DIY metal taillight boxes anyone?

[Mayooo]

Has anyone built there own taillight boxes? I've been wanting to build some for awhile. Just haven't gotten to it yet

[bluedragon436]

You talking about just building armor boxes to protect the taillights?? Or are you talking about to completely replace the factory lights, and run some LED's or something like that??

[Mayooo]

Yeah I'm talking about complete replacement. I know they make them but don't want to buy them when I have all this steel laying around.

[bluedragon436]

Yeah I'm talking about complete replacement. I know they make them but don't want to buy them when I have all this steel laying around.

Oh ok.. that makes sense.. was wondering if you'd just rather know you built them yourself over buying some.. That's why I was asking.. If I had fab and welding knowledge I might would try the same... (maybe one day)... for now I'll just stick with the stockers... lol Then again these will be one of the last things I worry about with my XJ... so long as I don't keep breaking them... if it becomes a habitual issue, then I'll pick up some boxes if I don't have the time to try my hand at building some... So look forward to seeing some pics as you progress through the design and build process...

[nickyg]

Give this tread a gander.
http://www.xjtalk.com/showthread.php?t=15809&highlight=tail+light

[Mayooo]

Give this tread a gander.
http://www.xjtalk.com/showthread.php?t=15809&highlight=tail+light

Thank you.. That's what I want to do.. But a little thicker steel.

[bluedragon436]

Tail light boxes look clean, and are def tougher then stock lights.. Not to mention the added bonus of having brighter lights when using the LED's

[Mayooo]

Tail light boxes look clean, and are def tougher then stock lights.. Not to mention the added bonus of having brighter lights when using the LED's

I was thinking about using the 4" flush mount led offroad lights as my stop/turn/tail lights.. If the people behind me can't see me stopping, then they have a problem. Ha!

[xjzaped]

The bends on the old body XJ are mostly square, allowing for easy construction of the housings…on the new body XJ, there are a few curves that have to be dealt with. I ended up buying some from JCR. Love them to death…everyone who sees them tends to like how they came out (I used clear lenses).

I will add, if you are going with flush mount lights, look into the flange adapters from Grote (they can be found fairy cheap at your local Carquest). I'd also recommend riveting instead of the screw mounts.

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg586/zap_uh_lack/536357ED-81D3-4249-BA0A-D791BABD1506_zpszce0jkwz.jpg

Here's an example of how they look when lit. (I've upgrade the headlights to H4 housings with LED bulbs since this was filmed).
XJ Lighting (Jan 2014) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwgKU61OIIM)

[Mayooo]

The bends on the old body XJ are mostly square, allowing for easy construction of the housings…on the new body XJ, there are a few curves that have to be dealt with. I ended up buying some from JCR. Love them to death…everyone who sees them tends to like how they came out (I used clear lenses).

I will add, if you are going with flush mount lights, look into the flange adapters from Grote (they can be found fairy cheap at your local Carquest). I'd also recommend riveting instead of the screw mounts.

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg586/zap_uh_lack/536357ED-81D3-4249-BA0A-D791BABD1506_zpszce0jkwz.jpg

Here's an example of how they look when lit. (I've upgrade the headlights to H4 housings with LED bulbs since this was filmed).
XJ Lighting (Jan 2014) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwgKU61OIIM)

Looks good.. I was thinking about using these..
Of course some electrical engineering needs to be done and tinting the lens red.

http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii559/die2end/13FE718F-9E35-4521-9F16-8888180EB135_zpsjhbewb4p.jpg

[xjzaped]

They make red lenses…texas doesn't have a law that states brake lights must have red lenses. Just that they light up red. I go with clear because it's easier to differentiate brake use when it goes from grey to red versus red to red.

The electrical engineering is quite simple. I went to a common bulb setup (XJs were shipped with a split bulb). I had added trailer wiring with a sold state adapter, so I just pulled what I needed off that.

The turn signals will go into hyper flash mode unless there's a 4-5 ohm load on the line. When I converted mine, I left the factory wire/lamp harness intact. So for the load, I just plugged in some bulbs to the turn sockets and then I have some on the brake sockets as well (until I have time to get around to doing the load resistors).


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[Pookapotamus]

Check out oro light dots, it's what I am running and am very happy with them. I also built new boxes in the back that tie into the bumper and the roll cage on the inside with 1/4" plate, a little heavy but nice and strong. Check out my build for how I did it. http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/13/a4ea70e0ef6e00c38704ea92b336759e.jpg