Niteshaded LED Taillights (High Gloss Shine 56K NO)
 

Tinted my taillights with niteshades and took pictures of the process. I originally did my mustang tails with Niteshades and hated the end result as they had tons of orange peel and were very flat black vs glossy. This time I made sure to do them right and take my time. Spent 2 days but they came out great

Here is the before and after pictures:

http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/21246.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25277.jpg

Here is what I used:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25258.jpg
1 can Niteshades, 1 can Duplicolor Acrylic Enamel HIGH GLOSS clear coat, 3M Rubbing Comound, 3M 600, 1000, 2000 grit wet dry sandpaper, Meguiars Plast X, Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish

Start out by masking off areas you dont want tinted. I decided to mask off the backup lights as I want them to produce more light when backing up. I used masking tape and electrical tape as the masking tape tends to come off when wetsanding. Next mix dish soap and water and use the 600 grit sandpaper and wet sand the surface.
Tails looked like this after sanding:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25259.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25260.jpg

Wiped off with terry towel and applied 1 coat of niteshades:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25261.jpg

Allowed 30 min to dry and then wetsanded with 1000 grit. Go very slowly when sanding and let the paper do the work. Then applied 2nd coat:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25261.jpg

Wetsand 1000 grit and applied 3rd coat:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25262.jpg

At this point I removed the tape very carefully after letting them dry for 30 min. I wanted to tint the backup light area but not that dark. I applied 1 final coat to entire lens after wetsanding the painted and non painted areas:

(sanded)
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25263.jpg
(final niteshades coat (#4))
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25264.jpg

Now onto the clear coat. Applied 2 thick coats, as much as possible without letting it run. Let it dry for 30 minutes between coats and then wetsanded with 1000 grit after the first coat. I let the 2nd coat dry overnight with NO sanding (approx. 12 hours)
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25265.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25268.jpg

And dry in the morning:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25265.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25267.jpg

Then wetsanded clear coat with 1000 grit until no more orange peel:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25269.jpg

Buffing/Polishing:
I used an orbital buffer to save time and make it a LOT easier. I applied 4 coats of 3M Rubbing Compound and let 5 minutes to dry between coats. Then remove with Terry Towel and reapply:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25270.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25271.jpg

Then applied 3 coats of PlastX:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25272.jpg

And finally 2 coats of Deep Crystal Polish:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25273.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25274.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25278.jpg

And some more final pictures on the truck. You can see I also added a Line Of Fire to my tailgate just for added braking protection. Also note that I did not go extremely dark as I wanted the reflectors to still be visible and the brake lights to be visible. These are still legal as the reflectors are visible and brake lights can easily seen from 500 ft away which is state law for my area. I would not recommend going extremely dark over the brake lights as it does cut down on the visibility of the brakes during daytime driving.

http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25275.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25276.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25277.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25282.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25281.jpg

Parking Lights on:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25279.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25280.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25283.jpg

I will apply a coat of wax once they have set for a few weeks to complete the process

looks good!! very nice write up!

Looks really good, your hard work paid off.:thumbsup:

Awesome job!!

Very good write up. Deserves to be a sticky in the How To section. Looks like they were professionally done at a paint shop. I will be bookmarking this and keeping your thread in mind when I get to doing my own tail lamp project.

I'm impressed! i though mine came out good... yours came out much better!! i will be re-doing mine now with your method..
good write up

Nice! :thumbsup: - Og

looks great. very clean looking!

yes YES!, it actually looks like a factory light.

I would have them like this!

nicely done I think it is just the right level of tint

looks great, your hard work paid off!

Wow! Excellent work!

thanks guys, I am currently doing my 3rd brake light with the rest of the Niteshades. I should also state that temperature in which you are painting plays a factor. I would not recommend doing your lights unless the temp is around 70 or higher. The paint and clear does not dry properly and leavs lots of orange peel.

Also make sure to go the same direction when sanding, do not use circles and use very light pressure, if you push hard you are just going to strip paint. And dont be leniant on the water...I dunked the sandpaper about every 5-10 seconds to make sure it was always wet. Make sure to shake the VHT Niteshades and Clear Coat cans for at least 90 seconds before applying.

Good luck and hopefully we will see some stock looking tails vs matt black :)

a good tip is to leave the paint cans in the sun for awhile before using.

Great tip...Ive used this in the past, just have to remember to retrieve the cans from the direct sunlight :eek::lol:

those look awesome now

and the third brake light:

Before:
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25283.jpg

After
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25284.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25285.jpg

and with approval
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25286.jpg


http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25287.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25288.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25289.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25290.jpg
http://www.oznium.com/gallery/photos/full/25291.jpg

wow!

next up I will be painting my cowl (thanks for the write up Raptor), painting my fender flares, adding a 20% layer of tint to the front windows (already have 15% all around so roughly 3% in the back and 15 up front, 20 should make it just dark enough to not see in with 20 over 15), and painting my brake calipers.

hopefully I can finally get my wheels and tires at the end of june. 20x9 Monsters with 33/12.5/20 BFG KM2's

nice write up ! i was wondering if you wanted to get the tails dark could your spray the lights with thick coats instead of light ? or should i just keep spraying light coats until i get the darkness i want ?

Light coats!!! Thick coats will run and you will end up with a major headache. I'm glad you bumped this because I'm looking at buying some aftermarket LEDs to replace my stock tinted lights. OP, what brand are your LEDs?

Outstanding job... Very Cool...

so do you suggest i do light coats until i get as dark as i want them ?

looks great, will this work on my fog lights/road lights as i cant seem to find any for sale or maybe i'm just not looking in the right places, also since i really dont paint much (me and spray paint just cant function without runs) what are orange peels

that cat looks like a good buffer lol

My led's came today i'm gonna try what you did

Yes light coats until you achieve the desired tint level. Very light coats. When I painted my OEM wheels before I bought aftermarket I used such light coats that the first one didn't even cover the entire wheel. It's always been tough for me to paint because I like to lay it on thick for one coat and be done with it. I finally realized light coats is the way to go, as you're much less likely to screw something up.


This will work on fog lights but if you use them don't do it. If you don't use your fogs and they are for looks then go for it.

Orange peel is a textured look that happens almost every time you paint something. Most vehicles have a slight orange peel (including our F150s). If you look at something painted, tilt it in the light and you'll see a texture resembling the surface of an orange. That's what people refer to when they say orange peel.

those look great

for fog lights I would do light coats...you are going to drastically cut the distant of light output using niteshades on headlights or fog lights

and it can be used on any plastic housing lights

Where did you get your LEDs and what brand are they?

The taillights are lights off Ebay..

Just look for 04-08 F150 LED tail lights....they were 139 I believe and no issues with mounting or leaking. I did re-seal them once I got them though

Several different companies sell them on ebay

here is the link for them:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-...=p4506.c0.m245

Looks like they are $119

Thanks for the reply. I'm really wanting to get these and put some Niteshades on them. I did my stockers but they didn't turn out like I wanted them to.

Would you mind posting some more pictures of your truck from rear angles? I'm kind of on the fence with these and would like to see some more shots of them.

How many coats would you recommed with stock tail lights?

Im in the process of doing it right now. Am i supposed to sand after the 4th coat of nightshades or just clear coat it?

Those lights turned out nice. I have thought about tinting my hellas.

Im in the process of doing my lights now and theyre looking ok so far. Two things: 1)When i used the electrical tape the goo kept sticking to the light...It was a pain to get off with windex so I ended using goo gone. It took it right off. The only thing is you have to put a little bit on a paper towel because it will take the paint right off. 2) This is for those who have no taken their lights apart and sealed them...When you are sanding with the soap and water only do a portion at a time and dry it, otherwise the soapy water will leaking in on the edges.
Thats it for now. Ill post some pictures tomorrow or the next day when im done.

like the truck...looks good with the wheels and tires.....question...do you have any lift or suspension work done to your truck? im looking to put a set of 20x10 wheels on the truck with 325/50/20 nitto tires without changing the stock suspension. I think I may have some rubbing problems with that big of a wheel and tire combo. Any info would help

very nice write up, came out looking awesome!