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LED Backup Light Install with Pics

22K views 42 replies 24 participants last post by  jcampbell31 
#1 ·
Installed LED backup lights, the ones located in the tail light/brake light assembly not the "auxiliary liftgate" ones located in the liftgate (those are lost in the UPS system somewhere). All you need is a small flat screwdriver to do this install. Install made a BIG difference in appearance. Seems a lot brighter as well.

The factory bulbs are 7440 (W21W) or wedge style 21 watt.

These are the bulbs I used from amazon. They are pricey compared to all the other replacements I have done but a lot brighter and replace a higher wattage bulb than the other 5 watt oems that have been replaced.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002P2VXJI/ref=oss_product
Xenondepot also has them for a similar price but not with the free shipping unless you spend over $100 or $150.

Two plastic fasteners toward the liftgate side of the tail light assembly need to be removed. Use the screwdriver to slowly pull out the center section of the fastener and then remove the entire fastener. Pull the entire tail light assembly straight back to remove. There are two rounded metal studs that hold the light into the body so it might take a little bit of pulling to remove the light. The reverse lamp is the lower bulb in the tail light assembly, give it a quarter turn to remove and swap them out. Putting everything back together is the reverse. Should take less than 10 minutes.:thumbsup:

Pics below:
1. OEM Backup lights on (pax side) replacing the out one here.
2. Another OEM pic
3. Tail light assembly with liftgate open showing plastic fasteners
4. Center part of plastic fastener pulled out notice at 10 or 11 oclock position notch for screwdriver.
5. Plastic fasteners removed
6. Rear view of tail light assembly, top is brake/tail lamp, bottom is reverse lamp we are replacing, two black metal rounded studs on lower left of pic is what holds light to body of vehicle.
7. These plastic retainers are what the metal studs go into
8. OEM Bulb on
9. LED Bulb on
10. OEM Bulb off
11. LED Bulb off
12. Pic showing backup lamp lit after install you can see the yellow OEM litgate one in the left corner.
13. Another rearview pic showing the difference in color.

Very happy with the install once UPS finds my liftgate backup LEDs I will install and give a review of how nighttime visibility compares in the backup camera compared to stock.
 

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#2 ·
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#5 ·
Although this is a simple mod, we appreciate the time you took to write detailed instructions. It only adds to the value of this forum. +rep
 
#6 ·
great job! looks much better!
 
#9 ·
Yeah those are also backup bulbs. "auxiliary liftgate" bulbs. Those are the ones I am waiting on still.
 
#12 ·
:thumbsup:what a difference
 
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#15 ·
Installed LED backup lights, the ones located in the tail light/brake light assembly not the "auxiliary liftgate" ones located in the liftgate (those are lost in the UPS system somewhere). All you need is a small flat screwdriver to do this install. Install made a BIG difference in appearance. Seems a lot brighter as well.

The factory bulbs are 7440 (W21W) or wedge style 21 watt.
I know this is an old post but thanks to Whatevrworks for this writeup. I was able to get the tail/blinkers installed relatively easy and to my surprise did not have to take the rear lift gate trim panel all the way off. I only had to drop it enough on each side to get access to twist the bulb.

Of course once I dropped the panel I find the lift gate interior dome style lights were unplugged, probably by the dealer who was in there last :confused:.

I also did the footwell and middle seat dome lights in LED yesterday, but didn't buy enough LEDs to do the tailgate interior light. That will be next! :)
 

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#19 ·
Does it throw more light at night when in reverse and does it show improvement in the rearview camera image? thanks for pictures and info.

Cheers,
-A
 
#20 ·
Does it throw more light at night when in reverse and does it show improvement in the rearview camera image? thanks for pictures and info.
I guess it depends on where I'm at but I actually think there is a little bit more glare with them in some instances when in reverse and looking at the camera picture. Funny enough, I thought that when I changed out my license lamp bulbs to LED that actually assisted/added light to the reverse camera picture IMO.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Ordered mine from Ebay Friday and they came in today!
Two very good sellers with good products and the prices were excellent. Here's the link to the main T20 bulbs in the rear light shell :
T20 7440 7441 White CREE Q5 LED Bulbs 12 5050 SMD 7W Back Up Bulb Projector Lens | eBay

And here were the two 194's on the tail gate :

Error Free Canbus White CREE LED Backup Reverse Lights Bulbs T15 921 168 194 X2 | eBay


One thing to note : When taking off the rear lift gate bottom panel, you may discover that some of the yellow plastic fasteners are either missing or broken. Or at least they were on mine...2 broken, 2 missing!

There are 4 long green plastic fasteners on the bottom of the panel (2 each side) and they can come loose from their cup like "captive" fitting on the liftgate panel bottom. Worry not, you can get the panel back in place using the yellow fasteners toward the top of the panel and then gently lever the bottom of the green fasteners back into their captive fitting with a long screwdriver. The bottom panel will then push back into place. Go around the perimeter of the panel pushing in and also push in on the middle of the panel as there is a fastener there. FYI - I was missing two fasteners from the top of the panel where it curves upward in the middle .

They look really good....nice bright, white light :) !

Thanks to the earlier posters for giving us a head's up on this:thumbsup:.
 
#30 ·
Well I have a whole bunch of Ebay leds and they were just OK. I was not that happy with them. Precision LED sent me a complete interior set for my 2012 Overland. The foot area bulbs were a little bit long. I couldn't put the covers on so they sent me the premium version which I didn't' realize they made for no charge. They were shorter and 2 times brighter than the ebay and regular Precision bulbs. I'm hooked on them. My interior is all Precision LED bulbs.
 
#33 ·
Yeah I had a few questions for them and they were very quick to respond. I think it's a given that the customer support from precision is probably better than the average seller on eBay. My point in questioning you wasn't to say you were wrong or wasting money, just to raise the point that there are cheaper alternatives. In case anyone else is looking to do this mod, I too am happy with the output from my eBay lights. Less than $10 and thirty minutes later, my car is much brighter and whiter than it was before.
 
#37 ·
Thanks for the great posts. I am getting ready to order a full interior LED kit. The reverse lights posed some questions.
Some of the manufacturers provide this note:
Please Note: These bulbs may not be error free in some vehicles like BMWs, Audi, Volkswagen, Saab and some Mercedes vehicles. You can check by removing one of your reverse light bulbs, then turning on your vehicle and putting your vehicle in reverse, if you receive an error message on your dashboard that you have a reverse light out these may not work without tripping an error code. We do offer error correcting resistors that can be used with these bulbs to solve the error codes: Error Correcting Resistors You will need one resistor per bulb.

Do the WK2's have this issue? Would you need to wire in a resistor or are all the LED bulbs (4) plug & play? Any recommendation on reverse light LED wattage? 5W, 7W, 50W, etc?
 
#38 ·
Thanks for the great posts. I am getting ready to order a full interior LED kit. The reverse lights posed some questions.
Some of the manufacturers provide this note:
Please Note: These bulbs may not be error free in some vehicles like BMWs, Audi, Volkswagen, Saab and some Mercedes vehicles. You can check by removing one of your reverse light bulbs, then turning on your vehicle and putting your vehicle in reverse, if you receive an error message on your dashboard that you have a reverse light out these may not work without tripping an error code. We do offer error correcting resistors that can be used with these bulbs to solve the error codes: Error Correcting Resistors You will need one resistor per bulb.

Do the WK2's have this issue? Would you need to wire in a resistor or are all the LED bulbs (4) plug & play? Any recommendation on reverse light LED wattage? 5W, 7W, 50W, etc?
I installed LED reverse lights from Vleds. No resistors and no error codes. The brake/signal lights, however, do require resistors.
 
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