3rd Brake Light

I used something similar but I only run it as a third brake light. It only comes on when I step on the brakes. IMHO that will get someone's attention more than a light that gets a little bit brighter while braking so you won't need the second doohickey . I tapped into the brake light on the right side of the car, secured said wiring to the bottom outside edge of the lower fiberglass "tin", up the rear of the firewall, under the curve of the rear body, and into the center of the bottom of the grill basket (for lack of another term). added a second hot wire and wired up two strips under the grill running top to bottom on both sides.

You don’t think one strip would be enough?

Marshall

Thanks Robert. I see your point about not having enough contrast between the running light and application of a brake light.

I’m probably making this more complex, but what about installing the device that allows me to have both running lights and brake lights and use one of those flasher units. That would really different differentiate between running and brakes and improve visibility. Do you have any idea how the two different electronic thingamajigs would work in conjunction?

You can get  a narrow 5/8 -3/4"  W x 3 or 4"  L   trailer side marker light at Auto Zone Advance or on eBay etc. Remove the screws that secure the deck lid grill , there is enough space to mount the LED strip on the vertical fiberglass under the forward end of the grill.  Both the power and ground wires can be secured to the deck lid hinge. The ground you can secure to the 2 x 2" steel tubing with a self tapping hex head screw. The brake power will be tapped into the the red wire found in the harness that runs down the left side of the engine bay  or you can tie it in at either taillight. Note that LED will light in only in polarity, you'll need to bench test and mark your power and grounds.

@Marshall posted:

You don’t think one strip would be enough?

Marshall

I ran one on each side under the grill and made sure they were positioned between the grill slats so they weren't blocked. Others have wired up the flasher unit and like it so that is an option. Others have done one strip on the forward wall of the area under the grill and have had good success. It's really up to you. Anything is better than nothing.

I got two red LED strips from Summit racing and wired them as brake lights ONLY on my Spyder. Spyders have two grilles. I don't have the link, but I remember they were about $8 each and had a mounting hole at each end. I installed them across the top of the grilles, facing rearward.

The LED strips have two levels of lighting, running and stop. I wired them together to make the 3rd brake lights as bright as possible. I believe the white wire was the ground and the red and black the "hot" leads, but you'll need to test and verify as Alan suggests.

The result? The whole rear grille lights up and catches the attention of the texting and SUV-driving idiots out there.

Danny.....Do you know what the angle  (in degrees)  of your two grills is ? That is, the angle down towards the rear end compared to level ground ?

I'd like to hang a set of  red LED "owl eyes" in behind those grills and have them be vertical. This way I can make a bracket ahead of time if I know what that angle is.............Bruce

My 3rd brake light is kind of a 1/4 circle in profile. I filled in below with a piece of a vinyl stair tread.  I have a flasher installed. On my CMC the wiring harness runs down the driver's side and I tapped into the brake light wiring there.

@aircooled posted:

Danny.....Do you know what the angle  (in degrees)  of your two grills is ? That is, the angle down towards the rear end compared to level ground ?

I'd like to hang a set of  red LED "owl eyes" in behind those grills and have them be vertical. This way I can make a bracket ahead of time if I know what that angle is.............Bruce

Pretty sure it's within 10 degrees of vertical. I used some 0.030" aluminum for the brackets. I bent it into a 90, making a small piece of angle lengthwise for strength. one rivet per side right into the rear grilles, no bolts or screws to loosen. Another pop rivet with a backing washer on the light holds them nicely. The rear grilles extend down a bit further than the fiberglass flange. I'll have to take a pic for you, Bruce.

On my IM they use both hinges as contact points like Alan said but I put in a Kahtec intelligent flash unit tied to the 3rd eye, and it flashes when you brake to get the attention of the driver behind you.  

I converted my reverse light in the middle to an brake light. It was easy to do with a led bulb that gives red light when  braking.  The shine down numberplate light looks Still like original. Its ofcourse a little bit low compared to a light mounted in the grille but gives extra safety.

Hyvää päivää Jani,  does it give you much added brightness at night ?   If it was flashing would it add more for you?          

If you could post a Night picture would be nice.

P.S Kahtec.com is the module for flashing I used.

@Marshall is there an ending to your 3rd brake light search?

Yes. Quite pleased with how it turned out. I’m  in Birmingham helping my son with his new house. Will be back next week and look up the bulb I bought for you.  Maybe a off and on photo at dusk.

Marshall

  Ultra Bright Flexible LED Strip Light "Ampd Z-Flex" (radiantz.com)

Here is what I used.  They come in a variety of lengths.  One was perfect.

Photos to follow this afternoon.

I just finished installing my LED 3rd brake light.  I know this topic has been covered quite a bit, so I thought I would simply add to Marshall’s thread.

I bought from the same place Marshall did.  Radiantz ‘Ampd Z Flex’.  Mine was 7.5” in length and I choose the red colored tube.

It is a bit more expensive than other LED light strip options, but fit perfectly and it seems to be really bright.

It comes with an adhesive strip on the back, but I found it a little less than ideal.  The adhesive strip didn’t seem to really sit proud of the plastic enclosure so I needed to use some extra bits of double sided emblem tape to obtain a confident install.  I wish I knew that going in, I would have started by adding a layer of tape onto the existing tape over the entire length to give me a bit more cush, instead I had to fiddle with it after my first attempt but managed to make it secure.

Jon