Building my own flush tail lights

[Justinswidebody]

The rear lights are only on if they’re in use. So ignition on, no lights on, means no power to the lights until either the turn, brake, or lights are engaged.

Darn that complicates things.... I can't find a acc line from what I see....

Weird because I went out to the garage... Turned off my lights , started the gladiator and the rear lights were on....

With no headlights

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[sharpsicle]

Darn that complicates things.... I can't find a acc line from what I see....

Weird because I went out to the garage... Turned off my lights , started the gladiator and the rear lights were on....

With no headlights

That’s not on 100% of the time though. A quick garage test is only testing one specific situation, and I can tell you from experience that these lights do go unpowered during operation. So you probably can’t rely on it to power a board. At least I wouldn’t.

 

[Justinswidebody]

That’s not on 100% of the time though. A quick garage test is only testing one specific situation, and I can tell you from experience that these lights do go unpowered during operation. So you probably can’t rely on it to power a board. At least I wouldn’t.

You're correct, just tested it again. Can't use the lighting fault sensor either because it's only on led equiped vehicles apparently....

I would have used it just for a switch for a relay, but that's out the door now too .....

 

[Justinswidebody]

The Arduino has about a 1.5 second boot up time.... Even then I would have to make it whenever anything comes on.... Turn , brake, tail, reverse.... 3 power wires and then make sure they don't back feed each other..... Plus I don't like the delay it will have.

This sucks.....

Either
A. Run a wire from the front
B. Change the setup to red and white LEDs and get rid of the Arduino and use a delay board for sequentials....

Not happy at all....

My personal gladiator of course I'll run a wire from the front... But no one else is going to want to do this.

 

[Justinswidebody]

After doing some research apparently Arduino boards are capable of running 24/7 with no problem..... So I guess with as little power consumption as it takes, I will run it off the constant 12v from the trailer wiring harness.


Anyone have issues with this?

 

[AKDrifter]

The Arduino has about a 1.5 second boot up time.... Even then I would have to make it whenever anything comes on.... Turn , brake, tail, reverse.... 3 power wires and then make sure they don't back feed each other..... Plus I don't like the delay it will have.

This sucks.....

Either
A. Run a wire from the front
B. Change the setup to red and white LEDs and get rid of the Arduino and use a delay board for sequentials....

Not happy at all....

My personal gladiator of course I'll run a wire from the front... But no one else is going to want to do this.

I mean my breather hoses go from the axles to the snorkel. I'm not too concerned about having to run a wire, could probably run it with the factory loom to the back.

Splicing off the trailer harness would be easier than that I agree. No problem for me.

 

[sharpsicle]

Is there any way to not use a board that requires a boot up? Many other lighting accessories use boards that only power on use. Just a matter of getting the right chipset programmed the right way.

 

[Justinswidebody]

Is there any way to not use a board that requires a boot up? Many other lighting accessories use boards that only power on use. Just a matter of getting the right chipset programmed the right way.

From all my research, this is the only way for these sort of LEDs...

Otherwise I would need a lot more leds

 

[Justinswidebody]

Also, blind spot sensors don't look like they're going to fit....

At least not this design.....

Day full of bad news

 

[Viper501]

I would rather do without the board altogether. It’s a neato thing but not really something I would see using. Ever.

I’d prefer the simplicity and reliability of a no board setup if that is going to make things overly complicated.

 

[Justinswidebody]

I would rather do without the board altogether. It’s a neato thing but not really something I would see using. Ever.

I’d prefer the simplicity and reliability of a no board setup if that is going to make things overly complicated.

I'll figure something out

 

[Kevin_D]

After doing some research apparently Arduino boards are capable of running 24/7 with no problem..... So I guess with as little power consumption as it takes, I will run it off the constant 12v from the trailer wiring harness.


Anyone have issues with this?

Honestly, I think it's a small sacrifice if one really wants sequential effects.
The damn Gladiator already has enough parasitic draw to run the batteries dead within two weeks, so what's another handful of milliamps?

Kevin

 

[Viper501]

I'll figure something out

Understand I’m not AT ALL knocking the idea I just can live without it if it simplifies things. Especially for your sanity. The project is phenomenal if I haven’t said that enough already.

 

[Justinswidebody]

Understand I’m not AT ALL knocking the idea I just can live without it if it simplifies things. Especially for your sanity. The project is phenomenal if I haven’t said that enough already.

Lol I completely understand.... Me personally, I've always wanted sequential lights..... So I'm going to make it happen lol

 

[Justinswidebody]

It's too bulky..... I hate it.... I don't know what to do..... The original version 1 looks a lot better....

I can thin this version, but then you will be able to see each individual LED.....

I'm pretty down about this right now.

I want the led perimeter lighting... I want sequential....

But version 1 just looks more proper.

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