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While this is not my first post, it's my first post showing a recent project I did in my quest for brighter brake lights. I replaced my backup lights with another set of brake lights so i could have 4 brake lights. It was nice, but still not what i was looking for. I then replaced the bulbs with SMD LED 1156 bulbs since i had red halo's in the lens for my running lights and it was better, but still not what i wanted. Finally i came across these LED Fog lights with Red Halo's and thought, hmm this might work. So for the cheap price of $30 for 4 of them, i thought it was worth a try.
It's a single SMD LED behind a magnified fish eye type of lens with a red LED Halo. I wired both to go on together.
Then i separated the brake lens from the housing and drilled a 2-1/8" hole to insert the light from the inside.
I used a bead of Silicone adhesive on the backside of the lens housing to hold the light in place. Then attached the lens back to the housing and sealed it off except for the weep hole on the bottom.
Next I bench tested before installing them back onto the car
Before I could install them on the car, I had to enlarge the hole in the sheet metal before it would fit.
Here is the half finished product which shows the new lights installed on the right, and old on the left.
I'm happy with it and wanted to share an idea that someone else might be interested in.
AMAZING difference! I LOVE this kind of home-made mods. I`m also going with 4 stop / tail / turn lights (stock buckets, lenses, & bulbs), but with white LED reverse lights mounted under the license plate.
On the backup lights, i did the same thing. It's hard to see, but those yellow bars on each side of the license plate frame are White SMD LEDs ! They work awesome.
On the backup lights, i did the same thing. It's hard to see, but those yellow bars on each side of the license plate frame are White SMD LEDs ! They work awesome.
Off Ebay. It took 2 weeks to arrive, but for the price it was worth the risk and wait. I figured, if they weren't bright enough, it wasn't too big a loss.
Off Ebay. It took 2 weeks to arrive, but for the price it was worth the risk and wait. I figured, if they weren't bright enough, it wasn't too big a loss.
I'm guessing that these are the ones you bought? (Edit: Maybe not, as this product only has 2 bulbs, not 4?)
I need to brighten my brake lights also, but since these are considered DRL's, I would have thought that they would be too bright for brake lights, but I'm guessing not? Have you had someone drive behind you at night to verify that they are ok?
Last edited by bradleyb66; Nov 29, 2017 at 10:32 AM.
I need to brighten my brake lights also, but since these are considered DRL's, I would have thought that they would be too bright for brake lights, but I'm guessing not? Have you had someone drive behind you at night to verify that they are ok?
Same lights, but smaller (2.5" vs. 3.5") And not they're not any brighter than the brake lights on my daughters 2017 Jeep Renegade or my wife's 2016 Veloster turbo (which has very bright lights).
I'm very pleased with the result. I like the newer cars having a 3rd brake light, but there isn't a good place to integrate one on a C3, so to me this is my best option.
Brighter C3 Brake lights
