New Tail Light Project on my 88 _ What do you think?

[Greentoy]

Well, I just finished up a taillight upgrade on my 88.  Thoughts or suggestions? First photo is my existing lights when I got the truck.

[Pete M]

definitely gives it a modern touch.   I like it!

[Big Dan]

Please, please post more info

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[Greentoy]

Big Dan,

I pretty much just ordered the lights from amazon and used my dremel and some patience to cut out the existing lenses to mount the LED inside. It mounted very solid inside the old lenses.  I painted the old lenses with bed liner spray paint.  I'll try to put together some more info in the next few days.  What would you like to know?

[Big Dan]

What did you use to secure the new lights inside of the oem housing?

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[Greentoy]

Big Dan,

The wrangler lights have 2 mounting screws that come in from the front and a tab in the back.  I used some small machine screws, washers (for spacers) and nylon lock nuts to secure the two together. The back tab lines up almost perfectly with part of the old bulb housing in the back of the oem lenses. Tomorrow I will unscrew one of the lights again and take a photo so you can see the cutouts in the back.  

[Greentoy]

Pete M,

Yeah, I like the gladiator vibes it brings.  

[Minuit]

Not a bad look honestly. Do the new lights put out any light to the sides?

[ghetdjc320]

Somone on Facebook was selling a 3d printed insert that adapts the new JT/JL tail lights but I don’t remember where that post was

[Greentoy]

Minuit,

Yes, they have LED sidemarkers built in. 

 

ghetdjc320,

That would be a great idea! The shape and size is a good match.

[Big Dan]

Somone on Facebook was selling a 3d printed insert that adapts the new JT/JL tail lights but I don’t remember where that post was

That would be a great find

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[Ollie]

Extremely interesting........yes, more info please

 

Having Comanche Fun,

Ollie

[NHMJXJ]

Wow!  Very cool.  Can you take a step back and get a pic of the whole tailgate?    

[Greentoy]

Here is some more angles. Today I'm going to work on the black Jeep vinyl for the tail gate.

[Tex06]

I already have people asking me about my "Gladiator Truck" and when I ask if they mean the Comanche they say, "Oh is that what they called Gladiators back then?" 

 

Nice work though. Looks pretty good and a great use for a set of otherwise trashed taillights.

[Big Dan]

Tomorrow I will unscrew one of the lights again and take a photo so you can see the cutouts in the back.  

When you can, just a reminder

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[jeff351]

On 12/24/2020 at 2:41 AM, Big Dan said:

That would be a great find

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I bought a pair of those 3D printed housings, they are listed on Etsy. Mine fit terribly though and were very brittle. Ended up in the trash can. 

[Big Dan]

Well.... Excrement

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[MercManche]

4 hours ago, jeff351 said:

I bought a pair of those 3D printed housings, they are listed on Etsy. Mine fit terribly though and were very brittle. Ended up in the trash can. 

 

Half those morons print with the wrong materials and use horrible printers that don't print consistently. 

 

I think those lights would look fantastic if they were mounted directly in fabricated sheet metal brackets instead of within the original plastic lights. Just like the JTs.

[ghetdjc320]

Here is the link for kicks https://www.etsy.com/shop/saltydawgsauto?listing_id=813067015&ref=related#items

The idea is good but the execution is terrible. He just doesn’t get those compound curves. Wonder if @Dzimm would be interested in making something. There is definitely a market for a well made product. Once Key parts finished their tail lights hopefully we can have a nice oem replacement. But the demand for some sort of aftermarket lights will still be there. 

[Dzimm]

8 minutes ago, ghetdjc320 said:

Here is the link for kicks https://www.etsy.com/shop/saltydawgsauto?listing_id=813067015&ref=related#items

The idea is good but the execution is terrible. He just doesn’t get those compound curves. Wonder if @Dzimm would be interested in making something. There is definitely a market for a well made product. Once Key parts finished their tail lights hopefully we can have a nice oem replacement. But the demand for some sort of aftermarket lights will still be there. 

I wouldn't be opposed to doing some sort of tail light adapter for the MJ.  I am not sure though if my printer is large enough, would be a real tight fit. 

 

If I did it, I would probably design it to fit something other than a Wrangler tail light, would use something that looked more like it belonged on the MJ.  Unless there is that much demand for Wrangler lights.  Isn't there somewhere that sells just the MJ lenses?  Maybe I could make a reproduction back to fit those lenses?

[Dzimm]

57 minutes ago, MercManche said:

Half those morons print with the wrong materials and use horrible printers that don't print consistently. 

At first I thought you were over exaggerating a bit but the first picture I saw was this....

 

I'm happy to see and support others that are recreating things for the MJ but I would recommend steering clear of this one unfortunately..

[ghetdjc320]

57 minutes ago, Dzimm said:

At first I thought you were over exaggerating a bit but the first picture I saw was this....

 

I'm happy to see and support others that are recreating things for the MJ but I would recommend steering clear of this one unfortunately..

No kidding! Key Parts has been working on replacement oem tail lights  but I’m not sure what the eta is. I agree with the wrangler lights. Not my cup of tea on an MJ. I do like some of the aftermarket XJ lights though. What about an adapter to fit xj style lights in an MJ? That would open up the possibilities for both an oem-style and aftermarket appearance. I know @Pete M had talked about something like that some time ago. 

[Dzimm]

1 minute ago, ghetdjc320 said:

No kidding! Key Parts has been working on replacement oem tail lights  but I’m not sure what the eta is. I agree with the wrangler lights. Not my cup of tea on an MJ. I do like some of the aftermarket XJ lights though. What about an adapter to fit xj style lights in an MJ? That would open up the possibilities for both and oem and aftermarket appearance. I know @Pete M had talked about something like that some time ago. 

XJ could work, if the 97+ XJ lenses fit without cutting that would be ideal since they are rounded.  I believe the older XJ ones fit within the cutout but that 90* corner is kind of a bummer.  May look fine though if it's not sticking out past the body.  

 

I should pick up a set of Dakota tail lights and see just how far off they are.  Those are still available on the aftermarket and are fairly cheap.  Maybe I could make an adapter to fit those.

[ghetdjc320]

1 hour ago, Dzimm said:

XJ could work, if the 97+ XJ lenses fit without cutting that would be ideal since they are rounded.  I believe the older XJ ones fit within the cutout but that 90* corner is kind of a bummer.  May look fine though if it's not sticking out past the body.  

 

I should pick up a set of Dakota tail lights and see just how far off they are.  Those are still available on the aftermarket and are fairly cheap.  Maybe I could make an adapter to fit those.

I'm sure the Dakota lights are an option but since Key Parts is bringing new oem tail lights to market, an adapter that fits an oem Dakota light may not be as marketable as something that could fit the newer 97+ XJ style given all the aftermarket options and styles. The adapter bracket would likely just be a thin frame that would adapt the mounting points from an MJ and creates an XJ light opening.