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LED Tail lights

For the longest time Ive wanted LED tail lights. Not only for looks, but the benifits of being bright, long lasting and very fast to light up when activated. At the sametime I wanted a working setup of reverse lights. I looked everywhere and I could not find a set of 2-inch White LED tail lights. I scraped my project for a while and came across some 2-inch regular bulbs that where flush mounted. Now I had one more excuse. I wanted a LED 3rd Tail light, but didn't know what to do with the license plate light. Everything came into play so I decided to break out the dremel and go for it.

I contacted Mesa4x4 for the 4-inch LEDS, Mike with Trail Head Off Road for the 2-inch flush mount lights, Northridge4x4 for the RockHard license plate relocator and the Offroad Only LED 3rd tail light/license plate LED.

Tools: Time:
Phillips Screw driver
Dremel
Gloves
Duct Tape
Permanent Marker
Various wrenches
 2-4 hours depending on what you hookup.

Keep in mind this is not a bolt on modification. When you begin cutting into your fenders there is no turning back. Make sure you cut small and work your way up to a larger hole. Once its cut you can not reattach. Heres a Flasher Relay fix that I did on my 00TJ because the rapid flashing was driving me bonkers. Written by kizer, if you have any questions or comments about this install visit

 

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Using a phillips screw driver remove the lense cover screws

Inside you will find 3 bolts holding in your Light

Use a socket and remove the 3 bolts

Pull the light assembly out as far as you can until you can access the wiring loom in the rear of the assembly.

Use a pair of cutters and cut as close as you can to the back of the assembly

What you should have left is a sealed bundle of wires in a blach sleeve

This is the template that is supplied with the LEDS from Mesa4x4.

This is what the template looks like up against your Jeep. I personally dont find it to useful so lets do some modifications.

Fold the piece of paper in half making sure the circle is exactly in half.

Cut as close as you can to the inner circle leaving the black circle on the paper.

This is what your finished product should look like.

Place your finished template on the tub. Notice the oval shaped hole? Thats where you want to cut out in your circle. Make sure your template is as close as possible. Behind the template you want to place some gray tape before you cut out your hole.

Take some scotch tape and tape a small strip to the very top of the circle. Flip the circle up and then place strips of Duct tape under the ring to deter chipping of paint while you cut.

Flip down the ring and tape it down to keep it from moving. I didn't take any shots, but you want to cut inside the circle line and slowly cut more and more as you find your hole isn't big enough. Better to be to small than to big.

I used a dremel and a carbid bit and a dremel to cut out my first hole.

After you cut out your first hole use pieces of paper and tape it to your rear quarter and note your edges that your taping it to. I used the bottom and door opening as my reference point.

Take a small knife and clut slits in the new hole.

I pushed the slices into the hole and made a crease in the paper around the hole to estable a smooth even round hole.

Place the template onto the other side. Keep in mind the passenger side has the rear swing tailgate hinges. Simply cut small notches in the paper and use the same reference points you used for alignement from the drivers side.

Again I used the same dremel and bit to cut out the passenger side. Keep in mind you want to cut just a hair smaller than the template so you can do the same. Adjust with a shave here and their to make the hole larger to your likeing.

You will do test fits with the groment and LED light to see how it fits, however thats later in the writeup.

A funny thing walking out the door I was looking at some Tidy Cat cat litter. It just happens to sit inside the backdoor on the way to the garage. I needed a template for my 2-inch white reverse lights.

The cap just barely fits over the gromet so I decided it was a good idea for the job.

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