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My 87 formula 350 is highly modified and I swapped to 86 TA grid style tail lights bc they are one of the nicest vs the rare and expensive 91-92s. My formula is also a TA clone with the body kit etc. The outside looks hide the 700hp of turbo 5.3 fury so it’s not just a basic clone.
The 86 tails have reverse lights which I upgraded with expensive super bright LEDs as well as all the tails. Unfortunately they were bright but not as functional as I would have liked. So a year or two ago I converted the stock tails to all Red running lights and the outermost bulb on each side is the turn signal. The OEs have the 2nd light in on each side as the turn signal. This also means I replaced the reverse bulbs and wired them as running/ brake lights so now the whole tail light is running/brake and the outside is turn signal. This meant I have no reverse light now lol and it can be hard to see backing in. To remedy the situation I installed a very small LED light bar under the rear bumper which worked while I looked for a better solution. I also outfitted my car with a back up camera which feeds into the Sony single DIN headhunt with a large 7” screen. Which does help with backing up, and I have to now fit into a tight garage space.
So my quest for a clean solution for the last year I stumbled on VLEDS from my RAM forum and the guy gave it rave reviews, output pics were great and looked perfect. Went to the site and $100!!! For this little LED bar that fits on the plate. I paid less for 42” light bars! So I waited and waited and just the other day I remembered and wanted to check on the pricing, site is having a 20% off site sale right now so I jumped on it. Ended up getting it for $80 with free shipping so I saved $26 off the total. $80 is still $80 and it’s expensive but it’s clean and universal so I could always put it on my ram if it doesn’t work out down the line. Ordered friday like 3pm and it was at my door Monday crazy! Opened it up and it looks good, nicely packaged. I went with the gloss black vs satin.
Installed yesterday and snapped some pics for you guys. Easy enough, it fits but doesn’t fit my jersey plates at all but I suspect that’s just to how the plates are cut honestly. I tapped into the stock reverse wiring and she’s all good. I had a carbon fiber plate cover/holder that wouldn’t work with it which I removed due to the spacing from the backup camera to the plate. I could flip the reverse light to the bottom which would throw more light higher up (very wide flood pattern) but I would have to drill the bumper for the lower screws and I’m wired the light would wash out the backup camera. The VLEDS backup light is stupid bright and the pattern is perfect at almost 120*.
For those of you looking for a massive improvement in backup lighting without screwing up the lines of the car this is a great option if you can spend the $80-100.
Here are some output shots of the LED mini bar (spot pattern) vs the VLEDS. The garage is dimly lit from the garage door lights for the pics, so pitch black would be even brighter.
VLEDS license plate backup light Mini single 7” row bar light is 5ft from the door VLEDS Super wide pattern Top of the pattern is cutoff from the bumper
That looks like a good solution for reverse, probably most cars can benefit from that.
Why did you "delete" the reverse light though? And why didn't you make them all running AND brake lights? Why didn't you just put another 2 filament socket on there?
That looks like a good solution for reverse, probably most cars can benefit from that.
Why did you "delete" the reverse light though? And why didn't you make them all running AND brake lights? Why didn't you just put another 2 filament socket on there?
Deleted the reverse lights bc the output with very bright high powered LEDs was not very good. Light was barely enough to see out the back hatch and the backup camera didn’t have enough light. I wanted to simulate a longer tail light area (like how the chargers or challengers/Durango’s have the full rear tail light area. Essentially at night 80% of the tail light is lit and only the center section is not. Versus the stock which is like 60% of the tail light. Adding another socket would destroy the optics and the housing. So I wired a 1157 style into the 1156 area by modifying a universal 1157 pigtail. To fit the 1156 socket. So my housings are untouched and they are in perfect shape plus they have been professionally tinted and look fantastic.
i thought the pics would dipict why I did the mod but maybe they don’t. I moved the turn signal to the ends so they blink the farthest they can on each side (I think this is a better option then slightly centered from the end like stock). On top
of that besides turn signal and braking the rear tail lights are 80% lit which I think is a subtle but cool look. I don’t have any cool pics or video showing how it looks in person. But if you know these cars and saw this at night you might not know what it is at first. I guess it’s a subtle change to being unique. Everything can go back to stock pretty easily. But the reverse lights on the TA tails is not great to begin with and then add a nice tint and the output just gets worse.
OK, if you had them tinted, that makes sense to "delete" the reverse. I have super bright LEDs in my 92 TA lights and it was a major improvement over the stock incandescent lamps. I can still see behind me at night even with the tinted back hatch.
I don't know what you're talking about "destroying the optics"? When I had those housings in my car I put a dual filament socket in the 3rd position (I forget which position it is now) and all I remember doing is slightly filing the one lamp socket opening for the larger tab on the dual filament socket. It didn't destroy the housing and the single filament socket goes right back in, in fact those tail lights are in my friends car now with the stock TA sockets in them. I had put a sequencer in the tail lights, I always loved the sequential tail lights on the old Shelbys?
It may have come across a little better if you weren't up against the wall to take the picture of the entire tail panel lit up I know what you mean about the Challengers and Charger tail lights lit up with that continuous light all the way around, I want to light up the reflector strip on my 91/92 lights to get that look. I have a junk set of housings to work with. I am also kicking around removing the colored inserts in the housings to get rid of the amber outside lamp and make them all red and maybe making them sequential. If not on those, I might do sequential lamps in my base model lights in my Formula instead in the amber portion of the housings.
OK, if you had them tinted, that makes sense to "delete" the reverse. I have super bright LEDs in my 92 TA lights and it was a major improvement over the stock incandescent lamps. I can still see behind me at night even with the tinted back hatch.
I don't know what you're talking about "destroying the optics"? When I had those housings in my car I put a dual filament socket in the 3rd position (I forget which position it is now) and all I remember doing is slightly filing the one lamp socket opening for the larger tab on the dual filament socket. It didn't destroy the housing and the single filament socket goes right back in, in fact those tail lights are in my friends car now with the stock TA sockets in them. I had put a sequencer in the tail lights, I always loved the sequential tail lights on the old Shelbys?
It may have come across a little better if you weren't up against the wall to take the picture of the entire tail panel lit up I know what you mean about the Challengers and Charger tail lights lit up with that continuous light all the way around, I want to light up the reflector strip on my 91/92 lights to get that look. I have a junk set of housings to work with. I am also kicking around removing the colored inserts in the housings to get rid of the amber outside lamp and make them all red and maybe making them sequential. If not on those, I might do sequential lamps in my base model lights in my Formula instead in the amber portion of the housings.
Your 92 tails are way different than the 85-90 TA tails. But like I said the LEDs helped backing up visually looking through the windows/hatch but didn’t offer enough light Lower where the backup camera needs it, especially when you get up close to walls etc. the stock reverse lights are not intended to throw light low and below the bumper since our cars are way before the time of Backup cameras and not to mention our bumpers protrude from the car.
I think I miss understood you on the bulb fitment. I thought you meant adding another bulb to the housing aka making a new bulb hole. What your saying is essentially what I did except I didn’t have to enlarge the hole of the 1156 single filament reverse might to fit the 1157 dual filament. So basically I modified the bulb pigtail/holder to fit the 1156 opening in the housing as I didn’t want to modify the housing in case I wanted to go back to stock.
I think our cars are great candidates for the sequential lights and I know a few people have don’t them. I looked into it briefly but didn’t see a viable option that was easy enough and cheap enough. That might be something I look into doing down the road as well... things never stay the same on this car.
Its been raining Almost 4 days straight now and I’m about to go on vacation so I haven’t been able to pull the car out of the garage to see how it all looks or possibly get a video of it working.
Id be interested to see what you come up with. I actually purchased a charger rear tail light (center and ends) I cut up the center and removed about 3” of material and glued it back together. I got it all to fit in the stock tail light area but wasn’t able to spend the time to finish what would be a lot of work. I also thought about creating a single LED strip along the bottom of the tail lights where the reflector is on the 85-90 tails to sorta add the full length tail look.
Your 92 tails are way different than the 85-90 TA tails. But like I said the LEDs helped backing up visually looking through the windows/hatch but didn’t offer enough light Lower where the backup camera needs it, especially when you get up close to walls etc. the stock reverse lights are not intended to throw light low and below the bumper since our cars are way before the time of Backup cameras and not to mention our bumpers protrude from the car.
I think I miss understood you on the bulb fitment. I thought you meant adding another bulb to the housing aka making a new bulb hole. What your saying is essentially what I did except I didn’t have to enlarge the hole of the 1156 single filament reverse might to fit the 1157 dual filament. So basically I modified the bulb pigtail/holder to fit the 1156 opening in the housing as I didn’t want to modify the housing in case I wanted to go back to stock.
I think our cars are great candidates for the sequential lights and I know a few people have don’t them. I looked into it briefly but didn’t see a viable option that was easy enough and cheap enough. That might be something I look into doing down the road as well... things never stay the same on this car.
Its been raining Almost 4 days straight now and I’m about to go on vacation so I haven’t been able to pull the car out of the garage to see how it all looks or possibly get a video of it working.
Id be interested to see what you come up with. I actually purchased a charger rear tail light (center and ends) I cut up the center and removed about 3” of material and glued it back together. I got it all to fit in the stock tail light area but wasn’t able to spend the time to finish what would be a lot of work. I also thought about creating a single LED strip along the bottom of the tail lights where the reflector is on the 85-90 tails to sorta add the full length tail look.
I have had 3 of the 4 tail lights, so I understand the 91/92 are different. I prefer the look of the 91/92, but with the rarity of the lights I didn't want to mess with them earlier in life. Now that I have a pair to mess with they should look very much similar lit up without the amber end. I really want that sequential, but the one sequencer I have won't work with LEDs.
Yeah, I completely get what you're saying about lighting with the back up camera. You need more light lower, otherwise it's like having the incandescent bulbs in darkened housings for rear visibility, but for the camera.
On my way in to my work site this morning I was thinking I probably could have ground down that 3rd tab on the socket housing to get the 1157 to fit in the 1156 spot. That was a good idea, either way the way I did it still allows the 1156 to clip back in. I'll keep that in mind for the future, your way is probably better.
I would be curious to see what Dodge did for that continuous lighting. I think my idea for lighting up the reflector would work for the 3 piece reflectors too, it would just be a little more to add it to the center filler section. I actually bought the LED strip I want to use, but I haven't gotten around to messing with it since I bought it. I need to get some aluminum flat bar stock to attach the LED strip to, and make a mounting surface to mount the strip back on the housing. My issue with the whole thing is that no one sells LED strips with the density of the surface mount diodes that I would like. most of them are 3 LEDs per 2" or something along those lines. I don't like seeing the individual light sources like a lot of LED lights do, I like the even, uniform, looking source behind the area. I think putting two of the narrow strips next to each other and offsetting the diodes will get me close to what I am looking for on the lighting. When I place my next order at McMaster I'll order up the aluminum bar stock for the mounting, should be in a few weeks, I live close to their warehouse and I like to do will-call, lol. I haven't already done it because I have so many projects going concurrently.
When you use led did you use red or white?cannt use white with red lens..
Red LEDs in all lenses. The reverse light lenses are clear so I obviously had to use a red LED in those as well. White led in a red Lense will cause a pinkish color and not desirable. The red Led causes a nice rich deep red color with and without the red lenses.
I have had 3 of the 4 tail lights, so I understand the 91/92 are different. I prefer the look of the 91/92, but with the rarity of the lights I didn't want to mess with them earlier in life. Now that I have a pair to mess with they should look very much similar lit up without the amber end. I really want that sequential, but the one sequencer I have won't work with LEDs.
Yeah, I completely get what you're saying about lighting with the back up camera. You need more light lower, otherwise it's like having the incandescent bulbs in darkened housings for rear visibility, but for the camera.
On my way in to my work site this morning I was thinking I probably could have ground down that 3rd tab on the socket housing to get the 1157 to fit in the 1156 spot. That was a good idea, either way the way I did it still allows the 1156 to clip back in. I'll keep that in mind for the future, your way is probably better.
I would be curious to see what Dodge did for that continuous lighting. I think my idea for lighting up the reflector would work for the 3 piece reflectors too, it would just be a little more to add it to the center filler section. I actually bought the LED strip I want to use, but I haven't gotten around to messing with it since I bought it. I need to get some aluminum flat bar stock to attach the LED strip to, and make a mounting surface to mount the strip back on the housing. My issue with the whole thing is that no one sells LED strips with the density of the surface mount diodes that I would like. most of them are 3 LEDs per 2" or something along those lines. I don't like seeing the individual light sources like a lot of LED lights do, I like the even, uniform, looking source behind the area. I think putting two of the narrow strips next to each other and offsetting the diodes will get me close to what I am looking for on the lighting. When I place my next order at McMaster I'll order up the aluminum bar stock for the mounting, should be in a few weeks, I live close to their warehouse and I like to do will-call, lol. I haven't already done it because I have so many projects going concurrently.
Yea those 91-92 lights easily Fetch $300 and super hard to find, just like those 91-92 spoilers. If u got a pair to mess with by all means, they look nice and will look like a high end version of the 85-90 TA lights after you remove the amber insert. I think the hatch pattern on them is smaller which is nice. I honestly would love to try to get some of the new challenger lights and see if they would fit with some mods.
Yup, basically what I did was just ground down the tab so it would fit in and lock in place. The aftermarket universal 1157 plugs fit alittle looser than the Oe 3rd gens so the allow easier fitment when trying to fit a square peg in a round hole lol.
So i had the charger lights fully apart, the use a solid white PCB board with red LED chips ever 1-2” (they are bright chips tho not like 5050 or 2830s). The boards are mounted in a cavity that they clip into and the 2nd half of the Lense cover fits over and into the back half before being plastic sonic welded. The front Lense has a disbursement optic molded into the Lense to provide a uniform continuous light beam even tho the chips are spaced somewhat far apart. I also assume that’s why they use white board to help reflect the light to help with the beam pattern. Unfortunately there is no way to remove the LEDs without cutting the housing fully In Half length wise so you can fill the full front off. It was an expensive test to cut one of those up a few years ago.
For what your looking for it’s going to be hard, ive been looking for the same option. I found a few that offer it in truck tailgate lighting and ran one on my Ram for a few years. Its a OPT7 redline triple tailgate light bar and it’s a 60” continuous back to back led for red, white and amber siquential turn signals. A simple trailer plug for hookup. That’s what your looking for, unfortunately the bar is a bit to wide for that space and it has all 3 rows next to each other. Here’s a video I made on my ram showing how it works.
Putco also makes a bar like this but they could be easier to adapt. I think if you can come up with a Lense to disperse the light evenly the spaced out universals LED strips could work pretty easily, but the Lense would be the difficult part. I purchased a fluorescent light Lense cover bc it has the molded Lense disbursement cover and it’s cheap/comes in long sheets molding it into hard bends is not easy and if not done right it could crack when heating and bending.
Last edited by customblackbird; 10-10-2019 at 10:24 AM.
10-09-2019, 09:56 AM
I know what you mean about the Challengers and Charger tail lights lit up with that continuous light all the way around, I want to light up the reflector strip on my 91/92 lights to get that look. I have a junk set of housings to work with. I am also kicking around removing the colored inserts in the housings to get rid of the amber outside lamp and make them all red and maybe making them sequential. If not on those, I might do sequential lamps in my base model lights in my Formula instead in the amber portion of the housings. 
