EXT: DIY NO Melt aftermarket bumper lights

[pninja82]

This is for those of us who have ourr bumper lights wired up so they are constantly on. After two sets of after market black housed/clear lens lights that melted in minutes,I came up with this idea.Ive been running these for about two weeks with no problems now.Hope it helps. The supplies are inexpensive and were found at Home Depot. For this you will need : dremel tool, drill,aluminum shingle flashing (.50 cents a piece) tin snips,small self tapping screws and silicone. and a permanent marker. First get the light and use your dremel to cut out holes on both top and bottom of the lights.Be sure to leave about a centimeter along the edges so you have space to drill the coverings onto the housing later.



Then get the flashing and lay it flat along the lights surface.Trace the lights shape with the marker onto the flashing and cut it out with the snips.Be careful because the flashing is sharp!





Next, align the coverings you cut and use your drill and screws to fasten them down




Once both lights are done, use silicone and bead along the edges where the aluminum meets the plastic to keep out moisture.Once dry they are good to wire up! Heres a few pics of mine so you can see light output.I used regular white bulbs for the constantly running bulb and amber for the flaser.

[pninja82]

^ sorry the format is a little funny I tried to make pics coordinated with the wording, lol.Not quite as good as I wanted.

[TheNextEpisode]

I haven't personally had the melting problems, but if its working for you,
Problem solving like this always deserves respect.

[GeoffM]

I didn't know this could be done, or that there was problems with doing it

Does look interesting though.... I might try this this summer.

[pninja82]

I haven't personally had the melting problems, but if its working for you,
Problem solving like this always deserves respect.

Thanks.Yeah, I went through 2 sets! One melted so horribly I thought the front end caught fire as bad as it was smoking! The OEM lights have never given me trouble and are still in great shape.I just decided to delete all amber lenses from tge car and noticed how thin the plastic was on the ebay bumper lights.Again,thanks. Geoff, it looks cool and is easy to do.I think theres a DIY to do your lights.Its sort of a cheater fog light!

[blackoutt]

Did the aluminum help with the output?I was thinking if you polished the aluminum out it would reflect light better making them seem brighter..

[pninja82]

Did the aluminum help with the output?I was thinking if you polished the aluminum out it would reflect light better making them seem brighter..

Mmm.. Im not to sure to be honest.I cant remember the light output on the first all plastic set that melted on me! I used the black housed lights with no inner reflector so I thinking that maybe it did help since the aluminum is pretty shiny.Thats a great idea to try polishing it.The bulbs I used are standard color white but I was thinking of replacing them with a LED,silver star brand or any other brighter brand.When I do, Ill disassemble them and polish the plates I made to see if it affects light output anymore.Good idea,thanks!

[AmznAzn]

so you are running white and amber bulbs? if so how?

[ikayto]

while ur there, throw some amber reflectors in some clear lenses to have si-t bumper lights.

[pninja82]

so you are running white and amber bulbs? if so how?

The bumper light is wired to my park lights so that they stay lit up at all times when I turn on my park lights.Those bulbs are white. Now, they blink in amber.To do this,I cut a circular hole into the bumper light and got extra sockets from the junkyard,inserted amber bulbs and wired them to my blinkers.Look at the first picture closely and you can see the circular hole I cut to insert the extra socket.

[dee18701]

Very Nice! I was thinkin of wring up my bumper lights to the (Non-blinking) corner lights. Im glad I saw this before I did it because I didnt know theres a chance of them melting. I didnt even think of adding another set of blinking ones in there. Nice DIY!

[pninja82]

^^ Thanks.The OEM bumper lights never gave me trouble with melting issues just the aftermarket ones.Also, when you cut the circular holes (I used a circular hole cutter for a drill) be carefull not to cut bigger than the light socket.You want them to fit snug.i even put a lot of silicone around them too to keep them snug and moisture free.

[dee18701]

^^ Thanks.The OEM bumper lights never gave me trouble with melting issues just the aftermarket ones.Also, when you cut the circular holes (I used a circular hole cutter for a drill) be carefull not to cut bigger than the light socket.You want them to fit snug.i even put a lot of silicone around them too to keep them snug and moisture free.

Yea ive probably got the same cheap ebay blackhoused bumper lights. Thats the part that scares me about melting. Do you remember the size of the hole cutter you used, Because I have a 1" hole saw I just used for my Volvo sidemarkers.

[pninja82]

^^ I just checked.It sucks because my hole cutters dont have sizes on them but, I just measured to one I used with a ruler and it is the 1 inch! On the first set the hole was too big for the light socket so there was nothing to keep the socket in place.Its easy and quick.Also, be careful when drilling the hole to not press to hard after youve cut through the plastic so you dont hit the lens.

[faqncb7]

Are you sure thats aluminium ? it looks like galvinized and if its in the roofing section it probably is so it wont polish like aluminiun