Lincoln LS custom LED taillights made

BanginLS said:
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...
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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 ;)
 
GrayGhost1 said:
Mike,

I'm hoping to get some tail lights to send to you for this project. I'll keep you posted.
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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.
 
mholhut said:
Sounds good Ken. I think there's a definite business opportunity for you here.
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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.
 
mholhut said:
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.
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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
 
Mac98SHO said:
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
Click to expand...

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

709893_9_full.jpg


clear led tails brake.jpg
 
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.

clear led tails.jpg
 
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.
 
mholhut said:
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.
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Where are you in MA? Anywhere close to Worcester?
 
Vivid LS said:
Where are you in MA? Anywhere close to Worcester?
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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..

510004_204_full.jpg


thats an LS with clean tail lights
 
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.

lincoln LED.JPG
 
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....
 
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