Hello all! I’m a new member. I own an ‘01 Ford Ranger Edge 6cyl 4.0L with a 3” lift and 32” BF Goodrich All Terrain KO tires. Now to my questions…

I want to add “police” LED dash lights to my truck (just for fun ). Has anyone tried this or know of anyone who has? If so, have you (or they) encountered any problems using these types of lights or any other type of light for that matter? These are the lights I want to get. Thanks!

What i'm going for!

-Daniel

 

I'd think your biggest problem would be the cops!

 

I wasn't aware that cops use LED's for dash lights as you noted and I hadn't really given it much thought, but it would seem reasonable that you could grab some LED's and determine what resistor, when wired in with the LED, would produce the desired result. When/(if) you get them to dim when you use the dimmer adjustment on the dash, please post the details concerning how you made it work. The dimming I'm referring to is/will be equivalent to the performance of the tungsten filament bulbs that came in it new and not a slight dimming and then they go bye bye . Overly bright dash lights at night can really suck, especially when it's raining or snowing.

 

He had a link up there Billy. It was to a LED slimlighter.

N-e how...
Those Slimlighters are a lot brighter than most think. Im not sure if would be having one as a "novelty" item would be the brightest thing (no pun intended). I know here in my state, if your not displaying a Vol. Fire or any other First Responder type badging wether its a sticker in the window, license plate or anything else linking you to a particular fire district... you could be pulled over and the equip. (light in this case) can be "disabled" or confiscated. And the potential for a citation.

But!... if you can find a way to mask it while not being in use and get a Clear/clear or a clear/amber light, the cops shouldn't say a whole lot. Although you may want to find a "reason" or a "story" for the lights just in case your seen with it on.

 

I saw the word "dash" in there and I didn't look at the link until now; now I'm on the same page. Yeah, the cops here would take a real dim view of that too if they saw a guy using that on a public roadway. I don't know all the details of the law here, but I do know that you can't have flashing blue. That color is reserved for "their" use and not the publics .

 

I think you are on very thin ice here. Clearly if I saw that vehicle behind me I would think a police or emergency vehicle and pull over to let them by. Inpersonating a police vehicle is VERY against the law and if you are seen by a cop I am SURE he will take a very dim view of it. I am sure You can check the local laws on a web site for you state just look around.

The reason I know this was I did some light work on a Ranger and and there was a yellow tial light that I didn't know where to hook it up, so I connected it to the red tail light and everything was fine......several months later I was pooled over by a state officer and was informed it was illlegal to have anything but a red light on the rear of a moving vehicle. Thanked him and told him I would get it fixed. Took it home and sniped the splice, job done.....

By the way can anyone tell me what the yellow lights are for a truck? some year rangers (98) have them some don't (02).

Dave

PS: Why do you want the lights?

 

I don't think you would be very happy when the police pull you over after you use those lights a few times.

 

I think the real legal problem would be with RED lights on the front.

 

Thanks for the response! My original question was more about the technical side of things, like installation and such. But thanks for the comments! My brother is a police officer here in Houston</ST1 and he says the lights are legal as long as they aren't used "on" the road. They are legal for show cars and for off road use. Of course I'm not gonna be running around the streets flashing my lights at people, so I don't think I have to worry about being pulled over. Besides, excluding the dash light, the lights (seen on the video) aren’t visible when off. They hide behind your grille and the others go on your existing composite head and tail lamp structure. I’ll be sure to show you guys what it looks like on my truck once I get them installed. Thanks!

The video I was talking about

-Daniel <O</O

 

In that case... I'd loose the cigarette lighter end. Then go for a direct wire in to a shut-off ... Possibly with a keyed shut-off so you'd have to make sure there was some fail safe there just in case you accidently bump it going down the road duriny the day or even night.

I had four (4) of the LED slim lighters in my Ranger early on, before I decided to go with the "semi-permanent" strobes and LED set-up in the tail and headlamps. I had all four (4) of mine (the old slim lighters) wired in to a Street Hawk lighting controller so I wouldn't get the "same" start up pattern on all corners on the truck. The controller also let me turn off all the lights off at once after leaving the scene.

And if your going for the whole novelty off-road use... The LED "pods" are cool to have...they are rated for 1.5-2 + miles (at night) and they don't seem to pull as much amperage as a stand alone 4,6, or 8 head strobe kit. The 2-head strobe kits seem to almost break even with the 2-head power supplies. The good thing with using the LEDs are the low current/amp draw... so it should be a while till you see a need to upgrade the alt. to a 130 or the 200 amp version. I also highly recommend using a Optima Yellow top if you are going to have the strobes running for an extended period of time w/out the truck on.

 

Super Dave..!

My '99 had the amber taillight sections. They were for turning signals and the hazards.

 

Hey thanks, trigger. Do you have any pictures of your truck all lighted up? Did you do the installation yourself? If so, how did you run the wires into the cab? That's the one think I've been wondering about. Also, did you drill 1" holes into the tail/head lamps to add the strobe? That's what I don't understand. I want to do the installations myself but I don't wanna blow my truck up either. Did you see the video I posted of that chevy all lighted up?

-Daniel

 

99trigger3_0 Thanks
Seems like an odd change, later rangers use the red tails for turn blinkers and emergency flashers.

Thread unhijacked..

Dave

 

YW, Dave....

Daniel, unfortunately I only had a few still shots with the ol' HP digital... The resolution was terrible.. But I'll see if can a relative dig'em up for me at home.

The wiring...
I used a lot of existing holes that had (factory) body plugs right up under the driver floor pan and the pssngr side kick panel area. The first few I did, I jus simply made an "X" through the grommet ... ran my wires and heavily siliconed the spot when I was sure of my wiring. Later I started using plastic (liquid-tite) strain reliefs from Olflex to run the wiring.

...If I (when) were to do it again, I would use the metal ones and prime and paint'em. I would also use more DIY nylon connectors that Tyco Plastics and has. Its the kind that you had to crimp a Pin on then insert & lock into a main nylon body with other cables. All that would be the ideal thing for inside, and any connections Outside or underneath the truck would either be in a "weather proof" box with the liquid-tite strain reliefs and or the Two-part rubber-mastic sheets (the kind the cable and phone companies use for "underground" splices).

With these trucks not coming equip. for "heavy" additiional wiring like the CVPI's and Impalas...You really have to get creative with some of the wiring paths. I had no real engine mods in it so my engine comparment was free game... As far as the wiring paths through there.


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I did drill the 1" even a few 1-1/8" holes in the tail lights... the headlights only saw a 1" and a few 1/2" holes.

If you have the faith in you own "drilling / dressing" abilities and sharp/ fine toothed hole saws and a good shop vac you should be fine with the drilling. Be aware of the type / size of hole you need for that bulb or "head" a bigger hole will leave you with gaps you must cover! Otherwise you'll start to get fogging-condensation and pools of water inside the head/tail lamp body. Most bulbs/"head" assemblies come with a gasket of some sort, take that in to account prior to any drilling and layouts.

You should be fine if you take your time!

 

I had strobes for my truck a while back...just drilled a small pilot hole in both turn signals in the front and the turn signal area in the back, then enlarged to 1/2" and inserted the strobes. Ran wires as necessary to a switch hidden in the ashtray (I don't smoke, obviously). Flick of the switch and they all came on.

RP
Zach