used nine LEDs soldered in parallel and then used s 560ohm resistor on one leg to drop the voltage to the proper 5v.


OK, so how do I figure out what ohm resistor I'd need for each leg on the above diagram? Is there some formula? I'm a cop, not an engineer ;) Also, how do they get soldered together, + to - I'm assuming?


most of the newer bright LEDs are very directional in light - so people usually use many LEDs or create rings in reflectors to get more light 'filling' the area.


Yeah, that was my idea. Looking at the back of the tail lamp housing, it's possible to get more than eight... more like twelve LED's in a ring around the traditional socket. If you plated off the socket area , you could install more there as well. The LED's I was looking at had a viewable angle from 20-25 degrees.

I'm just wondering if I have to use a lower mcd LED for the parking lamps and a higher mcd LED for the brake/directional lamps.

I think this is going to be the next hot thing if we can get it to work.

Edit: Speaking of LED lights... I was playing around with the different flash patterns on the blue LED lights in our new crusier... if you stare at them long enough, it will definitley screw up your rods and cones!

Mike,

I think you're on to something here. Best thing to do is get a used tail light assembly off of ebay and play around with it.

right - hook all the + together and all the - together.

usually the LEDs you purchase will give you the data you need to calculate the resistor size - basically we use the current draw of each LED to calculate the voltage drop across each LED, add them up and then figure out how much more voltage we need to remove to get down to 5v (at the total current draw).

http://www.luxeonstar.com/resistor-calculator.php

http://www.theledlight.com/resistancecalculator.html

i say we all chip in 3 dollars so someone can buy all the parts for one lamp and see if this project gets done.. make it fair to all of us.. if it works it works and we do a write up on how to do it..

there was a site i used to go to and he would convert you tailights to led tails. he had installed like a board with a bunch of little leds and it would shine alot brighter then the stock lights. i'll see if i can find the site and i'll post it.

ok its clearcorners.com. take a look at their work if you can make some taillights like they make i will definitly buy a set.

Check out this website http://www.grote.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?keyword=led&x=0&y=0

I know these LEDs are for commercial applications, but many of the products are already wired for a 12v system. You can splice the leads into what ever wiring you need. It might be simplier to buy some premade led boards and then configure them as needed to fit our tail lights. I've seen LEDs with brake or turn signals from Grote. Most of the time only half the LEDs were lit until you hit the brakes. Then the other half would light up and give the impression of a brighter light. The trick was to mix the lit and unlit LEDs up so that it did not look like the light was half in half (I don't know if I am explaining that right, hopefully you get the idea).

http://www.superbrightleds.com/carbulb-notes.htm

Mike,

I think you're on to something here. Best thing to do is get a used tail light assembly off of ebay and play around with it.

I was thinking the same thing... only set up there now is a set of '03's. I'll probably just be the guinea pig.

Then again, I should've run off to the patent office too ;)

right - hook all the + together and all the - together.

usually the LEDs you purchase will give you the data you need to calculate the resistor size - basically we use the current draw of each LED to calculate the voltage drop across each LED, add them up and then figure out how much more voltage we need to remove to get down to 5v (at the total current draw).

http://www.luxeonstar.com/resistor-calculator.php

http://www.theledlight.com/resistancecalculator.html

OK, some good reading for later. Sounds easy enough to do. I'll probably buy a couple different LED's packages off ebay later and get to the getting.

i say we all chip in 3 dollars so someone can buy all the parts for one lamp and see if this project gets done.. make it fair to all of us.. if it works it works and we do a write up on how to do it..

I'm thinking that there's gotta be someone who's converted over to the '03/japanese tails and has their original set laying around that they could donate to the cause. Otherwise, I'll just use the ones on my car.

I'm also thinking that I'd make a template that can be printed, cutout and used to align and drill the holes on the lamp assembly. I've got no problem documenting the process, but I'll try it on one side first, just to see if it works. If I botch it somewhere, I'll worry about getting another set of tails later.

there was a site i used to go to and he would convert you tailights to led tails. he had installed like a board with a bunch of little leds and it would shine alot brighter then the stock lights. i'll see if i can find the site and i'll post it.

ok its clearcorners.com. take a look at their work if you can make some taillights like they make i will definitly buy a set.


I'm not sure how he does it, but it looks pretty decent. I'm also not willing to pay someone to do something that I can do myself.

Then again, I give it two weeks before a set of these shows up on Ebay.

Check out this website http://www.grote.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?keyword=led&x=0&y=0

I know these LEDs are for commercial applications, but many of the products are already wired for a 12v system. You can splice the leads into what ever wiring you need. It might be simplier to buy some premade led boards and then configure them as needed to fit our tail lights. I've seen LEDs with brake or turn signals from Grote. Most of the time only half the LEDs were lit until you hit the brakes. Then the other half would light up and give the impression of a brighter light. The trick was to mix the lit and unlit LEDs up so that it did not look like the light was half in half (I don't know if I am explaining that right, hopefully you get the idea).

Yep, they have some LED's ready for 12V applications... I'll look into those first and go fromt here. I'm going to buy 16000 mcd LED's and then 30000 mcd LED's. I figure the 16K ones I'll use for parking lights and the 30K ones for the brakes and directionals. I'll alternate their location so it doesn't look FUBAR. I won't permanantly install them until I'm happy with the intensity and the pattern... pending all of LVC's approval of course ;)

http://www.superbrightleds.com/carbulb-notes.htm

Which Color LEDs should I use ?
For best results the LED color should be the same as the lens color. As an example: a red lens will filter out all but the red portion of the light so if the light is all red, none or very little light will be blocked by the lens. The light from a White LED contains very little light in the red portion of the visible spectrum so most of the light would be filtered out by a red lens.

Doesn't make sense. They're saying, use a red LED if the lense is red because a white LED will be filtered out by the red lense? The stock bulb is clear, so wouldn't you want the LED's to be clear too? I'm confused.

How do your LED bulbs achieve dual intensity?
All of our Tail/Brake bulbs achieve dual intensity modes by turning all of the LEDs on dim or all of the LEDs on bright, all of the LEDs are always lit when either mode is active.

OK, this doesn't explain a thing. How do they regulate whether all the LED's are dim or bright?

Gonna have to try this the ol' fashioned way... trial and error.

I'm glad that this sparked a new idea of doing led taillights for the LS i just got another set of lights and im going to try and do this with a different pattern and get real automotive paint over it and this time there will be no need for chrome to cover up the hole in the light. I hope this set comes out better cause now ill be using an expensive drill press insted of some cheapy one that was all wobbly and made :q:q:q:qty holes. Well i hope to see what other people come up with and best of luck also i think its a 100 ohm resistor we need in order to make the lights dimmer for tails. Also like i said before i was surprised that this didnt cause anything to come up on the message center either cause i have the front turn signals up front in white led's not my side markers but they cause it to come up on the message center. I just hope this plan works out cause i cant wait to see what you guys can come up with

ill also get some pictures of the lights at night and with the car cleaned sorry bout the crap pictures i took earlier i was in a hurry

Heres some more pictures with the lights and the car clean.

Which Color LEDs should I use ?
For best results the LED color should be the same as the lens color. As an example: a red lens will filter out all but the red portion of the light so if the light is all red, none or very little light will be blocked by the lens. The light from a White LED contains very little light in the red portion of the visible spectrum so most of the light would be filtered out by a red lens.

Doesn't make sense. They're saying, use a red LED if the lense is red because a white LED will be filtered out by the red lense? The stock bulb is clear, so wouldn't you want the LED's to be clear too? I'm confused.

How do your LED bulbs achieve dual intensity?
All of our Tail/Brake bulbs achieve dual intensity modes by turning all of the LEDs on dim or all of the LEDs on bright, all of the LEDs are always lit when either mode is active.

OK, this doesn't explain a thing. How do they regulate whether all the LED's are dim or bright?

Gonna have to try this the ol' fashioned way... trial and error.

Seen it done two way on cars, on set of dedicated LEDs for taillights, and another set of brighter LED's for stop. God, I wish I was still proficent in electronics, I would help you out.

I like the 100k resistor trick, that signal would be the tailights, and use relays aa a switching circuit for tail and brake lights Basic theary is the tail lights activate brake and the relay would switch to move power to the unrestricted circuit thus brighter LEDs. Hmm possivble a DPDT type or different..hmm could be off on this . :confused:

parts can be gotten from www.Digi-key.com, even LEDs

Hmm might take two relays to acheive this......:confused: (Basing this on the way the car shut off fog light on high beams.)

You can also step down voltage from 12v to say 5 volts with power transistor, giving you more option for LEDs.

OKay I am thinking out load.. so I will shut and wait for reply.

http://www.national.com/pf/LM/LM2576.html

This should do the trick, if you want to use varity of LEDs this can step it down as describe on web page.

Me I am fan of keeping it simple when at all possible. I am just throwing ideas out there.

u still got to pay for the LEDs right mholhunt? u can use the money towards that.. i jus thought that its wrong to make someone go through the hastle.. i mean its nice and all.. but i'm willing to give to the cause u know what i mean...

Well if you just got rid of all that nasty ass chrome I'd think it would look pretty good.

The chrome is there becuase a hole theres a big hole in the drivers side light dont know what else to cover it up with someone shot the light out with a pellet gun as soon as they were done. so i had to put something on there to cover it up

Mike,

I'm hoping to get some tail lights to send to you for this project. I'll keep you posted.

u still got to pay for the LEDs right mholhunt? u can use the money towards that.. i jus thought that its wrong to make someone go through the hastle.. i mean its nice and all.. but i'm willing to give to the cause u know what i mean...

Yes, I still have to buy the LED's... lots of choices out there, so I'm probably going to several different types to see which works better for what we want. It's no hassle really... this is a DIY type project, so whether I'm the third or thirtyith guy to do them, the cost will probably be the same. I just want to do it right and document the process; then create a set of instructions so people can do it themselves. I'm pretty good at doing that... what I'm not good at is electronics ;)

http://www.national.com/pf/LM/LM2576.html

This should do the trick, if you want to use varity of LEDs this can step it down as describe on web page.

Me I am fan of keeping it simple when at all possible. I am just throwing ideas out there.

Me too Mac, but I have trouble with "insert tab A into slot B" LOL

Mike,

I'm hoping to get some tail lights to send to you for this project. I'll keep you posted.

Sounds good Ken. I think there's a definite business opportunity for you here.

Also...

Can anyone clarify whether I'd need white LED's or red LED's? I'm figuring that because the LED's will be behind the red brake lense, that white LED's would be fine. However, from an excerpt on another site:

For best results the LED color should be the same as the lens color. As an example: a red lens will filter out all but the red portion of the light so if the light is all red, none or very little light will be blocked by the lens. The light from a White LED contains very little light in the red portion of the visible spectrum so most of the light would be filtered out by a red lens.

So, I'm looking for a little help with that one.

Sounds good Ken. I think there's a definite business opportunity for you here.
Actually, I'm not that interested in it being a "business opportunity" but rather have a great install guide for this. Now once you get that done and have posted it here I might be interested in pooling the kit together for everone for the install. I just think this is going to be a cool as hell custom idea!

It would be a great way to update/modernize a discontinued model. You can add me to the list of interested people in this project.

Also...

Can anyone clarify whether I'd need white LED's or red LED's? I'm figuring that because the LED's will be behind the red brake lense, that white LED's would be fine. However, from an excerpt on another site:

For best results the LED color should be the same as the lens color. As an example: a red lens will filter out all but the red portion of the light so if the light is all red, none or very little light will be blocked by the lens. The light from a White LED contains very little light in the red portion of the visible spectrum so most of the light would be filtered out by a red lens.

So, I'm looking for a little help with that one.

Mike,

Goto a truckstop near you and by one rear LED tail assy and reverse engineer it :D

Unfornatley the tore down out truck stop, for hwy construction, or I would have done it by now and got you pictures.

Mac

Mike,

Goto a truckstop near you and by one rear LED tail assy and reverse engineer it :D

Unfornatley the tore down out truck stop, for hwy construction, or I would have done it by now and got you pictures.

Mac

This is what I was thinking with the grote LED setup.

I have always done separate LEDs for Running and for Braking. Im proficient with them, just dont know all the tricks of doing a 2 stage LED. (dim for running, bright for Braking) Cannot be that difficult, simply the more resistance, the dimmer they are. The less resistance, the brighter. I have been doing these for Aleros for about 3 yrs. Started with the Semi trailer LED clusters, then decided to make my own clusters to be more creative. I havent gotten my hands on a spare set of LS tails, but hope to soon... I love doing stuff like this.

Here is a set I did for an Alero customer. Outside ring is for running lights, the rest of the cluster lights up when you hit the brake.

Bryce

Nice! How many LED's do you use per lamp, and what strength are they (mcd)? Are you using clear or red LED's? Are you seperating the tail light assemblys or just installing them through the back of the light?

Another thing I forgot about everyone, is dealing with the CHMSL bulb. Might have to do something with that too.

I make my own clear lenses for them, so I tear each set apart and start with a base assembly. That particular set uses 8 sets of 3 LEDs in each assembly for the running lamp circle. The brake lights use another 20-25 to light up the rest of the cluster.

So each set of tails uses approx 150 LEDs. I normally use Red 8000-10000MCD 5mm LEDs. I normally will use 1 resistor per 3 LEDs. That way resistance is enough to keep them bright but efficient enough to not use 1 resistor per LED. I cannot remember what OHM the resistors are, I think they are 146 or something. I normally get them 1000-2000 at a time.

Im not sure about this 15k-30k MCD business but i cannot imagine them being much brighter than the ones i have. The I have some 13k MCD White ones that are bright as hell but they are quite a bit more expensive.

The biggest issue with LEDs is visibility durring the day. Even OEM LED taillights are hard to see.

BTW here is a daytime picture of that particular set. The LEDs are clear, but light up red.

Looks good to me! Sent you a PM with some questions.

I think the red cover looks the best on the LS. But I have never seen an all clear set of tail lights on this rig. This needs to be a sticky soon lol.

Well, I have a spare set of tail lights en route to me. I'm also leaning towards the 10mm LED's that are pre wired for 12V. I don't know if they'll fit... the wife has my car and won't be back until later today.

Well, I have a spare set of tail lights en route to me. I'm also leaning towards the 10mm LED's that are pre wired for 12V. I don't know if they'll fit... the wife has my car and won't be back until later today.

Where are you in MA? Anywhere close to Worcester?

Where are you in MA? Anywhere close to Worcester?

Northampton area. Don't you remember, you were supposed to buy a guage pod with gauges from me and never did.

Im sure clear lenses on an LS would look like ass. Thats not an option. I was planning to go with the OEM look.

got this from Kens cardomain site..

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/6/web/510000-510999/510004_204_full.jpg

thats an LS with clean tail lights

That's my photoshop work :D

nice photochop. They look alright. Definately better stock tho.

hahaha Nice, the lights are kinda cool, not too sure of what I think about the license plate in the bumper. That's a nice photoshop BTW

i think something like this would be ideal. With red lenses of course. Keep in mind this is a wonderful job done in MS Paint. But you get the general Idea.

These would be behind the red lense. OEM Stylie.

Well, I'm not sure how to crack the lenses open... so if I'm not sure then I'll insert them through the back of the housing.

Just looked at a few images of what Bryce has been doing and it looks easy to replicate as far as the LED's are concerned... Thanks to Bryce for all the help!

Like I said, the problem is going to be separating the tail lights. The work continues....

Like I said, the problem is going to be separating the tail lights. The work continues....


Patience a lot of patience.... :D

I agree, Mac... but if all else fails, I may have at it with a dremel and a cutting disc :wrench

Well, I got the car from the wife today and managed to remove the inboard and outboard tail lights. It looks like the two pieces are being held together by a thin piece of black silicone. I'm going to try the oven method first to see if it will loosen the silicone enough to separate them. If not, ther's a distinctive line between the outter lense and the black housing, so it should be easy to cut with a dremel or possibly even a razor knife.

Either way, they should go back together fairly simply with some black silicone or other adhesive, and not look like a hack job. Then I can measure up the interior dimensions for the first set of LED clusters. I haven't decided what shape to use for the lights... they'll accept both a rectangular or circular cluster of LED lights. I was thinking of curves on the top and bottom and keep the sides square... but then again, maybe I'll keep it simple and just use horizontal rows of LED's. I will draw up a few configurations and post it later to see what the popular vote would be. Maybe I'll incorporate the Lincoln star logo into it somehow ;) Anyways, I'll make my first attempt to separate them either tonight or first thing tomarrow.

Maybe I'll incorporate the Lincoln star logo into it somehow

That would be bad a$$....I like your thinking. Can't wait to see this project take flight.

One other question, do you guys think the look would be effected any with tinted tails?

I have the two tone tails and they are tinted pretty dark I was wondering how much light would be visible during midday sunlight b/c I know that LEDs usually arent quite as bright. Can this be overcome through diffrent types of LEDs or resistances or what

Well, they can be opened! And, they should seal up again nicely with little to no references to the operation. Shouldn't be a problem to do pretty much what we want now, as far as LED's. Gonna go hack open the outside tail right now... be back in a few!

As for tinted tails, I'm sure they can be overcome... but at a higher price I'd imagine. You can get 10mm LED's that throw out 100K mcd as opposed to the meager 10K that the standard 5mm red LED produces. But, the 10mm's cost almost three times as much.

I'm going to hatch the other tail light lense, grab some photos, and then think about light patterns for the LED clusters I have to make.

Soo how much you talkin for the 10mm to do all 8 lights? and do you have to seperate the lens' to do so?

Here's the outter tails... More difficult than I thought. The indented areas of the red lense fit right up to the black housing on the side of the assembly and it's a bugger to make sure you cut through it enough. Delicate procedure at best.

Another thing to note in the lower picture... there's an extra window of clear plastic over the brake bulb bay... it pops out, but I'm curious as to why it's there...

Before I reseal the tail lights, I'll put them on the car to see what clear tails would look like.

Going to start taking measurements for the LED clusters and designing things on paper which can serve as a template with the instructions.

That clear piece of plastic might be there for heat purposes. Those bulbs get fairly hot and as close as it sits to the outter lens, it might cause melting problems.

Glad to see the lenses come off so easily. When I did the alero lenses, I had to break them off because they were welded to the assembly.

The door of infinate possibilities has been openned. :)

why dont you guys get a Cadillac or better yet a Zephyr if you want LED tails? :rolleyes: jus playin, should look good if you can get it right...

That wouldnt be near as fun tho. :)

The LED's I ordered came in today and I picked up a sheet of plexiglas for making clusters that will be inserted into the individual bulb housings. I also drew out some templates that will be used to space the LED's on the plexi clusters. I cut off a piece of plexi and drilled it out to see how how big a hole I need to fit the LED's. This is going to take some time.

I have to work half of this weekend so I'll probably get around to fabbing a test cluster to mount behind a lense by Monday.

Soo how much you talkin for the 10mm to do all 8 lights? and do you have to seperate the lens' to do so?

Sorry, missed this question earlier.

It's almost $30 for 20 10mm LED's... but they are prewired for 12V applications which does help in fabrication. I'd think you'd probably need at least 40 10mm lights to do the tail lights. Then again, these may be too bright for the running lights on the car. And yes, I think it's best to separate the lense at this time.

If I get a spare, spare lense, I may try the 10mm lights, but for now I'll stick with the 5mm because of price. I have a plexiglas cluster cutout for the trunk mounted running light which uses 8 5mm LED's. Once I see what that looks like behind the lense, during the day and night, I'll be able to adjust the patterns for the remaining tail lights.

OK, another update:

The LED's are listed at 25,000 mcd and have a forward voltage of 1.9-2.3. I strung together a cluster of 6 LED's in series and connected them to a 12V source... managed to fry them, that was cool!

So I strung another cluster of 6 LED's and installed a resistor at the + end and they worked fine... nice and bright. I strung another row of 6 along side it with another resistor and no problems. They look great in the daytime and in the dark.

The resistors came with the LED's I bought and I have no idea what Ohm it is. It's color markings are red, red, black, gold... or orange, orange, dark red, gold. Using one resistor for 6 LED's in the cluster.

Tomarrow, I'll install it behind the lense to see how it looks in the day and at night... I'll also snag some pics too.

You guys are still interested in this, right?

:GotPics: Are they bright enough for tinted tails?

if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

OK, another update:

The LED's are listed at 25,000 mcd and have a forward voltage of 1.9-2.3. I strung together a cluster of 6 LED's in series and connected them to a 12V source... managed to fry them, that was cool!

So I strung another cluster of 6 LED's and installed a resistor at the + end and they worked fine... nice and bright. I strung another row of 6 along side it with another resistor and no problems. They look great in the daytime and in the dark.

The resistors came with the LED's I bought and I have no idea what Ohm it is. It's color markings are red, red, black, gold... or orange, orange, dark red, gold. Using one resistor for 6 LED's in the cluster.

Tomarrow, I'll install it behind the lense to see how it looks in the day and at night... I'll also snag some pics too.

You guys are still interested in this, right?
Yo! Your tail lights are on the way.

if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Man, that's a terrible thing to say. There is always room to make things better.

if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Since you hav an 05 your taillights have not melted around the brake light bulb and caused moisture so they are broken just you havent had this problem yet. There is always room for improvement. True I am not a big fan of how the first set of LED tails look but its a begining.

Man, that's a terrible thing to say. There is always room to make things better.

Bah... see what too much "Shoefly Pie" does to a man. The problem is, it's a Ford product... so if it ain't broke, it will be soon. lol

Yo! Your tail lights are on the way.

They ain't mine... they be yours :)

As an afterthought....

I'm thinking of adding more LED's in a small cluster to the trunk tail lights so they act like the euro fog lights on Audi's et al. Hmmmmm?

I don't know if they'll be bright enough behind tinted tails... I'm not sure I can simulate that without going all the way down that road. They are bright and they've been burning constantly since my first post this morning. I have them hooked up to a battery jump pack ;) Since I'm stuck at work until 11PM tonight, I'll have to wait until tomarrow to put them behind the tail lights for a brightness check.

There are a bunch of opporunities with wiring these... you'll be able to change what lights come on with the brakes / directionals or just leave them function as they are now.

I don't know if they'll be bright enough behind tinted tails... I'm not sure I can simulate that without going all the way down that road.

Maybe you could go to a local tint shop and find a scrap piece of say 20% or just a fuzz darker that is big enough to wrap the tails in. Wouldn't look pretty by any means, but should serve the purpose. Maybe give you an idea of what it could/would look like at least.

Yeah, I was thinking about that too. It'll be close, but it won't be exactly accurate. Then again, it's pretty difficult to say whether it will work on tinted tail lights due to the extreme variation in the amount of tint people use.

Bump...

I found a red lense I could use as a test... came off the ATV we have at work. It was removed with two screws and was wide and deep enough for me to fit the test 12 LED cluster behind it.

(Bet you never thought "screws", "wide", and "deep" could ever be used in the same sentence that concerned cars.)

Anywho, I took the test cluster outside, installed it behind the red lense, and hooked it up to the 12V source. I'm satisfied that it's bright enough, but with the design of the test lense and the various facets that the lense has, you can not see the individual LED's. I don't know if that's going to be a problem from a style standpoint, but 12 LED's is adequate for a simple running lamp.

So, I'm going to make up another cluster tomarrow; only the new one will have 24 LED's... 12 will be on with the running lights, and all 24 will come on to simulate brake or directional lights. I'll then be able to compare them directly to those on the LS.

The plexiglas I'm using is too thin. Drilling holes causes it to chip and splinter so I'll get a thicker sheet tomarrow as well. It's also difficult to use a hand drill and keep the horizontal rows of LED's perfect; even after marking and punching the locations for a start. So, I'm going to make a drilling template that I can clamp onto the plexiglas to drill the holes uniformally. It'll also allow me to make the LED spacing consistent from set to set.

Things are looking good!

I'm satisfied that it's bright enough, but with the design of the test lense and the various facets that the lense has, you can not see the individual LED's.

Might could space out the holes just a little to individualize the lights. You see a lot of new cars with that look. The LED's look to be decent sized bulbs though, and I don't know how big of a bulb your working with.

The resistors came with the LED's I bought and I have no idea what Ohm it is. It's color markings are red, red, black, gold... or orange, orange, dark red, gold. Using one resistor for 6 LED's in the cluster.


Sounds like a 22 ohm resistor (red, red, black, gold) within 5% or a 3300 ohm (orange, orange, red, gold) resistor within 5%. Given the nature of LEDs I bet you have a 3300 ohm resitor, but I might be wrong. Or are you saying you have both and want to know which resistor to use?

Might could space out the holes just a little to individualize the lights. You see a lot of new cars with that look. The LED's look to be decent sized bulbs though, and I don't know how big of a bulb your working with.

I'll know more in a few hours. Got to pick up the thicker plexiglas and then I'll test the cluster behind the LS lense. I'm using 5mm LED's, spaced 1/2" apart horizontally and 3/4" vertically. If I switch to 10mm LED's I'd space them further apart. Pics will be up today!

Sounds like a 22 ohm resistor (red, red, black, gold) within 5% or a 3300 ohm (orange, orange, red, gold) resistor within 5%. Given the nature of LEDs I bet you have a 3300 ohm resitor, but I might be wrong. Or are you saying you have both and want to know which resistor to use?

I found a chart online and I figure it's a 3300 ohm resistor; I'll see if I can snap a picture. When I'm out today, I may stop by some place that can tell me what it is.

Either way, what should I be using for strings of 6 LED's at 1.9-2.3V. I used one of the resistors for each 6 LED string in my test cluster and let them run all day with no problems. I just don't want them to burn out in a year or two if I'm using the wrong resistor.

In theory a LED will last forever unless it gets to many amps, but in our case it depends on the amp rating for the LEDs. With a 3300 ohm resistor you are applying about 4mA (.004 or .003636-) , which isn't very much. If your LEDs had a spec sheet, see if this is within their operating range. As long as it is not over their recommended amperage you should be OK.

Here are the specs on the LED's I bought:

Specifications:

Material: InGaN
Emitting Colour: Red
Lens Type: Water clear
Reverse Voltage: 5.0 V
DC Forward Voltage: Typical: 1.9 V Max: 2.3 V
Wave Length: 625-635nm
Luminous Intensity: Tpy: 25,000 mcd
DC Forward Current: 20mA
Viewing Angle: 20±5degree
Lead Soldering Temp: 260oC for 5 seconds
Intensely Bright
If You Have Any Question, Please Contact Us. e-mail: lvehkl@yahoo.com

Electrical-Optical Characteristic (Ta=25°C)

Item Symbol Condtitions Min. Typ. Max. Unit
Forward Voltage VF If=20mA / 1.90 2.30 V
Reverse Current IR VR=5V / / 10 uA
Dominant Wavelength / IF=20mA 625 / 635 nm
Luminous Intensity IV IF=20mA / 25,000 / mcd
50% Power Angle / IF=20mA / 20° / degree

Absolute Maximum Ratings (Ta = 25°C)

Item Symbol Absolute Max. Rating Unit
Power Dissipation PD 100 mW
Forward Current (DC) IF 30 mA
Peak Forward Current IFP 100 mA
Reverse Voltage VR 5 V
Operation Temperature Topr -40~85°C /
Storage Temperature Tstg -10~100°C /
Lead Soldering Temperature Tsol Max. 260°C for 5 sec.
(3mm from the base of the epoxy bulb)

:GotPics: mouted in the lens?

OK, here's the poop...

I made a metal template out of an old handicap sign I had. I bought some 1/4" plexiglas to make the new clusters. So, I clamped the template to the plexiglas and drilled the holes for the 12 LED's. Used a dab of plastic cement to secure each one. Wired them up and tested them... they work.

Removed the trunk mounted tail light and removed the red lense again. Inserted the cluster throught the face and ran the +/- wires out the bulb socket. Tapped them into the bulb wires and everything works fine.

-You can distinguish the individual LED's.
-They are brighter than the OEM bulb so the should shine better through tinted tails.
-The multi facets of the red lense and the chrome reflector bounce the light around.

The sun is pretty direct on the back of the car right now so it's difficult to see how good/bad they compare in the daytime... I'm waiting for a few shaddows to fall before I look again and snap some pics.

sounds great....

Wait 'til I do my amber LED fog lights :D

Here's some quick pics, which don't do it justice. I wonder if the LED lights screw with the way the camera takes pictures...

The reflections from the outside suck and I kow they're crooked... I haven't permanantly installed them yet. The blue tape is holding the red lense to the light housing.

http://www.fuziongrafix.net/misc/led1.JPG

http://www.fuziongrafix.net/misc/led2.JPG

http://www.fuziongrafix.net/misc/led3.JPG

http://www.fuziongrafix.net/misc/led4.JPG

Here are the specs on the LED's I bought:

Specifications:

DC Forward Current: 20mA




Sound like you should be in the clear with the 3300 ohm resistor. You might even be able to use a 600 ohm resistor and have brighter LEDs (that would put you right at 20mA on a 12V system). Of course that might smoke them to.

Have you seen the new infiniti m45 those tails would look sweet in the ls. 2 circles coming together in the middle.

Have you seen the sequential LED kit for classic mustangs? That is cool. It could possibly be fit to the LS only using two bars instead of three like the old Mustangs had.

Well, to tell the truth... I think my faith is waining in this project. I think with LED tail lights, you'd want to distinguish the individual LED's light output. But, with a retrofit like this, it's not what I'd be looking for. You'll still get the instant on/off that the LED's provide, but it doesn't look good behind that convoluted lense... if it were a clear red lense, it'd be alot better.

After ripping apart the lenses, cutting the plexiglas, drilling the holes, installing and soldering the LED's, wiring the clusters, installing them in the lenses, etc. etc. etc.... I just don't think it's worth the hassle.

Do you think that the smoother lense of the 03 and up LS's would be better? I know the ridges on the tail lights may be causing the problem. I can send the tail light lenses to the company that makes the clear side marker lenses and have them mold a set of clear lenses. That might take a while but it is a thought.

can u sand down the lense and get rid of the ridges?

doesnt look bright enough.. maybe u can add more..

Do you think that the smoother lense of the 03 and up LS's would be better? I know the ridges on the tail lights may be causing the problem. I can send the tail light lenses to the company that makes the clear side marker lenses and have them mold a set of clear lenses. That might take a while but it is a thought.

I've never seen an '03+ set of tail lights up close. The three horizontal ridges distort the LED's and the chrome inner portion of the housing looks funny with the LED's. For this to look right, I think the LED's would have to line up with the ridges. The way they are now, you can't see all the LED's from different angles. Clear lenses might be the way to go, but now we're crossing into that "non-DOT" area. If the lenses were clear, I'd install the LED's through the back of the housing which would give more surface area and would hide all the wiring. I'm not sure what to do.

can u sand down the lense and get rid of the ridges?

No, it's just the way the lense is molded. Ideally, a smooth red lense would be ideal... that way you can see the LED's undistorted.

doesnt look bright enough.. maybe u can add more..

Yeah, the camera doesn't do it justice. Remember, those 12 LED's are replacing one litle #161 size (I think) bulb as a running light. The LED cluster I made is brighter than the OEM bulb. I planned on using 26 LED's for the directional, and 27 LED's for the brake light... more than double the running light's LED's.

Here is the pattern template I made:

Here's some other pic's I took the other night... The last one definitely shows that it's brighter than the other bulbs so it's sufficient for a running light. Looks better at night IMHO.

Two things. 1.) I think that the LEDS are to0 spread out and need to be closer togather.
2.) The LEDs don't seem to be parellel to the LS emblems. That might add the illusion of distorted light we are seeing. Also that might be the light in conflict with the lenses and the angle of light we see. Maybe

Mike,

Don't get discouraged. You've done a great job with this project. Things like this will be trial and error. The LED's do look noticable in that last picture and don't look that distorted to me. That was a good trial lens. Once you get the lights I'm sending you'll have more to experiment with.

if u put them closer together it will all look like one bulb, doesnt that defeat the purpose of LEDs?

I don't know, it might. I just thought that might take away from the distorted veiw we were seeing. Yeah Molhut, don't stop yet you are just hitting the tip of the iceberg.

Two things. 1.) I think that the LEDS are to0 spread out and need to be closer togather.
2.) The LEDs don't seem to be parellel to the LS emblems. That might add the illusion of distorted light we are seeing. Also that might be the light in conflict with the lenses and the angle of light we see. Maybe

The LED's are spaced 1/2" horizontally and 1" vertically. If anything, I'd put the two rows closer together.

The LED cluster, made out of 1/4" plexiglas is resting in the open area for the bulb. It wasn't permanently affixed to the housing, so it looks a little tilted.

Well, we'll see where this goes... maybe if I filled the area with LED's 1/2 apart H & V, then it'll look better.

they look good so far i will be looking foward to doing this my self once a write up is written. i just really want to reseal my tails so water doesnt get in and upgrade to led'sso it would be brighter.

Mike, lens distortion is quite the pain in the ass. You have to work around it.

Most recently I ran into this when making LED 3rd brake lights for the 3G Mitsu Eclipse. Take a Look. I did it originally with 1 row of LEDs...that didnt work. So i had to do 2 staggered rows. This is what I am going to do when I get on this taillight project is run each row in a staggered formation. (better light distribution)

http://anderbrainnovations.freeservers.com/3G%20Eclipse/3G%20LED%203rd%20Brake.html

You will find that the closer to the lens the LEDs are, the less distorted they are, and the farther away, the more distortion. The other issue with them is that they are very directional. Therefore you are going to need more of them. When I get on this project, I plan on filling the whole areas with LEDs. It will be an LED extravaganza.

10mm LEDs might be better as well, but you can honestly get the same coverage by clustering the 5mm ones together.

The good thing about having lenses that distort the way these do is the fact that you can put the clusters in there and not have to worry about seeing the actual cluster through the lens. Gives you a bit of flexibility when mounting them.

As far as the Plexi Cracking, that is always going to be an issue, I got a drill press to eleviate that problem and for the most part use Lexan instead of standard Plexi because it is an Acrylic sheet and is much stronger and more flexible. I normally will use 1/8".

I really wish I had a spare set of tails to work with. :(

~Bryce

How did you pull apart the tail light housings? Heat Gun? Oven? Cut with a saw?

This could look very cool if it works.

Cut them with a disc on a dremel. I'm trying a coping saw blade next. I just got the set of lights from Ken and will be working on them the next few days... nights, etc.

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=20196&stc=1&d=1153801862

if you are doing the led's like that why not just buy the bulbs that plug into your stock assembly and have the 12 leds on each bulb

I have found a decent way to run the same LEDs for both running and braking. I had to do it for the one i did for my Katana. Someday I will have the freetime to work on this...lol

Keep up the good work. I think it will definitely look better once you work out all kinks. Like Ken said, trial and error baby!

if you are doing the led's like that why not just buy the bulbs that plug into your stock assembly and have the 12 leds on each bulb

I tried that a couple years ago. They tripped the "lamp out" monitor and as a result, set them to fast flashing. They were also waaaaay too dim to be safe.

BUMP
any updates? Also I was curious about the front turn signals could they be done or is this a past issue?

I love this project.

I bought 1000 5mm red led tail lights and 1000 resistors off eBay to work on the project. If anyone wants LEDs, send me a PM message (u pay the shipping)

I'm very excited about this project. If there's one thing I've always loved about the caddy's is the DTS LED tail lights. They look clean. You'd think that OEMs would have come up with something cooler for newer cars. Personally, I would Like to see closer LEDs and more of them over a larger area so it looks solid instead of jittery and spaced out.

I received a set of tail lights to hack apart. This is going to be alot of work. I'm tossing around the idea of installing them directly in the back of the housing instead of making clusters out of plexiglass. I may have to buy a left or right set of tail lights to see which would work better. If they could be installed on the back of the housing, it would save a ton of time and would eliminate cutting the tail lights open, making/installing the LED clusters.

Separating the tail lights is the real PITA... mess it up and you've screwed the pooch. More over, time is the real issue, but I'm still working on it.

BUMP
any updates? Also I was curious about the front turn signals could they be done or is this a past issue?

For the front directionals, you'd be better off buying an LED bulb off ebay and wire in a resistor.

I'm thinking about doing something for the fog lights so I can make them amber... but that's a fe months down the road.

I love this project.

I bought 1000 5mm red led tail lights and 1000 resistors off eBay to work on the project. If anyone wants LEDs, send me a PM message (u pay the shipping)

What is the rating on them, how many mcd are they?

Personally, I would Like to see closer LEDs and more of them over a larger area so it looks solid instead of jittery and spaced out.

The problem is drilling the holes close enough without cracking the plexiglass, and getting them lined up correctly. I'm using a drill press, but the bit still wanders a little. On my next set, I'll see if I can't get them closer together. I'll probably make a few patterns to see what they look like. Alot of the distortion in the lights is caused by the red lense of the tail light itself... there are several convolusions that distort the light. If the red lenses were a smooth piece without any ripples, it would look much better.

Every other car I've seen with led tails had a darker red lense.

The LEDs might look better with the black or darker back ground. Maybe try putting the LEDs in some black pvc plastic instead of plexi. Just a thought. Great work so far.
I will definitely be doing this when I get back into the LS.

Any news on this project?

I made sequencing led turn signals for my old Dodge Stratus so this project sounds interesting to me
(slo mo) http://deneau.info/stratus/spm1.gif

Also I made a third brake light module that does stupid blinky stuff; here's it cycling through some patterns http://www.ledlad.com/test/bptiny.gif
Might be fun to adapt it to the LS.

dont most LED tail lights have LEDs that are sunk into a little chrome tube (kind of like a small reflector) that make the individual lights look bigger? i think using the 10mm LEDs mentioned earlier would look much better.

Yes a lot of them do, but its not necessary. Most LEDs have a very small viewing angle making a reflector around them worthless. I am going to be doing a set of LED tails for a 3G Mitsu Eclipse here shortly. We will see how it comes out. I still haven't had a chance to look at the LS tails though.

Owlman, that turn signal looks very impressive, as does your brake light project. Do you have any more info or some spec sheets? I get dirt cheap parts through the electrical engineering department at school and I'd look to get into some of this, maybe make my own LED taillights

Man, that's a terrible thing to say. There is always room to make things better.

anyone remember the "New Coke"? :-)

Owlman, do you have the wiring diagram? Did you use a 555 timer for this??? Very curious!

Owlman, do you have the wiring diagram? Did you use a 555 timer for this??? Very curious!
Yes, the sequential blinker is a 555 timer driving a shift register chip.
The 3rd brake light uses a microcontroller. I don't really have spec sheets :confused: but I would be willing to help if you need advice on a project!

Here's a 3rd brake light I made for another Stratus dude.
video (http://www.elite-scriptaz.net/stratus/3rdbrake.html)

Yes, the sequential blinker is a 555 timer driving a shift register chip.
The 3rd brake light uses a microcontroller. I don't really have spec sheets :confused: but I would be willing to help if you need advice on a project!

Here's a 3rd brake light I made for another Stratus dude.
video (http://www.elite-scriptaz.net/stratus/3rdbrake.html)


Damn that is sweet!!! How do I do it?!?!? I'm really good with electical projects, but never tried anything like this...

There are lots of writeups for led projects on the web; this guy has some good ones that might help or give you ideas.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Bill_Bowden/page5.htm
My 3rd brake light was a microcontroller driving luxeon leds on a custom pcb... but ya gotta start simple! I did!

Interesting!

Here's my version of custom tail lights!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/mlwbucket/LS-Rear-2.jpg?t=1169184307

Kind of reminds me of the new Navigator's styling.

Well, they can be opened! And, they should seal up again nicely with little to no references to the operation. Shouldn't be a problem to do pretty much what we want now, as far as LED's. Gonna go hack open the outside tail right now... be back in a few!

So the secret was to hack them open with a dremel? :(
Has anyone else opened their tails some other way? (like baking in the oven a la headlights?) I'm just scheming some led ideas... :rolleyes:

There are lots of writeups for led projects on the web; this guy has some good ones that might help or give you ideas.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Bill_Bowden/page5.htm
My 3rd brake light was a microcontroller driving luxeon leds on a custom pcb... but ya gotta start simple! I did!

:GotPics:

:GotPics:
It was not for the Lincoln, sorry ;)
http://ledlad.com/images/easy05-install trunk4-small.jpg
daytime movie (http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m117/easy05sebring/?action=view&current=DSCF0366.flv)

Cant people with brake lights on wings use that tho?

Probably wouldn't fit in a wing but yeah should fit in some applications.

Anyway nobody has found a clean way to open tail lights?

dont mean to jack the thread, but heres what i did:

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/3/web/2511000-2511999/2511312_18_full.jpg.

Not very much, but it sets it appart. I really like what you did though

So......what did you do...I guess your right it dont look like much...:p ;) :cool: :D

Ahh theres the pic, it wasnt showing up..

Owlman...someone else did open them also..lookhttp://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=279

Yes a lot of them do, but its not necessary. Most LEDs have a very small viewing angle making a reflector around them worthless. I am going to be doing a set of LED tails for a 3G Mitsu Eclipse here shortly. We will see how it comes out. I still haven't had a chance to look at the LS tails though.

Speaking of Eclipse, this is definately very cool what he did with his, using LED's:

98 Eclipse Sequential LED Tail Lights (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6sZg3iL5EY)

That's sick!!

i like these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97LXC7akpX8

Sooooooo..... whatever happened with this?

i win.

anyone ever come up with LED tails?

anyone ever come up with LED tails?

what i want is the sequential tail lights

Here is a movie of a town car with a leds

Lincoln Town Car LED amber turnsignal - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNeMombBaLE&feature=related)

Speaking of Eclipse, this is definately very cool what he did with his, using LED's:

98 Eclipse Sequential LED Tail Lights (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6sZg3iL5EY)LOL, It's in demo mode!!! Turn it off!!!

Ohms Law works E = I X R. E VOLTAGE, I AMPHERE, R RESISTANCE.