FEELER - interest in an LED tail light group buy?
#223
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I'll try to explain my vision...on the newer V's with the tail-lights turned on, only the light bar is lit. On our new tail-lights the light bar is on and the two strips of LED's are lit, then we the brake is applied the two rows of LED's brighten. I want only the single light bar lit when my lights are on and when I hit the brakes thats when I want the two rows of LED's to come on. I hope this makes sense. Can these be wired differently to accomplish this? Thanks in advance...
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I'll try to explain my vision...on the newer V's with the tail-lights turned on, only the light bar is lit. On our new tail-lights the light bar is on and the two strips of LED's are lit, then we the brake is applied the two rows of LED's brighten. I want only the single light bar lit when my lights are on and when I hit the brakes thats when I want the two rows of LED's to come on. I hope this makes sense. Can these be wired differently to accomplish this? Thanks in advance...
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Unfortunately I don't know if there's an electrical wizard out there who's going to trash a set of these lights in order to figure out how to (or if you can) accomplish what you're referring to. I've already asked the vendor about it, and they're no help. They're just a vendor, not the manufacturer.
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I'm sure it isn't that hard for someone with electrical know how. I would think the lights have 3 wires going to them, a ground then two power sources. One hot wire when the lights are turned and another when the brakes are applied. So I'm thinking the wire that power's the LED's to come on with the headlights would need to be eliminated so only the light-bar receives power and lights up. So I would think the wires would need to be tested for which is hot when the headlights are turned on. Again I'm not a electrical guy but it seems like this would be the solution. OK someone try it...hahah
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I just got mine today, haven't played with them at all or really looked at them closely. I'm thinking that the light bar is just lit up by LEDs on either end, and I'm guessing those LEDs are wired in with all the rest of the LEDs, so you would have to open up the lights and split out the wiring. Now, if the light bars do not get brighter when the brakes come on, then my guess would be incorrect, and the light bars are wired separately. That might make it easier to do what you envision.
I'll do a little fiddling around with them before I install them - unfortunately, there will be a delay in doing that, as I'm heading out of town tomorrow first thing.
I'll do a little fiddling around with them before I install them - unfortunately, there will be a delay in doing that, as I'm heading out of town tomorrow first thing.
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I finally got to replacing a blown shock tonight, and figured that it'd be a good time to get these lights installed too. Man, I'm really impressed. Aside from having to swap over the top mounting bolt (needed the length; otherwise the provided bolt would only hold the light by a thread or two), I thought they fit pretty damn close to OEM. And they look AWESOME! At first I wasn't too sure about the "light bar" portion of these lights, but seeing them running with the brake lights completely sold me. These light bars really make our 3rd brake light look like it belongs there (rather than being the only fluorescent-looking light on the car). The only thing I changed was that I removed the little bulb that illuminates on the side of the lens. I didn't even know the OEM lights had that, because both of mine were apparently burnt out. I didn't like the way they looked, and I don't think they're legally necessary. Next, I'm going to get some LED signal bulbs to match my front ones, and that'll be all I'll do to modify these things. All-in-all, I'm REALLY happy with the product.
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Now that a couple of you guys have them installed, can we see some pics? Anyone with the chrome or smoked version installed. I'm thinking about buying a set for my black 05 Vee but I'm still not sure if I want OEM red or Cherry red.
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Now I've noticed my driver side dust seal has come loose too. I really don't want to take these off just to fix a dust seal. Seems pretty ridiculous that they're coming off.
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Which dust shield are you referring to; the big black plastic piece? Hmmm...mine's been staying put so far. I agree that it shouldn't be falling off, but hopefully it's an easy fix. It takes all of 10 minutes to get these things in and out man... not that big of a deal, is it? I've had mine in and out a few times too, because I've been test fitting LED signal bulbs. I also realized that what I had been told wasn't true - you DO have to install resistors for the rears, even if you have resistors installed on your fronts already. Apparently, not the same circuit. So, I'm just waiting on resistors to arrive and then finding a good place to install 'em before I get those fugly incancescents outta there.
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I finally installed mine last weekend. Before doing so I did a little investigating with a multimeter to see if I could figure anything out about how power is supplied to the different lights. I popped out the center "bulb holder" on the LED taillight (which isn't really a bulb holder), and inside there was a circuit board. Not too surprising - I figured there had to be some way to distribute the power inside to the various LEDs. If someone wanted to figure out how to make only the light bar come on with the taillights, and the full bank of LEDs come on with the brake lights, you'd have to open the light up and mess with that circuit board. I know nothing about modifying circuit boards, so I didn't go any further.
Anyway, very happy with the way they look. The dark cherry red sets off the Stealth Grey nicely without being too dark. For some reason, when I'm close to the car I can see the difference in red shades between the 3rd brake light and the new taillights, but once I back away a little bit that difference seems to go away (at least it does in my eyes).
I need to wash the car and get some pics up.
Anyway, very happy with the way they look. The dark cherry red sets off the Stealth Grey nicely without being too dark. For some reason, when I'm close to the car I can see the difference in red shades between the 3rd brake light and the new taillights, but once I back away a little bit that difference seems to go away (at least it does in my eyes).
I need to wash the car and get some pics up.
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Finally remembered to get some more pics of mine on a clean car. First pic (the comparison pic) is from a few weeks back, just pulled one out of the box to see what they looked like. The installed pics are from today.
![](http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Pictures/CTS-V%20pics/Dress%20Up%20Mods/Exterior/LED%20tails%20vs%20stock.jpg)
![](http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Pictures/CTS-V%20pics/Dress%20Up%20Mods/Exterior/LED%20tails1.jpg)
![](http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Pictures/CTS-V%20pics/Dress%20Up%20Mods/Exterior/LED%20tails2.jpg)
![](http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Pictures/CTS-V%20pics/Dress%20Up%20Mods/Exterior/LED%20tails3.jpg)
![](http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Pictures/CTS-V%20pics/Dress%20Up%20Mods/Exterior/LED%20tails4.jpg)
Depending on how the light hits them sometimes you can see the difference between the 3rd brake light and the darkened taillights (like in the last pic), but at other times they look pretty much the same.
![](http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Pictures/CTS-V%20pics/Dress%20Up%20Mods/Exterior/LED%20tails%20vs%20stock.jpg)
![](http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Pictures/CTS-V%20pics/Dress%20Up%20Mods/Exterior/LED%20tails1.jpg)
![](http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Pictures/CTS-V%20pics/Dress%20Up%20Mods/Exterior/LED%20tails2.jpg)
![](http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Pictures/CTS-V%20pics/Dress%20Up%20Mods/Exterior/LED%20tails3.jpg)
![](http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Pictures/CTS-V%20pics/Dress%20Up%20Mods/Exterior/LED%20tails4.jpg)
Depending on how the light hits them sometimes you can see the difference between the 3rd brake light and the darkened taillights (like in the last pic), but at other times they look pretty much the same.
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This group buy was from Neon Dials, right? I just picked up a set from them. My one complaint is there is a bigger gap on the driver side than the passenger side. Annoying, but they look too cool overall to take off. I'm going to mess with it today to see if I can close the gap just a little.
![FEELER - interest in an LED tail light group buy?-r9kgiwol.jpg](https://ls1tech.com/forums/attachments/cadillac-cts-v-2004-2007-gen-i/724383d1683238752t-feeler-interest-led-tail-light-group-buy-r9kgiwol.jpg)
edit: posted too soon. Rookie mistake, assumed it would self-align. I didn't have to align the passenger side, so I just thought that's how it sat. I had to apply pressure to the driver side while I tightened it. Here's the result.
![FEELER - interest in an LED tail light group buy?-r9kgiwol.jpg](https://ls1tech.com/forums/attachments/cadillac-cts-v-2004-2007-gen-i/724383d1683238752t-feeler-interest-led-tail-light-group-buy-r9kgiwol.jpg)
edit: posted too soon. Rookie mistake, assumed it would self-align. I didn't have to align the passenger side, so I just thought that's how it sat. I had to apply pressure to the driver side while I tightened it. Here's the result.
![FEELER - interest in an LED tail light group buy?-i3jdsqal.jpg](https://ls1tech.com/forums/attachments/cadillac-cts-v-2004-2007-gen-i/724384d1683238752t-feeler-interest-led-tail-light-group-buy-i3jdsqal.jpg)
Last edited by bmylez; 10-26-2014 at 03:39 PM.
#240
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humm...Now I'm having second thoughts about having bought the Cherry Red version for my Black V
. Anyone with a black car and the red version installed? That could help. Opinions are appreciated. I still haven't installed them yet. Maybe I'll like them once I test fit them today. The thing is I have looked at a couple of 08-up black CTS cars around and I kinda like the black/red contrast the tails provide. Anyone with a pic??
Maybe it looks good because the newer tails are slimmer and better looking overall.![Rolleyes](https://ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies/LS1Tech/rolleyes.gif)
Also I have seen pics of these new LED tail lights with the factory neon third brake light on. Is it the pic or the neon light color looks really that different than the leds in the tail lights?
Thanks guys
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Maybe it looks good because the newer tails are slimmer and better looking overall.
![Rolleyes](https://ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies/LS1Tech/rolleyes.gif)
Also I have seen pics of these new LED tail lights with the factory neon third brake light on. Is it the pic or the neon light color looks really that different than the leds in the tail lights?
Thanks guys
Last edited by hawk0240; 12-05-2014 at 05:00 PM.