$5 third brake light (CHMSL)!
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$5 third brake light (CHMSL)!
There are many different options for third brake lights when making the change to bigger tires or a different tire carrier. I bought an AEV rear bumper and tire carrier, and after I finished installing it I had to decide what to do for the brake light. After researching the different options, I realized they were either too expensive or didn't look good in my opinion, so I thought, what's better than making something myself and saving myself and fellow jeepers some money? That's when I starting searching around.
I decided to buy a 5 led pod that resembles the AEV CHMSL and runs off 12v. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040N6KXO..._rNcpvb1TG11XT
Once I received it, I was wondering how I would make it my brake light. I opened up the case of the light and looked around for where I would make holes to mount the light. I decided to drill the holes in the upper corners next to the LED, as you can see from my picture
Be careful when drilling the holes, or you'll drill through through the circuit board... I learned that lesson the hard way
The Amazon page says the light is waterproof, but I wouldn't put a drop of water on it the way it came. I ended up filling the bottom of the casing with silicone, putting the circuit board back in, and put more silicone on top
Next up is making the bracket to attach to, in my case, the tire carrier. This may vary depending on your wheel or tire carrier setup, but what I did is make a plate to screw the LED onto, and then I made a bracket that kinda looks like an S that is shown in a later picture.
Sorry I don't have any pictures of my bracket while it was still unmounted and unpainted, but it is kinda self-explanatory anyways. I just used left over aluminum and bent it to fit right. I used like 3 different small pieces because that's all I had, so I did more work than necessary. Sorry about the bad picture
I mounted the bracket onto the tire stabilization bolt with a rubber washer underneath so it doesn't scratch the tire carrier at all and so it holds the bracket in place since the bolt doesn't screw down all the way.
This is my super temporary wiring, I didn't want to cut my only 3rd brake light wire, but hopefully I'll find a solution soon
Here are some pics of it working (the first 2 pictures are from the mock-up before I painted it, and the 3rd picture is of the light off after I painted it, but before I touched up the paint)
Thanks for reading the write-up! I love helping my fellow jeepers out and saving you guys some cash and making a quality bracket! The pictures don't show how bright the light is, but I can tell you it is very noticeable, but not overly bright.
Ask questions if you have any!
Oh yeah, and if anyone has a 3rd brake light wire laying around let me know!
I decided to buy a 5 led pod that resembles the AEV CHMSL and runs off 12v. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040N6KXO..._rNcpvb1TG11XT
Once I received it, I was wondering how I would make it my brake light. I opened up the case of the light and looked around for where I would make holes to mount the light. I decided to drill the holes in the upper corners next to the LED, as you can see from my picture
Be careful when drilling the holes, or you'll drill through through the circuit board... I learned that lesson the hard way
The Amazon page says the light is waterproof, but I wouldn't put a drop of water on it the way it came. I ended up filling the bottom of the casing with silicone, putting the circuit board back in, and put more silicone on top
Next up is making the bracket to attach to, in my case, the tire carrier. This may vary depending on your wheel or tire carrier setup, but what I did is make a plate to screw the LED onto, and then I made a bracket that kinda looks like an S that is shown in a later picture.
Sorry I don't have any pictures of my bracket while it was still unmounted and unpainted, but it is kinda self-explanatory anyways. I just used left over aluminum and bent it to fit right. I used like 3 different small pieces because that's all I had, so I did more work than necessary. Sorry about the bad picture
I mounted the bracket onto the tire stabilization bolt with a rubber washer underneath so it doesn't scratch the tire carrier at all and so it holds the bracket in place since the bolt doesn't screw down all the way.
This is my super temporary wiring, I didn't want to cut my only 3rd brake light wire, but hopefully I'll find a solution soon
Here are some pics of it working (the first 2 pictures are from the mock-up before I painted it, and the 3rd picture is of the light off after I painted it, but before I touched up the paint)
Thanks for reading the write-up! I love helping my fellow jeepers out and saving you guys some cash and making a quality bracket! The pictures don't show how bright the light is, but I can tell you it is very noticeable, but not overly bright.
Ask questions if you have any!
Oh yeah, and if anyone has a 3rd brake light wire laying around let me know!
Last edited by alects; 04-25-2015 at 05:35 PM.