[apkarian100]

I have started to produce my own custom LED taillights for the 2001-2004 Toyota Tacoma.

• These are not the cheap Ebay taillights that only utilize the parking and brake lights as LEDs.

• I am integrating LEDs in the park/brake lights, the turn signals, and the reverse lights. I am using the factory taillights and making custom circuit boards and mounting them in the taillights themselves. I will be using the highest quality Red-Orange, Amber, and White Superflux LEDs:

• Superflux LEDs are used for lighting in the Infinti FX, the Cadillac DHS, and new Toyota Rav4. (Just to name a few)

• The Red-Orange and Amber Superflux LEDs are rated at 70mA at 2.6V:

• The bright White Superflux LEDs are rated at 100mA at 3.4V:

• These LED tailights are both voltage and current regulated to provide long life and use.

• All voltage to the LED arrays is regulated at 12V to prevent LED damage during use. Take note that vehicle voltages tend to spike or drop.

• Both LED turn signals will have load resistors wired into the circuits to prevent hyper-flashing due to the decreased current being used by the LEDs compared to regular incandescent bulbs.

Benefits:

• Brighter output with ALL tail lights compared to incandescent bulbs.
• LEDs are maintenance free, no need to replace burnt out bulbs.
• Faster brake light response, meaning increased safety for the drivers behind you.
• Best quality, I use nothing but the best LED and electronic components for this setup.
• Service, don't trust Asian companies pumping out a bunch of cheap aftermarket LED taillights, if a problem were to ever arise from this product, I provide tech support and maintenance upon request.
• This is a Plug and Play system, no need for modification to your existing wiring harness.

Price:

• I am initially going to charge $125.00 for everything. That includes 2001-2004 Toyota Tacoma tailights and LED modules (LEDs, resistors, regulators, circuit boards, etc.)

• I will offer a $25.00 discount to anyone who sends me their stock tailights upon purchase of these LED taillights.

• Shipping will be a little extra but not much, remember, I live in the US.

I am currently making the first model to post pictures. It will be finished in a week or two.

Please PM me or post on this thread if you are interested.

 

[Enola Gaia]

Sounds interesting - good luck with the new enterprise! :waytogo:

I'd be really interested in seeing some comparative nighttime photos (OEM vs. your LED units) - for example, lights in action with one side OEM and one side LED ... :thinking:

 

[Voodreau]

exactly what Enola said.

 

[DayOldTaco]

sounds interesting :thinking: post up pics of the finish product...cant wait to see these at night:waytogo:

 

[Chris D.]

interested pending a preview..

also, will these rapid flash due to a lack of load or will that be all equated into the setup?

are you making these replaceable if one fails? that way a replacement is plug and play?

 

[apkarian100]

These LEDs will not rapid flash, (I'm speaking about the turn signals), because the load resistors I install simulate the common load of a incandescent turn signal bulb, therefore tricking the truck into thinking an incandescent bulb is still installed. There will be no rapid flashing issues with the brake/park lights and the reverse lights.

Each invididual LED module section will be replaceable:

1. I have installed the correct bulb bases with leads running off them, so I can twist the base into the original incanddescent socket base.

2. I am mounting the individual LED circuit modules with angle brackets. One side of the angle backet will be permanently fastened to the side of the OEM taillight while the other side will have small nuts and bolts securing the angle brackets to the circuit boards.

As soon as I finish this product, I will post pictures of the brightness comparison of the regular taillights to the new full LED taillights.

 

[apkarian100]

daily bump

 

[yosh2000]

waiting for the daily pictures....

 

[apkarian100]

Here are some progress pics. I have finished the LED brake/parking lights:

There will be more pics on the way.

 

[humanoid]

Curious how they will look from the side.

 

[yosh2000]

very nice! man i wish the 05 tacos rear lamps were that easy to take apart.

 

[apkarian100]

As far as how the sides will, I have only installed the front mounted LEDs for the brake/park lights. I will be installing additional LEDs on sides for rear corner light illumination. I'll put them right where the arrows are pointing:

Basically I'm putting them where the side reflector is.

 

[Enola Gaia]

Are you removing the side reflector? :thinking:

 

[spyder041]

im intrested also..can you re-wire them for the 95.5-00 years? or hell, once you get this down, id send you my red/clears to do that to

 

[Enola Gaia]

NOTE: I've copied the tech discussion portions of this thread to a new thread in Exterior / Body:

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=122687

... so that information about this interesting modification doesn't lay forgotten in an ancient For Sale thread later ...

Please use that Exterior thread for topics relating to design / construction of these lights.

Please use this thread for topics relating to price, purchase, etc., etc.

 

[apkarian100]

Thank you Enola.

 

[apkarian100]

Spyder041, I can re-wire the LED array to work with the 95-00 tailights. It shouldn't be that hard. I just need some 95-00 taillights to work with.

 

[Chris D.]

excellent work,
so why not bring the board all the way to the bottom of the taillight and fill it up with more led's?

 

[apkarian100]

Well, I wanted to fit the circuit board in the area that was the original reflector for the incandescent bulb. If I decided to extend the board down to the bottom of the light, there would be some issues with the original lense fitment in the case that the lense wouldn't sit in the housing properly. This would cause condensation in the tailight housing and possible premature failure of the electrical component inside. If I did extend them all the way to the bottom, I would have to cut the original taillight housing to make them fit. I don't think people would want me to start hacking up their taillights. The illumination of the LEDs is plenty bright to lighten the whole brake light, so extending the LEDs down to the bottom would be a waste of time and effort.

 

[Chris D.]

I was just curious, it definatly works..