i got bored the other day and ordered 100 white led's off ebay.but as im waiting for them to come in i went to radioshack and picked up a couple led's and built an led flashlight with them and soldered in some resistors so i dont overpower them and am running them off a 9v battery and holy crap it is bright.now the ones i ordered put out 10 times the light these do so im wondering about building fog lights first and then maybe headlights.has anyone ever attempted this before.im also going to build a stabilizer light for my bow with a red lense for hunting critters after dark like coyotes and rabbits and such.has anyone ever built something like this?

 

Haven't tried it on my truck but did get front blinkers for me EV since every watt of power adds up on the range. Only got 2 for now to see now they would work. Now that I know they are good enough I would like to replace as many of the lights on my EV and F250 as possible.

Haven't thought about making my own though.......but I like the idea. I wish there was a way to make actual headlights but we aren't there yet.

I'm VERY interested to see how you make this work because its a heck of a lot cheaper than buying ready assembled, drop in replacements for automotive bulbs.

Only word of caution is that you and I could both be testing the limits of DOT rules.

But by all means, please keep us posted.

 

actually i read about mercedes over in europe is putting them in cars.and they make a drop in replacement for jeep wranglers now as well.but they are really expensive.im just layed off and bored.i think i may go to the junk yard and find some fog lights to gut to try this out.i figured if i get the light distributing lense (cant remember what they are called) on the foglights i may be able to adjust them to be able to use them on the road and make it to where my low beams will light half the led's and high beams will light all of them.but im gonna try it with fog lights first

 

I have used high flux leds for tail lights and turn signals on several cars...getting ready to do the truck in the next few weeks. They are more than bright enough for that type of lighting...if you want to use them for headlights/primary lighting you will need to step up to either 5w or 10w units...they aint cheap, but they work very well.

As a point of reference, I have seen single 10w units used to replace a 250w vapor lamp...came out very well, I think the hardest part would be getting the reflector right so you dont attract the attention of any law enforcement, much less blind everyone on the road.

 

im thinking i will build more of a straight angled reflector with very little pitch to try and focus the light a little more.i only ordered the 3watt led's but they are 27,000 mcd.and i know that two 2000 mcd led's light up a room nice and bright in a flashlight housing.so im wondering what 100 of the 27,000 mcd's will do.maybe ill just build a tanning booth.lol j/k. im also trying to figure out how to pop the lenses off my tail lights and make a clear lense to run color led's.does anyone have any pictures of a project like this?

 

With the right lens on the LED, they are almost spotlights.

Right now I have 1157 front turn signals and Silverstar Ultra headlights.
I also still have an incandesent dome light.

Cab, side markers, 4" round backup lights, 2.5" round flat bed marker lights and 4 4" round Stop tail turn lights, all LED's.

I am getting ready to mount 4 LED driving lights for my rear work lights and get rid of the utility floods I have mounted back there now.

When I am out plowing snow, I can tell a difference in the volt meter readings.

 

Well you guys play nice, I am back out the door to shove more snow.

 

I have not started pulling mine apart yet, but from past projects throw them in the oven at about 150~175* for about 10~15 mins...it should make the glue nice and pliable to seperate the lens from the frame.

I am in the process or rewiring all of the lighting in the 86, and will be building custom LED's all around in stock housings along with using a combination of 5w & 10w units in old driving lamp (2"x4") housings for area/work/bed lights, as well as hitch and docking lamps...should make it a heck of alot easier to turn the dually around with a trailer at night =)

 

what material would you use to do the clear lense and how do you shape it.i was thinking lexan.

 

lexan is what I have used in the past (gonna keep my my stock lenses and drill them for the truck tho)....for these I would probably just use the original lamp as a mold/template and form the lexan over it to get the angle and curve, then deal with final fit and finish when I went to put it back together. Just a hint if you have not done it before, when shaping lexan use a hair dryer, not a heat gun...it will go much slower, but you will have to work much harder to F it up...with a heat gun its real easy to overheat lexan (think discolor and create bubbles) then you are stuck starting from scratch.

EDIT: I would probably also use like 1/8"~3/16" for the tail and signal lamps....lexan is pretty tough and the area is well supported

 

The real eye opener was when I had the electric car in the shop for some testing. I had an amp meter connected in series to the complete 12V secondary systems and with everything on, just the lights were drawing over 30 amps. The blinkers were actually causing a spike load when flashing so even though they were intermittent they still ate lots of power.

Just going to LEDs would be nearly 30 amps reduced in 12V consumption.

I wouldn't gain nearly as much with my truck but I would still seriously consider it.

Would REALY like to look at headlights though.........

 

a couple links for you david
03/23/2009 - World's First 7" Round LED Headlamp Shows Bright Possibilities for Commercial Applications

A look at the new LED headlights on the Lexus LS600h - MotorAuthority

 

I am lieutenant on my fire dept. here and I wanted to put a led blue flashing light in my dually. The smallest one was like $300 and only had 25 leds in it. I bought 100 super bright blue leds for $20 and soldered them all into a pcb breadboard then made an astable multivibrator to make it flash 50 leds on one side then alternate to the other 50 leds. spent under $40 on the whole thing. The thing is so F-ing bright and everyone wants one now. Lol.

I was putting leds in the mini mag lights 8-10 years ago. Then a few years ago I seen you could buy a little led adapter for your mini mag light.....

This would be cool to do.

 

If you get too bright on markers, turn signals, your going to get the the law stopping you. Headlamps have to be DOT approved. Forward looking lamps must be orange. Course there are different shades from orange to almost yellow. Rear facing lamps (as in tail lights) must be red. If you have markers on a headache rack, they must be red. Putting any blue or green on will get you pulled over. I've seen guys pulled over for having multi colored bulbs in a holiday wreath hanging on the front of their truck. Cop having a bad day I guess.

I like having extra lights. Cab lights, extra markers, lights on headache rack. I put a few under the dash to light up the floor area. Under the seats on extended and crew cabs. Red works best and also relieves eye strain when driving all night. Blue isn't too bad, never tried green. My last semi and 48' single drop, stretch trailer was lit up like a xmas tree

 

The military has been installing LED headlights in their HMMWVs. I saw quite a few running LED headlights in Iraq.

Edit: I've never built anything out of LEDs before. I've tested them in a materials lab in college. That's about it.