Lincoln LS custom LED taillights made

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.
 
TheRebel said:
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
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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
 
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.
 
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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!
 
teh_milz said:
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
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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.
 
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.
 
gt95coupe said:
BUMP
any updates? Also I was curious about the front turn signals could they be done or is this a past issue?
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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.
 
Justin00LS said:
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)
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What is the rating on them, how many mcd are they?
 
postalUT said:
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.
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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)
spm1.gif


Also I made a third brake light module that does stupid blinky stuff; here's it cycling through some patterns
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
 
Owlman, do you have the wiring diagram? Did you use a 555 timer for this??? Very curious!
 
Justin00LS said:
Owlman, do you have the wiring diagram? Did you use a 555 timer for this??? Very curious!
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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
 
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