Raptor's LED Taillight Retrofit
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,178
Likes: 0
From: Bluffton, SC
I'll wait for you to do it 
I just want something to blend in with my truck's rear end better. The cherry red just doesn't work. IDK what I want to do. Money is an issue at this point too
Retrofits are higher on my list
I just want something to blend in with my truck's rear end better. The cherry red just doesn't work. IDK what I want to do. Money is an issue at this point too
Retrofits are higher on my list
My controller is a PWM with an integrated voltage regulator on a PCB printed by a well-known guy in the LED industry (azDave), and his products are fantastic. This PWM is specially made for 12vDC output on tri-wired, negatively-grounded vehicles. It can handle up too 400 superflux LEDs and with a little modification, 800 more. The two Sharp voltage regulator handles from 0-20vDC and converts it to 12.3vDC for a safe, and long LED life. The potentiometer also is able to adjust the running lights brightness.
I'm also thinking about the third brake light. It's small, so instead of using the so-so superflux Lumileds (no heat sink required, they are low-powered LEDs @ 70mA, 4 lm/ea), I was thinking of putting like five high-powered 5W Luxeons (they're about ~85 lumens EACH @ full power [700mA]) in the third brake light. Of course, I will need to fabricate a heat sink for those.
1x Opti-Drive PWM Short Kit- $14.50
2x 6"x4" PCB - $11.39
60x Philips Lumileds- $17.95
1x Long kit for PWM (see pic above)- $8.61
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Total: $52.45 so far. I'm sure I'll end this project with no more than $60 spent. One helluva deal since you get the OEM look, plus better performance than those eBay LED taillights
Last edited by Raptor05121; Apr 27, 2011 at 10:35 AM.
crap, I just remembered I still need resistors for the LEDs. Doh!
14x 1/4W, 27-ohm resistors
2x 1W, 100-ohm resistors
Edit: called Digi-Key back and added said resistors to my order. Just $1.18 for 16 resistors *happy dance* They were already boxing my order (20 minutes) after I placed it, good thing I remembered. RadioShack would've wanted like $5 for just 5 resistors...
14x 1/4W, 27-ohm resistors
2x 1W, 100-ohm resistors
Edit: called Digi-Key back and added said resistors to my order. Just $1.18 for 16 resistors *happy dance* They were already boxing my order (20 minutes) after I placed it, good thing I remembered. RadioShack would've wanted like $5 for just 5 resistors...
Last edited by Raptor05121; Apr 27, 2011 at 11:01 AM.
