I am moving this here since I will be giving up my sub-forum ownership.

Helpful Links:

HiDPlanet.com - Forum with all kinds of information
Don Klipstein's LED Main Page - General information on LED's
LED center - Series/Parallel wizard, among other things
Easy PCB Fabrication - How to make your own printed circuit boards
ExpressPCB - Easy PCB design software
SuperFlux Data Sheet - SuperFlux LED specs
Outer Tail Light Template
Inner Tail Light Template (Correction: the 4.5" on the upper inner should be 5.5")

How-to:

1) First you need to design a template for the size of your circuit boards. You can open up your tail lights by using a heat gun or baking them in the oven. To bake them pre-heat your oven to 300*, turn it off, and put your lights in on a cookie sheet or piece of cardboard for 10 minutes. I am not responsible if you ruin your tails or burn your house down. You should be able to pry the lens off the housing. Be careful not to make a mess and/or brake the lens. If you have a '97-'99 Maxima and need to keep your tail lights on your car while you work on this project I uploaded my templates to Photobucket (see links). Keep in mind they are how i wanted the boards to fit, you may desire something different.

2) If you do not have fairly good electrical knowledge (amps, volts, ohms, series/parallel, etc.) now would be the time to do some studying.

3) Decide exactly which LED's (I recommend Lumileds SuperFlux) you are going to use and whether or not you are going to regulate the voltage. If you are going to use the car's voltage unregulated, it is usually around 13.6v.

4) Design your array. I used the series/parallel wizard (see links) and LED spec sheet to help with this.

5) Decide what type of circuit board you are going to use. You can use perforated circuit board or you can make your own printed circuit board (or PCB, see links). If you want to make your own PCB there are a few free design programs on the web. I chose to use ExpressPCB (see links). I am now using PCB Artist but I still recommend ExpressPCB for the beginner.

6) Design your board and assemble your board. Make sure to pay attention to the polarity of the components.

7) Now you must mount your boards. I chose to mount them by trimming the stock reflector and using clear RTV silicone.

(8) Install into the housing and seal her back up. I used a heat gun to reheat the OEM sealant but you could use the oven.

 

space holder.

 

Also if you are afraid to heat it that high as in 300 degrees, you can do 230 for 15 minutes and the lens will almost fall off.

 

Your the man this is perfect!!!

 

Thanks man! I' gonna attempt mine soon.

 

edit

 

great lights, how much time required and mula for materials, also where did u get the materials? Looks DOPE!!!

 

because i took this on on a production level some of the materials ar different than what you would use on a custom project. i have literally thousands of dollars into it at this point, but a one off custom project could be done for fairly cheap assuming you have the tools.

i'd just like to note that this is not a complete how-to. it is a work in progress.

 

How much would you sell a set for

 

Did anyone ever complete a set for the 95-96 tails? I remember seeing some starter pics on here but never a completed set

 

I have a set of 95-96 tails but none mountied since i dont own a 95-96.

 

these tail lights look SICK. i really do like the 3 bars

 

the price of the marker/brake board kit is expected to fall around $300.

i'm portotyping a 4 row design this week. whichever looks better will make it into production.

 

Have any pics?

 

thats nice how much did it cost you?

 

when ur finished, how much will this go for?.

 

wow, that's good stuff

 

Keep up the great work.

 

man i want a set of those

 

haha why give up all the secrets? I had a few guys ask me to tell them how and I told them hidplanet.com. Giving all the secrets makes them not as hot a commodity haha. I'm glad you switched designs tho. What did you do in between the LEDs? Wire? Nice and clean. Mine are messy on the back.

 

its a printed circuit board, so theres no wires. my feeling is if someone wants to make their own they'll figure out how, if they don't then they'll buy some. i am prototyping a 4 row design this week.

 

BlackonBlack98... your efforts are much appreciated.... by all, i'm sure. I'd love these for my 96. Keep us posted (as i'm sure you will)

 

how do i make the leds go brighter when i hit the brake i wen ton hid planet can find anything unless im looking in the wrong place

 

Research a PWM.

 

resistors are another way also.

 

do you still have th 95-96 design and how much are you asking for them? any pictures?

 

Anyone have the pics for this how to? They seem to be down.

 

What do you want pics of ? The process or the product?

 

+1 of the process

 

If you could upload the process i would be grateful

 

The process please.

 

Let me see if Mike wants to upload them. I personally wont give out progress pics. There is tons of info on www.hidplanet.com/forums if you have the time to look.

 

my process wouldn't really help the diy'er. all you need to do is understand basic electronics, know/learn how to solder, and have enough mechanical ability to cut and glue. all the info is in the post.

 

Im not seeing any pics....and how much for a set for a 96 ?

 

So I hate to bring this back, but I could really use those templates for trying to figure out how many LED's Ill need. OP, if you could relink them or let me know how to get ahold of them, that would be epic. Thanks man.

 

nice