jgohlke

I got the Jon To LED light kit for my new 2013 FX4 SCREW. I made a little reflector for the vanity lights out of an soda can. Here's a couple of pics.....

Here's the reflector I made:


Here it is installed (from the back), held on with a small zip tie:


Here it is from the front:

Frank20

That's a nifty idea. Did it help disperse the light a little better?

jgohlke

After the vanity lights, I pulled one of the puddle lights to see what I could do with it....

Here it is removed from the side mirror:


Here it is next to the LED I planned to use as a replacement:


I debated about the best way to take it apart, in the end, I just cut a chunk out of the back. It's all one piece and isn't made to come apart. Prior experience tells me that hacking at it with a sharp knife will just lead to me bleeding on it...it looked cheap enough, so I just cut it open.



Here's the case cut through, but not pried apart:

jgohlke

I pried the 2 pieces apart, cleaned them both out (mostly by snapping off all the bits I didn't want) and then test fit the new LED light:


You can see that it doesn't fit...but it was pretty close. I trimmed the inside of the case a little with a razor knife and rounded the corners of the LED with a belt sander. You can see the rounded corners in this pic:



On the next test fit, it snapped right in!


I squirted about a teaspoon of Gorilla Glue on top of the light, positioned the cut off part back where it goes...then I taped the whole thing together and set it, upside down (clear lens facing up) on the table so the glue wouldn't run down into the lens. While the glue was hardening, I fixed up the electrical connections.



All done....Just waiting for the glue to harden.


After a couple of hours, I peeled off the tape and popped them into the truck side mirrors. After it got dark, I went to check the lights. They are bright and light up the whole side of the vehicle! I'm very happy with the mod.

jgohlke

The little LED lights that replace the vanity light bulbs are directional and shine off to the side once installed in the vanity mirror assembly. There are no stock reflectors in the mirror. The reflector I made redirects the light out, away from the mirror kind of like you would expect. It's a little bright....We'll see if the wife complains.

FX4life

Great job!!

Frank20

Nice. Take a pic if you could with them lit.

I bought some for mine which are 360* style with 3 LEDs. One on each side and one on top. I might still make this little reflector though when I go to install mine.

How did you go about taking the stock bulb out. I heard its a pain?

jgohlke

Once you get the lens cover off and take the 2 screws out, you can pull the vanity light out of the visor so you can see it better. One of the bulbs just came right out with a little wiggling and some easy pressure from a pair of needle-nose pliers. The other one was ornery and the bulb broke. I picked at it with the pliers and old dental tool and managed to get it out without too much drama.

If I was going to do it again, I would put an old towel across my legs to keep the broken glass bits out of the seat.