This DIY is for everyone who is curious as to how I modded my 3rd brake light! This is my first DIY so Ill try and be as thorough and detailed as I can! This is me retroactively trying to show how I did it, I tried my best to point out what’s up with the pictures I took. I’m not liable if your car explodes... Step 1: Buy L.E.D Go to your local auto parts store and choose the L.E.D of your choice (I opted to go with the not as bright, but cheaper 36 Flex LED Strip) I measured about 40 from side to side underneath our spoiler, so the 36” length seemed to be the best bet. For those of you who want to save money I’d suggest purchasing on eBay or Amazon, for those who are impatient like me.. disregard my last sentence. Step 2: Delete your OEM 3rd brake light. On the underside of the hatch there are plastic pieces that keep the inside looking all nice.. There are two separate plastic pieces the bottom (where the two handles are) and the top (which is what you need to pull off). The small plastic piece is held in by 4 retaining clips.. Just pry those off, you may have to pull hard and you’ll hear an awful popping sounds (It makes me cringe when I hear it). I didn’t remove the piece completely, with 4 clips undone you should be able to see the 3rd brake light. There are two screws. Remove using a Torx 15 bit. You’ll see a clip with two wires.. After pushing inward a couple times I got frustrated and just cut the wires, only after to realize you must push the pin to remove the clip to the right (You’ll have to cut them so it doesn’t matter either way) Step 3: Wire and test the L.E.D strip before affixing. The positive on the existing wires is red, and negative is brown… Pretty straight forward, wire the positive to positive and negative to negative. I used butt connectors, feel free to use wire taps or solder if you’re about that. Turn car on, press brakes to see if it lights up. (Hopefully it does!) Step 4: Mount L.E.D to underside of spoiler. There’s a perfect gap where the weather stripping is between the top underside of the spoiler and the hatch’s glass… The LED I bought came with 3M tape already affixed, So I simply peeled and applied slowly to be sure it was as even and stuck on there as possible.. Step 5: Wire tuck to your preference and pop back in those annoying retaining clips. I think I covered all the procedures I took. You may do it slightly different, but hopefully end with the same results. Any questions feel free to ask! (I’ll be posting this on 337/20th page on Vortex soon)
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 22:06:24 +0000
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