Reproduction Tail Light Assy'

[mrmel2you]

If I remember correctly, there is a member here that said if there was enough of an interest/demand---he would look into seeing if he could make reproduction tail light assemblies (L/R). Was wondering how his idea/plan is shaping up. I know of a few fellas in other clubs/sites that are very interested, including myself.

[RAH66]

If this came to fruition I'd be very much on board. This is just kind of a weird personal thing, but I really prefer vehicles to have orange / amber turn signals. If someone could reproduce them in clear and then tint a red + orange + clear section I'd be all over that. I will put down the cash immediately if anyone needs pre-orders to make it happen.

[Eagle]

17 minutes ago, RAH66 said:

If this came to fruition I'd be very much on board. This is just kind of a weird personal thing, but I really prefer vehicles to have orange / amber turn signals. If someone could reproduce them in clear and then tint a red + orange + clear section I'd be all over that. I will put down the cash immediately if anyone needs pre-orders to make it happen.

 

The problem is that what you're looking for would not be a reproduction, because that's not the way the MJs were made. (At least not in the U.S.)

[RAH66]

Sure, I just meant same exact shape, except instead making it with red plastic, you make it with clear. Then you could paint / tint certain sections different colors. To be fair I have no idea if that's possible, just something I idly daydream about occasionally.

[RAH66]

Unless you're talking about legality / DOT approval, in which case I can see the issue. 

[Sir Sam]

6 hours ago, RAH66 said:

If this came to fruition I'd be very much on board. This is just kind of a weird personal thing, but I really prefer vehicles to have orange / amber turn signals. If someone could reproduce them in clear and then tint a red + orange + clear section I'd be all over that. I will put down the cash immediately if anyone needs pre-orders to make it happen.

 

I agree with you, brake lights should be red, turn signals should be orange. Reverse lights should be white.

 

However, if anything is going to gain traction its going to be an OEM replica because I think most people would prefer the OEM over something modded.

 

3d printing might offer a method to make reproductions. Makes you wonder where the original injection molds went........probably the scrap bin.

[Eagle]

I don't recall for certain but I believe the MJs sold in Europe and South America has amber turn signal lenses. If that could be verified, reproducing those would be more a matter of upgrading to export specification.

 

But you would still have to modify the wiring harness to get the turn signals to operate independently from the brake lights. MJs are wired so that if you step on the brakes while the hazard flashers are running, the flashers stop blinking. That always struck me as incredibly stupid. XJs don't operate that way (except the XJ Wagoneers).

[HOrnbrod]

1 minute ago, Eagle said:

I don't recall for certain but I believe the MJs sold in Europe and South America has amber turn signal lenses. If that could be verified, reproducing those would be more a matter of upgrading to export specification.

 

The MJ Export models were all shipped with the same tail lamps as the domestic models. Some countries (like Sweden) forced drivers to add amber auxiliary amber turn signal lights in the rear to pass vehicle inspection. As well as a red rear fog light.  

 

The Export MJs did however receive amber front turn signal lights. I have them on mine.

 

[Sir Sam]

Yup tail lights were all the same, and yes front export turns were also amber.

 

ZJs were the same way:

 

[RAH66]

10 hours ago, Sir Sam said:

3d printing might offer a method to make reproductions. Makes you wonder where the original injection molds went........probably the scrap bin.

 

As far as I understand it from when I looked into it a while ago (albeit not very deeply), 3d printing isn't viable because it can't produce a clear enough plastic. You could maybe do it to make a mold, but that that point you may as well just use an original light to make it.

[Sir Sam]

You can get pretty translucent prints, albeit not transparent. But that might be fine for lenses.

 

The problem is to get a quality reproduction you really need to injection mold, and thats expensive. There might be some hope in hell of getting one of the chinese makers to make some if you had the original tooling.

 

Doing this on a hobby level we could 3d print the rear relfector housing, and 3d print a translucent lens, potentially with coloring or different patterns, it might offer a solution to non existent replacement tail lights, but it would be hard to make them like an OEM copy.

[sinkrun]

I would like to know how many people out there are actually breaking there taillights. Just about every darn set on ebay sell and for decent prices. Are people hording or destroying them and if they are the need to take better care of what they have.

[gogmorgo]

I suspect many of us are hording. I think I have two or three extra sets myself. But part of that is that when you see them at the junkyard you grab them so they don't go through the crusher. 

I personally have never damaged a tail light, on anything. But if you reverse into something, the lights are right there, and old brittle plastic doesn't take much of a hit to crack. I don't know about where everyone else is, but I've been through a few jurisdictions where vehicle inspections require perfectly sealed exterior lights, so cracks are a no-no.

In contrast all the front end stuff being identical to an XJ's is so easy to find locally that people aren't going to eBay for them unless there's a savings to be had. The demand for MJ tail lights isn't super high, but given the limited supply they do command seemingly silly prices. I think I paid $10 per for mine at wrecking yards.

[Strokermjcomanche]

I've talked to several people about making tail lights (including Omix Ada ) and nothing ever comes out of it . A kid on the Facebook group said he's making them but it's been several months and I haven't seen any progress. I've even offered my new tails for reverse molds , if the new lights wouldn't see any damage. 

[Keyav8r]

I have 3 passenger side and 1 driver side spares.  I’ve dis-assembled, cleaned, sprayed the “buckets” with “Kentucky Chrome” (chrome spray paint), and re-assembled the driver side spare and one of the passenger side spares.  I plan to install them with LED bulbs in the near future for better visibility by other drivers.

If I ever find another MJ in a JY, I’ll grab the taillights to save them from the crusher and/or for future trade goods.

I’d like to trade a passenger side taillight for a driver side now so that I’d have a second set of spares.

[DirtyComanche]

I've not yet seen any 3D printed plastics that would hold up to usage as a taillight.  I'm sure they're out there, but not available on the hobbyist level.

[Strokermjcomanche]

3 hours ago, Keyav8r said:

I have 3 passenger side and 1 driver side spares.  I’ve dis-assembled, cleaned, sprayed the “buckets” with “Kentucky Chrome” (chrome spray paint), and re-assembled the driver side spare and one of the passenger side spares.  I plan to install them with LED bulbs in the near future for better visibility by other drivers.

If I ever find another MJ in a JY, I’ll grab the taillights to save them from the crusher and/or for future trade goods.

I’d like to trade a passenger side taillight for a driver side now so that I’d have a second set of spares.

Pm me . 

[HOrnbrod]

9 minutes ago, Strokermjcomanche said:

Pm me . 

 

[PCO6]

4 hours ago, saveevryjp1998 said:

People the tabs eventually break. Try taking one off at a junkyard and see what happens. On top of that the newest mj is around 26 years old. They are faded chipped on the outside too. Id buy a new set any day and yes I hoard them hunt for them. Give it a try yourself finding one. Its about as easy as finding a rust free mj in the rust belt.

I have 2 sets.   One set had a couple of broken tabs but I was able to repair them by bonding metal tabs to them with J-B Weld.   

[Kyleinreallife]

I don't recall for certain but I believe the MJs sold in Europe and South America has amber turn signal lenses. If that could be verified, reproducing those would be more a matter of upgrading to export specification.
 
But you would still have to modify the wiring harness to get the turn signals to operate independently from the brake lights. MJs are wired so that if you step on the brakes while the hazard flashers are running, the flashers stop blinking. That always struck me as incredibly stupid. XJs don't operate that way (except the XJ Wagoneers).

Think of it this way, if your hazards are on, you’re probably already stopped or if you’re driving with them on, you’re still able to indicate that you are stopping.


87' XJ Wagoneer I-6 AW4 NP242

[Eagle]

9 hours ago, Kyleinreallife said:

Think of it this way, if your hazards are on, you’re probably already stopped or if you’re driving with them on, you’re still able to indicate that you are stopping.


87' XJ Wagoneer I-6 AW4 NP242

 

It's well known that a flashing or blinking light attracts attention better than a light that's just on. Considering that by the time the MJ came out most cars and trucks world-wide used separate, amber lights for turn signals and hazards, and that the Cherokee had them since 1984, the fact that the MJ does not have them is baffling, inexplicable, and IMHO stupid. If you spend any time on or around construction sites, which I do for a living, you might have noticed that now the rooftop flashers don't just blink on and off, each blink is actually a series of three very quick blinks, separated by a pause, and then another series of three. That gets a lot more attention than a simple on-off-on pattern.

[Sir Sam]

I agree. Having a separate indicator is safer. 

 

Have you noticed that some newer cars brake lights pulse when applied? This gets your attention much better than just coming on. 

 

At at some point I plan to get the other type of bulb socket to make the MJ use the fuel filament bulbs, and switch to led bulbs. 

 

I also plan to run to run one of those truck bed led strips with an additional turn signal and backup light. 

 

I would love to get a housing for the mirrors that had the turn signals in them as well. 

[Eagle]

8 minutes ago, Sir Sam said:

I agree. Having a separate indicator is safer. 

 

Have you noticed that some newer cars brake lights pulse when applied? This gets your attention much better than just coming on. 

 

 

Yes. And how about the new Mustangs (actually, for the past several years), with the three-segment, progressive turn signals? Same idea -- it's a batter attention grabber.

[Sir Sam]

3 minutes ago, Eagle said:

 

Yes. And how about the new Mustangs (actually, for the past several years), with the three-segment, progressive turn signals? Same idea -- it's a batter attention grabber.

 

Yup, though the mustang turn is a throwback actually, though it's stills good idea. I noticed a new mustang that do the progressive light each time the brake was applied on each side. 

[HOrnbrod]

35 minutes ago, Sir Sam said:

At at some point I plan to get the other type of bulb socket to make the MJ use the fuel filament bulbs

 

 

A third brake light helps........