DIY LED Tail Lights

Hello and welcome to my Instructable!

Today I wanted to cover LED Tail Light installation. The project vehicle is a 2000 Jeep Wrangler. For those of you who don't know, aftermarket Wrangler parts are ridiculously expensive. I wanted to find a good LED Tail Light replacement for the factory "box" shaped lights, but could not find a pair for less than $150. This is where I took a trip to good old Walmart. I went to the automotive section and found their "trailer" lights. I decided to go with these oval shaped ones and spent less than $30 for both. Installing them is pretty easy, check it out!

Materials & Tools:

- LED Tail Lights (The main attraction).

- Butt Splice Connectors (Used for your new wiring harness to connect your old plug).

- Angle Grinder (Or other cutting tool to create a slot for the new lights).

- Buddy or Roommate (To serve as your hands to line things up and test your new lights).

Always doing a quick mock up before installing is best. With these lights you can pretty much face them any direction you'd like. I went with diagonal. If you have a buddy, have them hold the light in place; this way you can take a step back and see how it looks. Thanks roomie!

This part is pretty important. I created a stencil of the light on a piece of cardboard. I then transfered the stencil to my desired spot on the Jeep and traced the outline with a pencil. This ensures that I get a perfect fit when it is time to place the light. Utilize your buddy or roommate again to get the perfect line up.

Before you cut, always make sure you know what is on the other side; also be sure to block any sparks from reaching fuel lines and the tank. My cut was done very carefully with a 3" angle grinder. If you have fancier methods available (like a plasma cutter), use them! After my rough cut, I touched up the edge of the metal with some sand paper.

The wiring is very simple! The LED has a positive, negative and ground. I removed the harness from my old tail light and frankensteined it onto my LED harness by connecting positive to positive, negative to negative. The ground was simply locating a screw to the frame. This allows me to use the factory plug. I used heat shrink butt splice connectors that create a nice water tight seal.

Once the wiring was done, I put the light into place! (I had to use a rubber mallet to assist because it was such a tight fit.) Quick test and then I moved on to the other side.

Once I finished the other side, my buddy and I went through the blinker and brake light check. Everything was good to go. I drove outside into the darkness and was impressed by my results.

Hope you learned something! I am always willing to answer questions. Thanks for stopping by!