I had gotten tired of the stock yellow marker lights, and red brake lights on my Jeep TJ, so decided to do a bit of an upgrade. I didn't want to spend a ton of money, as most LED packages are pretty expensive. This is how I upgraded my tail lights, and turn signals for less than most full kits.
Black / smoked tail lights - $30.29 on Ali Express.
These are generic black tail lights, and you could also get them on Amazon for a few dollars more. They also offer red if you're not into the Knight Rider look that I'm going for.
Amber Sequential Turn Signal - $29.99
These have a cool feature where the turn signal starts at the center of the Jeep and moves towards the outside.
Front Fender Side Marker Lights - $19.99
Nice looking clear lights that light up yellow
Flat Trailer Wiring Harness - $26.99
I didn't want to cut my Jeep wiring harness to install the brake lights, so I bought this trailer wiring harness that is plug and play. It will get cut instead of the Jeep.
GCD Fits Jeep® 2001-2006 TJ Wrangler LED Flasher Relay - $28
This is required in order to use LEDs in a TJ. You replace the flasher in your steering column with this. If you don't replace the stock flasher, your LEDs will not blink or work correctly.
The install
I started by wiring up the brake lights to my bench power supply. AliExpress didn't send any instructions, so figuring out what wire did what was a bit of trial and error.
You can see in this photo where I cut the trailer wiring harness and wired it to the lights. I soldered and used heat shrink tube for everything.
The only other thing that gave me pause, was the side markers. They came with a smooth stud that the stock nut wouldn't screw onto. I used my tap and die kit to cut threads into the light, then used a nut from home depot to hold it on.
A note on LED flashers vs load resistors.
I originally purchased a "load resistor". This is an option when going from traditional lights to LEDs. They draw enough current to fool the stock flasher into working. They do indeed work, but what I found, is that they convert this power into heat. So much head that they will burn you if you touched them. I originally mounted them inside of my brake lights, and they were waaayyy to hot. I have no doubt that they would have melted the plastic housings. In my opinion, the LED flasher is a much better solution, and only $20 more.
When all is said and done, here is how things look:
Brake lights on
Black / smoked tail lights - $30.29 on Ali Express.
These are generic black tail lights, and you could also get them on Amazon for a few dollars more. They also offer red if you're not into the Knight Rider look that I'm going for.
Amber Sequential Turn Signal - $29.99
These have a cool feature where the turn signal starts at the center of the Jeep and moves towards the outside.
Front Fender Side Marker Lights - $19.99
Nice looking clear lights that light up yellow
Flat Trailer Wiring Harness - $26.99
I didn't want to cut my Jeep wiring harness to install the brake lights, so I bought this trailer wiring harness that is plug and play. It will get cut instead of the Jeep.
GCD Fits Jeep® 2001-2006 TJ Wrangler LED Flasher Relay - $28
This is required in order to use LEDs in a TJ. You replace the flasher in your steering column with this. If you don't replace the stock flasher, your LEDs will not blink or work correctly.
The install
I started by wiring up the brake lights to my bench power supply. AliExpress didn't send any instructions, so figuring out what wire did what was a bit of trial and error.
You can see in this photo where I cut the trailer wiring harness and wired it to the lights. I soldered and used heat shrink tube for everything.
The only other thing that gave me pause, was the side markers. They came with a smooth stud that the stock nut wouldn't screw onto. I used my tap and die kit to cut threads into the light, then used a nut from home depot to hold it on.
A note on LED flashers vs load resistors.
I originally purchased a "load resistor". This is an option when going from traditional lights to LEDs. They draw enough current to fool the stock flasher into working. They do indeed work, but what I found, is that they convert this power into heat. So much head that they will burn you if you touched them. I originally mounted them inside of my brake lights, and they were waaayyy to hot. I have no doubt that they would have melted the plastic housings. In my opinion, the LED flasher is a much better solution, and only $20 more.
When all is said and done, here is how things look:
Brake lights on
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