| LED Third Brake Light (CHMSL) Install |
Subject: LED Third Brake Light (CHMSL) Install by Matatk on 2011/3/26 20:28:18 Many people have expressed interest in LED brake lights and at the very least a LED third brake light. I did not originate this, I've seen it before. Several members from various forums have used the LED light strip from Harbor Freight that costs around $9.99. I was planning on doing this, but couldn't find it at my local store. Instead I went on ebay and bought one from China for $1.49. When it came in, it looked identical to pictures I've seen of the one from HF:  As you can see, it's a flexible strand, which is the biggest drawback. I tried to come up with a viable and easy solution to mount it straight. I thought about making a metal mount for it, but after tinkering around it was too much work. I figured I'd try to wedge it between a few pieces of cardboard and see if that kept it straight. Seemed to work ok, but not ideal. I will eventually cut small strips of MDF or plywood and use that instead to make it straighter. To start, open the hatch and remove the torx screws holding on the light assembly. Once off, you will then remove the two screws holding the plastic bezel in. Here is the underside of the bezel:  Once open you'll find this:  There is not a lot of room, but the light strip fits in there perfectly, just a bit snug. I put a couple pieces of cardboard underneath, then laid the light in, centered.  I decided to solder the wires to the back circuit board, which seemed like the best solution. The wires are pretty thin and I don't think they will splice well. Also, the LED has polarity, so test the wires before you solder them.  I then put two more strips of cardboard on top and sandwiched the light between the setup:  As you can see, it's not 100% straight. I think small strips of wood would be a better solution. However, once I screwed the bezel back in, it seemed to straighten out a little more from the pressure:  I can't give a good reference to how bright it is, but it seems slightly better than the stock bulbs. I wish I had take before/after, but I didn't. Here is one shot in the garage when it was pitch black:  Overall I'm happy with the installation. It was pretty quick and easy. I did notice that the LEDs activate about a 1/2 second before the filament bulbs. And every 1/2 second counts! I think I will redo it later with wood strips to make it 100% straight. It's a simple mod that sets it off a bit and only a trained eye will notice  Matthew |
