LED tail light conversion

[Freeman]

Originally Posted by Landshark

that looks HORRIBLE. that crap is all lopsided and uneven!
another Lwin hack-job.

Hence the reason I'd like a better write up, lol.

[SVXMAN2001]

LED's won't work in our cars, or imo, look good because the light housings weren't made for LED's. Simply putting LED's behind the clearly dated 90's era brake assembly's just won't look right. I would think that the thought of installing these LED's in our svx's will give it the look of today's audi's, bmw's, heck most modern mid to high end vehicles have them now. But the difference is that there are different and unique plastics incorporated into the brake housing that make the LED's reflect in such an attractive manner.

[Freeman]

Originally Posted by SVXMAN2001

LED's won't work in our cars, or imo, look good because the light housings weren't made for LED's. Simply putting LED's behind the clearly dated 90's era brake assembly's just won't look right. I would think that the thought of installing these LED's in our svx's will give it the look of today's audi's, bmw's, heck most modern mid to high end vehicles have them now. But the difference is that there are different and unique plastics incorporated into the brake housing that make the LED's reflect in such an attractive manner.

Agreed.... That's why you gut the housing!!!

[SilverSpear]

Originally Posted by Freeman

Agreed.... That's why you gut the housing!!!

Agreed Freeman!

[Freeman]

See, someone stated that they had to gut the housing and I'm a little troubled as well as worried to do a major modification like this one without knowing all the details.. I don't want this to backfire especially since I loooove my SVX..

[SVXMAN2001]

simply gutting the housing isn't enough, look at today's brake lights, there is a lot of reflection and refraction going on to get the LED's to appear they way they are, unless you are a talented lighting engineer, its going to be difficult to make the LED's look "right". good luck though!

[Green1995SVX]

Originally Posted by SVXMAN2001

simply gutting the housing isn't enough, look at today's brake lights, there is a lot of reflection and refraction going on to get the LED's to appear they way they are, unless you are a talented lighting engineer, its going to be difficult to make the LED's look "right". good luck though!

Chris is right. LED's have a very limited viewing angle. If the housing doesn't have the proper refraction properties, the LEDs will not serve a wide enough viewing angle, and will cause a dangerous situation.

[Freeman]

Originally Posted by Green1995SVX

Chris is right. LED's have a very limited viewing angle. If the housing doesn't have the proper refraction properties, the LEDs will not serve a wide enough viewing angle, and will cause a dangerous situation.

If you say so... I believe it depends on the type of led's as well as the housing.. Ever have a problem noticing LED's on the back of a trailer? No.. Do they have refracted lenses or housing? No.. The point is, you won't need to see my brake lights at an angle in the first place.. As for the turn signals, They're on the sides of the car as well.. I don't see a problem with being able to view them at all..

[SVXMAN2001]

Mike is on the right track, I am kind of aluding to that. But in addition to that, I am thinking in pure aesthics. Putting LED's behind our brake lenses, be it "gutted" or what have you, it is still going to look just like that. No matter what you do you aren't going to change the properties of the stock brake lens, so much that it will compliment the LED's. A complete new housing and brake lens would need to be fabricated.

Freeman, you mention the LED's on a trailer, BINGO, that's pretty much what I am trying to say, you do that to your brake lens and it will look just like that. Like you put LED's behind your stock brake lens. I know this is just my opinion, and I think it would like out of place. But I just would hate to see you go through that effort, expecting the rear lights to look like today's cars with LED's. But if that's what you want, and that's what you like, enjoy!

[Freeman]

No, your trying to help and giving your honest opinion and I greatly appreciate that! Thanks for your honesty and concern. That's exactly what I'm looking for. Although I'm also looking to argue the point to make sure it is either good or bad to do..

Do these look hard to see to you?



Can barley tell they're there during the day..

[siceclipse]

i try to stay out of these topics, but here goes.

There is a guy on DSMTuners that did his whole taillight bar in LEDs

Here is what it looks like.
http://www.rcaz.com/movieclips/led_demo.wmv

and this:
http://www.rcaz.com/movieclips/eclipse2.1.mpg

His website
http://www.rcaz.com/default_automotive.htm

Dave is a huge asset to the DSM community when i t comes to custom lighting.

BTW he designed, built and did all the animation programing for this, and i should also add that these lights without the animation controler work just fine as normal tails/blinkers/brake lights when only hardwired to the cars harness.

[SubaruSVXCrazy]

Originally Posted by Freeman

No, your trying to help and giving your honest opinion and I greatly appreciate that! Thanks for your honesty and concern. That's exactly what I'm looking for. Although I'm also looking to argue the point to make sure it is either good or bad to do..

Do these look hard to see to you?



Can barley tell they're there during the day..

I think those looks great. It also seems to me that it has LED directionals.

[SVXMAN2001]

Those do look pretty good, I remember when the guy who did those. That was a complete custom job. Meaning he didn't use the motorsport ones. Looks pretty good.

[SubaruSVXCrazy]

These could make nice reverse lights.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1156-...Q5fAccessories

[Freeman]

At least we're thinking positivly.. See how they aren't clear in the back when they're turned off.. They look almost stock except for when your looking for it. Although it's completly custom, there has to be a pre-made unit that could look almost similar to that, right?