Lincoln LS custom LED taillights made

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 :)
 
Quik LS said:
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.
Click to expand...

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?

Quik LS said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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).
 
GrayGhost1 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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 ;)
 
Quik LS said:
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
Click to expand...

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.
 
BanginLS said:
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..
Click to expand...

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.
 
BigBoiLS said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
TheRebel said:
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).
Click to expand...

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 ;)
 
Quik LS said:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/carbulb-notes.htm
Click to expand...

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.

DSC01683.JPG


DSC01684.JPG


DSC01689.JPG


DSC01690.JPG
 
mholhut said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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...
 
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.
 
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