I first upgraded the oem bulbs to LED units, light output improved but it still wasn't enough. When I cut open my tail lights to paint them I investigated potential LED retrofits but anything that would meet my performance needs would compromise the look of the housing too much or just wouldn't fit.

There are now LED bulbs available in T10 base that have Cree XB-D instead of my XP-E and more of them but it is always a crap shoot with the Chinese LED bulbs and I felt the gains would be negligible anyway, the oem housings are really small and poorly design for optical performance.

Although I am not a huge fan of having a light visible underneath my car (I prefer to leave things clean and uncluttered) I will in the end always take function over form if both are not possible. The 6" Rigid Industries SR is pretty ideal for my situation: low profile, legit performance, and durable. I grabbed this never-mounted demo unit for $170 (retail is $280), pricey like all Rigid products but well built well and performs.

I will update this with some output pictures once it is dark.

Evan



Before


Rigid Industries 6" SR in Flood Optics


Mounting location


Mounted


Mounted 2


Showing Clearance


Ran the wiring through the spare tire well.


Well


Wrapped some electrical tape around the wires for protection and then sealed the hole with butyl


Thankfully it didn't take me forever to find the reverse wire in the loom.


Wiring completed


Wires split by the battery


Tapped into the "yellow with white stripe" reverse light


Ran the ground


After


It works!


Here is some info regarding the optics and performance

 

Neat idea! Did you try these bulbs in the end to see if they were an improvement over the other LED's you had? 2x 50W T10 CREE XBD LED Bulbs I was thinking of finding a set like them that say they're CANbus compliant...
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So the regular reverse light wire powers the new light too? Or you're running a relay that gets powered by the reverse light signal and then you're getting power from the battery?

I also thought the power to the reverse lights go thru the famous tailgate hinges, given they're on the hatch door...

Oh, and excuse the noob electrical question... But how do you test for the reverse light wire? Using a multimeter I assume, but don't you need to strip a bit off each wire to get a reading?

 

Good questions, I am new to this stuff too. I never tried those bulbs as my attention was directed towards a solution I knew would work. I may give them a go later just out of curiosity.

I thought about running a relay but I think the stock wiring can hold it's own with this setup. Stock is 18g and the harness for the Rigid is 16 I believe. 18g is supposed to handle ~2.5amps the Rigid pulls 1.7 and the LED bulbs can't be much so I am assuming stock wiring isn't struggling. That rear passenger side cargo area is a hug for a lot of electrical wiring so I also don't think there is too much wire length either.

My tailgate wiring harness was replaced under CPO so it's essentially brand new with lot's of life. Luckily I was able to locate the wire in a relatively accessible location. I back tracked from the bulb, noted the color combo on the wire and found one that looked the same in the cargo area, stripped it and checked voltage with a multimeter when the reverse lights were engaged. Worked like a charm.





Here are some output pictures. The wall shots were taken in manual mode, the first control and output photo is taken about 10ft from the wall, each following photo is an additional 10ft with the last ending at about 50ft. Ideally the beam pattern would be a tad wider but this is really splitting hairs, the output is awesome, on to the pics.

Evan

 

Gotcha on the wiring. Sounds like I was on the right track pretty much. So the wires go thru the hinges then down to that bundle above the battery? I guess the wires I've read that go thru the headliner and accessible from the speaker port in the ceiling must be a different set.

Wow, that looks impressive! It's like having headlights back there!

 

That's a first. Pretty cool. I like it

 

No, they are the same wires, for damaged tailgate wiring most people go through the speaker area as it is closer to where the damaged wires reside. After the wires enter the cabin of the car by the speaker the go down the D-pillar where they meet up with all their wire buddies. I went through the speaker at first then looking at the service manual is looked like the rear cargo area was a main grounding area so I assumed the same wires would be available there, and they were.


Thanks, it isn't as clean as I would prefer as I want things to be integrated and seamless and not added-on but considering my limitations, this is about as good as it gets for the performance.

After looking at these pictures I do like how the diffuser and the raised design in the middle of it are roughly the same width as the light bar offering a little cohesiveness to the package.

Evan

 

Got it. I presume you mean D-pillar, btw.

I'd have been tempted to install a switch up front also to flick it on, when someone's tailgating me.

 

Yes, D-pillar, thanks.

I thought about that but mainly just to use it as a camping or unloading light. For whatever reason I don't have much of a problem with people going faster than me...

 

If the road ahead of me is clear, it's not a problem for me either.

But it's for the times when there's someone in front of me already, holding me up, and some shmoe behind me thinks tailgating me will actually help in some way...

 

Cool idea. Thanks for sharing.