LED Installation Problems / Suggestions and Examples

I've had huge success with the automotive RTV Clear gasket silicone. It's worked when nothing else would....it never gets hard/brittle, and stands up to temp extremes, and most chemicals won't degrade it. You may have to use some painters tape to hold everything in place until it sets.

You might find this a bit radical but it works and absolutely no one who has looked twice at it even noticed I had done it. Drilled small holes along the plastic and used small plastic ties.

Quote from Bubblehead

Okay everyone, I am starting this thread so forum members can ask questions about LED installations suggestions and problems they encounter.

To start it off, everyone that was at SSITS saw my SS and the LED's I have on the front spoiler and eyebrows.... Question is how can I get them to stay on..... I have put new 3M tape on them, cleaned the plastic very well with alcohol and then applied 2 coats of 3M 94 Primer and the still pop loose.... any suggestions.... have tried supper glue & Velcro...

I had some what similar issue and i removed them .. but someone suggested me to put silicone and it will stay there !!

Talk with Stickerdick. He has some solvent that works wonders on the black plastic. I borrowed it to install our dragon sticker and I could have stuck ANYTHING to it afterwards. It was a 3M product with citrus.

So far a wipe of the area with Plastic Prep (see pic) and Gorilla Super Glue Gel has worked well for my LED strip applications. Time will tell how long it holds!! Note - in the pic the headlight eyebrows show as purpleish. Actually they are cool white.

For those who want to hide the circuitry in the LED strips, this process worked for me.
1) wipe the strip with Plastic Prep (or similar)
2) apply Avery 1/4" dots over each LED
3( spray the strip with desired color. I used Semi Gloss Black Trim Paint when putting the lights on the black panels and aluminum rim paint when putting the lights on the colored panels.
4) let it dry and then peel off the dots
5) spray with a clear coat (with a flex agent ideally)
6) install and enjoy!!

The vertical ones at the rear are red. They and the front eyebrows are on their own circuit and switch so they can be used as parking lights.

Switch for the "parking" lights.

For those of us not familiar with LED construction and quality....what makes a good LED? I'm looking for something to put on the front spoiler, but I'm not looking for the whole $400 splitter kit from SlingMods, and I don't know enough about the required setup to know about some of the other kits out there. What's the difference between those, and something like this, from Amazon? What are those kits providing that makes them so much better?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y…w_r_sms_apa_uTEyxbD38E3RZ

I'm no good with this LED stuff either but I start with looking at the warranty and customer service ... before I buy I call customer service and chat with the person on the line to see if they know more than more or if they are reading from a script I try to get as much insight from them as possible - with that in mind I start with drawing my vision of what I want and taking measurements. Knowing I want something a little unique I figure a kit won't work but I watch as many install videos as possible. Like with any mod it is 4x the amount of research to the install time.

I just did a custom kit because I couldn't find what I wanted at slingmods or slingshotonly - I paid out the nose but it gives me what I think will be great with a good warranty (1 year) and customer service and even access to technical folks if I need help with connections, controls, expanders, extensions, etc.

I cannot answer what makes a good or not good LED. I bought all of mine using Amazon. Most were 5m rolls for (as I recall) around $16 including shipping to Fl. Also bought connectors so I could cut them to desired lengths. Can say the sticky tape on them was of no use on my SS plastic. I used Gorilla Super Glue Gel instead. So far, so good with both the LEDs and the glue.

Quote from KayTwo

For those of us not familiar with LED construction and quality....what makes a good LED? I'm looking for something to put on the front spoiler, but I'm not looking for the whole $400 splitter kit from SlingMods, and I don't know enough about the required setup to know about some of the other kits out there. What's the difference between those, and something like this, from Amazon? What are those kits providing that makes them so much better?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y…w_r_sms_apa_uTEyxbD38E3RZ

Those are a bit short and not flexible...I used the ones below which you can cut to length and are high quality. See my post 3 on this thread for pics.

Amazon.com: Alpena 77703 White 24-Inch Max LED Strip: Automotive

Quote from Flybuddy

Those are a bit short and not flexible...I used the ones below which you can cut to length and are high quality. See my post 3 on this thread for pics.
Amazon.com: Alpena 77703 White 24-Inch Max LED Strip: Automotive

Thanks for that link. Sent you a PM.

SMD LED Module - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I run 5050 LED's. However the strips are wider that most places on the SS will allow. But if you can use them under the SS go for it

My whites and reds are 5050. What number are the narrower ones?

Quote from lowlander

My whites and reds are 5050. What number are the narrower ones?

generally 3528.

3M VHB, I use it to set the glass in cnc cut cabinet doors. It's strong as hell but might be a pain to get off. Just talked to mt rep and its the same stuff on the back of new car emblems.