DIY led's parking/turn signal led reflector MOD

jojo69

New member
Hi guys,

Well since i'm in the process of re-doing mine, i figured I'd post the process as this is a visual mod, cheap and fairly straightforward.

Retail price goes between $75 to $200 (supposedly jdm ones, I did not verify this claim).

Actual price of DIY as in this example: $20 (give or take depending on what tools you have and cost of reflectors for other types of subaru).

Essentially, you are retrofitting some led strips into the lower reflectors of your rear bumper.

Theoretically, you can connect and use these as additional turn signal or brake lights (What I'm doing) or parking light/brake lights combo.

Retail value is high for those when actual labor + parts + time is small.

I would rate this mod a 3 on scale 0 to 10 scale (0= easy, 10=hard).

Car: Any car that has a reflector in rear bumper. This applies to legacy, impreza and others.

(Example here is using a 2012 wrx)

What you will need:

Parts: Reflex Refl Assy LH (#84281FG010) & Reflex Refl Assy RH (#84281FG000)

($9 online, so probably between $10 - $15 at local dealer).



Prying tools: Flat & small & thin prying tool (see pics for example)

Ratchet to take your rear lights off when connecting your reflectors.

LED's: 5050 smd 12V Flexible & waterproof 4" 6x red leds (as used in this example) ordered online.



-=- WARNING -=- Subaru did not use sealant like they do for their headlights. So be very careful prying the plastic off or it will break! It is GLUE holding both parts, heat helps in making it weaker so pry slowly, a little at a time and in small intervals between the red reflector and grey base -=-WARNING -=-

Method (I used)

1. Set oven at 190.



2. Place reflectors on middle rack for 10mn



3. Take reflector out and use pan holder to hold reflector as attempt to pry the red reflector off the grey plastic base.

Start on the corners, seems to be easier to get it to pry open, and carefully make your way down the line. You may need to put the reflector back to warm up. The heat seems to make the glue a weeeee bit more malleable & weaker allowing your tool to get in between the grey platic and red reflector. I used a combination of small prying along the line and small intervals to increase weakness between the 2 plastic part bond. Even so, you can see that some red is still stuck on the grey base.









3. a) Alternative method (I did not try):

Use thing plastic rotary bit on a dremel and dremel all along the line. Do NOT dremel through as if you were cutting a clean ledge. Just cut where the glue would be so as to make a clean incision along the line. Hope that makes somewhat sense.

4. Drill a hole on the corner, small enough to pass your 2 led wires.

5. With sand paper or your dremel, sand down a little bit of the bump to both make sure strip doesn't touch the top of red reflector. This will also increase adherence of your sticky side.



5. a) Place your strip (or strips) the way you want it.



BEFORE RE-SEALING --->> Test with 12V or (9V battery) that your led's work!

Make sure you test that your wires are long enough to reach to the rear light wires!!

6. Re-seal your red reflector over your base using silicone or equivalent sealant. You may want to dremel away all the old pieces of glue on both the red reflector's edge and grey plastic base before applying sealant.

Make sure you seal the pointy ends of the reflector well as they tend to 'lift up' a bit and you want a good seal and NOT having to re-do this down the road.

7. Cure over time.

8. Place reflectors their oem location. Connect your wires to brake lights wires or turn signal. (Image shows old setup connected to parking lights)

8. a) Take apart rear exterior lights with ratchet & 10mm attchment:



8.
default_cool.png
pull to dislodge nipple located on the other side of light





8. c) Hook up black/red (reflector) to red of rear light for brake light function. And i believe connect to green if you want turn signal, but I'm not 100% sure of that).



9. Put everything back as it was.

10. Have a friend stand by or back-up in front of window and brake, & admire results!

Alternatives:

Circuit board integrated in housing as both parking light and/or brake light, turn signa. This mod requires custom circuit board, led's etc... and you can contact Apkarian for more information if you are going that route.

Other example (credit to Apkarian101)



or (credit to Apkarian101)



As parking light & brake light (credit to Apkarian101):



Alternative wire placement location: Middle of the back of the reflector as seen here (credit to Apkarian101)



More pictures/video/threads of 1-strip LED or other variants installed on cars below:

http://www.iwsti.com/forums/styling-exterior/227213-rear-reflector-led-light-kits-jwm.html

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2231444

Google search is your friend!

google "subaru led reflectors" for more info/images/videos' etc...

THIS is a DIY example. This is NOT the only way to do it. IF you want to contribute, please feel free to do so, whether it's different method, tools, led's anything that can add information & insight into this is welcome!

Cheers!

Finished pics on my car when I have finished mastering my jedi mind tricks!
default_wink.png


 
Last edited by a moderator:

apkarian100

Vendor
Looks good. I didn't use LED strips for mine though.
default_wink.png
I made custom circuit boards.
default_smile.png


I need to make up another set. I have the same reflectors in my Crosstrek. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:

jojo69

New member


not the best rendering due to cell phone & daylight but you can see it on.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201

 

Latest posts

Back
Top