If you decide to do something to your car because you saw it here, please give me credit where it is due! (link to my page w/ my name or something) Thanks.

Third Brake Light LED Retrofit, Page Updated January 27, 2008

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Project Completed in April 2006

By now, all of my taillights were drop in LED bulbs, except for my third brake light. So I decided to replace the entire bulb with an LED panel. This project was relatively easy, since the LED panel is the same exact design as the LED panels I used for my bumper lights (page 11).

I bought two squares of 36 red LEDs from superbrightleds.com, and then cut them in half (since the panels are symmetrical). The final shape was 3 LEDs high, and 24 LEDs wide for a total of 72 LEDs. I wired everything together, and then Epoxied the panels together using clothes hanger pieces again. I painted the front of the LED panels silver, and the entire brake light housing silver. Then I simply Epoxied the panel in place and ran the wires to where I cut off the existing socket. The light fit perfectly, and as you can see, it was incredibly bright, much brighter than stock. Plus, I no longer needed the ugly red cover! Now it is all clear.

Front
Back
Shining on a wall, you can see that the beam of light is not very wide. I sacrificed viewing angle for brightness. Since the LEDs are focused to a 15 degree viewing angle, they are really bright.
Finished!

I did not like having the third brake light painted silver, so I eventually painted the entire thing black, and now it looks much cleaner.
Notice how poorly the taillight brake lights are lit by those drop in LED bulbs.

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Don't forget that if you have any help, advice, comments, criticisms, or questions about my car and future mods, please sign my Guest book!

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Table of Contents

My Corolla Today
Page 1: Current Exterior
Page 2: Current Interior
Page 3: Current Engine
Page 4: Current Audio

Corolla Time Lines
Page 5: Phase Time Line
Page 6: Detailed Time Line

Other Stuff
Page 7: Photoshop
Page 8: Look at this page before you buy replacement LED bulbs
Page 9: Details on my current and future mods
Page 10: For Sale!

DIYs and Project Write-ups
Page 11: Bumper light LED retrofit 1
Page 12: Third Brake light LED retrofit
Page 13: Diablo Mirror LED replacement
Page 14: Taillight LED Retrofit 1
Page 15: High Beam DRL Mod
Page 16: Bumper Light LED Retrofit 2, PLUS detailed description of how I do LED mods
Page 17: Painting preparation (details on my fenders, grille, trunk, and Bondo)
Page 18: Side marker LED retrofit and installation
Page 19: HID fog lights and headlights
Page 20: Interior painting, modifications, and exterior trim painting
Page 21: Installing Halo/LED/Projector headlights
Page 22: Mirror cover LED replacement
Page 23: Installing a new stereo and speakers
Page 24: Body kit installation, front end conversion, and other body work for round 2
Page 25: Retrofitting LEDs into my third mirrors and front turn signals
Page 26: Putting interior LEDs behind the dash and in all the buttons and all over the interior
Page 27: LED tail light retrofit 2 and baking your lights in the oven to remove the lens