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Third Brake Light Fitting Guide


Daniel French

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Nice, been thinking about this.

Minor note, you shouldn't need a screwdriver to demount the econoseal connector - you should be able to press down on the other end of that part of the connector (the bit right up against the sideskin, in your picture), to lift the latch and release it.

*smile*

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Nice guide Daniel. Have now bought the parts to have a go at this myself. Safety first and all that.

I do have one question though which is regrading how bright it is. is there anything that can be done to 'turn it down a bit'? I presume an inline resistor would work but anybody got any ideas what a good one to go for might be? I think in standard guise this would be retina searing for those behind you in traffic, particularly at night.

I'm the sort of grumpy bastard that gets annoyed when people leave their fog lights on when there's no need so I can't cope with becoming 'one of those' types! *smile*

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Daniel,

I have pretty much exactly the same light, although mine came from Maplin. You "do" need to fit an inline resistor. Not merely because it's too bright, but you will eventually burn out the LED array.

I can't remember the value, as I probably fitted mine 8 years ago, but lots of people have the same light, so hopefully someone can remember. It's probably in the archives somewhere, if you can figure out how to search on here.

 

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Daniel

How did you overcome the slanted back not  pointing the light to one side when putting the fixing points a 6 and 12 oclock ?

 

When i fitted mine i made a bracket that offsett the fixings so that the light pointed exactly rearwards but your bracket doesnt seem to allow that ??

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You can definitely get the same light from Maplin for less, bought one last year to replace one I broke while packing the boot and I am sure it was circa £10. You should install with an inline resistor and if my memory is correct you need 22 ohm. I am told you need this to prevent the LED lights burning out, it's worked like this on my car for many years 

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Hi Mark - good spot!  I'd missed that out of the blog as I thought most people wouldn't go to the trouble of making a bespoke u bolt, so didn't deem it necessary to include - but i'll update the post with the info in the next day or so.

In answer to your question... My solution was to use sugru - it's like chewing gum when you open the pack, then it rubberises when it's cured and sticks to practically anything.  It's a pretty awesome product and you can get it in most hardware stores, hobby shops etc:- https://sugru.com

I used it to flatten the 10 degree slant on the rear of the light, then pushed it against the roll bar to create a profile that'd mount well when cured.
 

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  • 5 years later...

Just completed mine on a hand formed 60x5mm powder coated aluminium bracket fixed between the wheel carrier and the car, with a 4mm slot on the back to glue the cable in to. Cable slips under the boot cover and along the inside rim to the wiring harness. The lower end of the bracket rests against the padding. Remains to be seen if a clip holder (and wire protector) under the boot cover over the boot rim is needed to stop it slipping off to one side... let's "drive and see"...
image_48.thumb.jpg.f1133019755c858199c62ad9b0918428.jpg image_49.thumb.jpg.c460422cd3660943e348cb9913d41da9.jpg image_50.thumb.jpg.850229e667ad930cc4d69d2d42612113.jpg

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