Freelander 1 Freelander rear marker lights

Hello Troops
Quick question. I am planning to convert all my external lights to led(no headlights of course). And I was just thinking....do not juge me for what I am planning to do....I am planning to put american style rear marker lights in rear plastic trim around rear window. Just like this:



Some will say it's chavvy some will say it's good. I like that style. No chrome of course and stick on stuff from hafrauds. What are peoples opinions? Maybe You have some fitted already. With a lot of bad comments in connection with rear lighting on FL1 I think it is quite smart looking idea.
Also planning to put front ones but a bit of scared cutting roof.

It's gonna leak worse than it does now?

Well. I have fixed the leak from the back so hoping that it not gonna leak at all(loads of sealant might help)

It'll be interesting to make some LEDs fit on the top rail. It's contoured so the light housings will need to fit that tightly for it to look neat.
You will also need to drive the LEDs correctly too, or life will be short.
Most LEDs use simple resistors to limit the supply down to the LED required current. This is fine if they were fed from a battery. However cars use alternators to provide the electrical power. The problem comes due to the voltage variations involved. A resistance needed at 12 volts is to low if the voltage raises to 14.4 volt. This means that the LED is often over driven while the engine is running. This massively shortens the working life of the LEDs. So the LEDs will need a current controlled drive circuit.
I fitted some LEDs as DRLs into my 05 SE back in the summer. Tonight I noticed one of them flashing in the typical LED failing way. I used a home made constant current driver for my DRLs and one has still failed. I suspect that I pushed the LEDs just a bit too hard. Or my drive circuit has failed. I'll investigate in the next few days.
Anyway for long LED life. Some kind of LED driver is needed to stabilise the variations in feed voltage and subsequent current..
I'll be watching this project with interest

Do dedicated LED auto bulbs have drivers built in? I see them everywhere and would like to convert my lights but don`t want expensive bulbs dying prematurely.

Rich in Vancouver said:

Do dedicated LED auto bulbs have drivers built in? I see them everywhere and would like to convert my lights but don`t want expensive bulbs dying prematurely.

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Sadly not. 99% of pre-made LED bulbs have simple resistor droppers to limit current across the LED die. Resistive droppers are fine if the supply is a constant voltage. However car electrical systems run from 12 to 15 volts. This really affects the LED drive current. If for instance a typical super bright red LED will need to be driven with a forward voltage of 1.85V @20 mA. The resistance needed to drive the LED perfectly at 12 Volts is 470 Ohm. However a 470 Ohm resistor with a 14.4 V supply will over drive the LED as current will now be close to 27 mA. Obviously the LED life will drop hugely with a current 40% higher than its designed maximum brightness current of 20 mA.
Sadly LED bulbs manufacturers like to boast lumen numbers. This often means that LEDs are generally over driven out the box. So life is already compromised.
This is why LEDs need to be fed with a decent current limiting power supply.
Using good quality LEDs is also a way to guarantee a long life. Cheap Chinese unknown LEDs can fail long before they should. Although the latter are fine if current flow across the LED is limited.

I've considered something similar but not given it much thought, I used the defender twin filament bulb holder to move the rear lights around and that made a massive improvement, side lights high up on the outer edge of the car, not inboard and low down

Like the idea of the rear ones, but never liked front markers on "cars" - a mate fitted some front markers to his mk1 Astra van, looked nasty(er).

Hello again troops.

Well....I have finished my first step of upgrading lighting on my Landy. Rear marker lights fitted. Connected to rear lights.

Need new lower light clusters as I am planning to swap reversing with indicators and stop/sides with fogs.
What do You think?
And yes front roof lights wouldn't fit correctly...

I think the position of the rear lights on Freelanders are pretty rubbish so anything that makes them better can only be a good thing. Personal choice would be to make the upper light units work the way they look they should but I think for MOT the lower lights need to be working too as the boot door and spare wheel would block the O/S upper lights when open.

Lukas430000 said:

Hello again troops.

Well....I have finished my first step of upgrading lighting on my Landy. Rear marker lights fitted. Connected to rear lights.

Need new lower light clusters as I am planning to swap reversing with indicators and stop/sides with fogs.
What do You think?
And yes front roof lights wouldn't fit correctly...

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Lukas.
I understand the need to be seen on the hard-shoulder of a motorway. I keep a couple of L.E.D. rear cycle lights with magnetic fittings to stick on the rear end of the motor, should I ever need to. At £3.99 each they're cheap enough for me to donate to anyone else who is stuck and in need of a little assistance to highlight their presence. I can't see the need to drill into the bodywork to have the same effect!

I drilled plastic trim around rear window(as I was to scared to cut bodywork) Beforehand I have aquired a spare set of trims from local scrapyard for astonishing price 4 pound sterling. Just in case I messed up first lot. And plastic is so much easier to work with. Had to cut some metal from behind plastic trim but only cause never measured depth of new lights. 1 hour work and totally transformed the back of the car. But I really like simplicity of Your idea. Sometimes life hacks like this help in difficult situations.

Lukas430000 said:

I drilled plastic trim around rear window(as I was to scared to cut bodywork) Beforehand I have aquired a spare set of trims from local scrapyard for astonishing price 4 pound sterling. Just in case I messed up first lot. And plastic is so much easier to work with. Had to cut some metal from behind plastic trim but only cause never measured depth of new lights. 1 hour work and totally transformed the back of the car. But I really like simplicity of Your idea. Sometimes life hacks like this help in difficult situations.

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Lukas.
I think that both of us have come up with some good ideas.

I like the extra rear US style lighting.
It is possible to make the fogs do the tail/ brake and the current tail do tail and fog. This way you get round MOT lamp positioning problems, as mentioned my Alibro.
The reverse is also more effective if it's lower in the bumper and the indicators more visible in the current reverse position. You'll need to change the lower tail lights to 2002 onwards as the indicator lenses are clear

Yes, the side opening rear door means that you can't have indicators in the C-pillar posts - or at least, you can't have them as your sole indicators. If you made the lamps dual function - i.e. the reverse lights were both reverse and indicators, and the lower lamps retained their original function (or had dual function), then I can't see that there would be a problem

On my old freelander none face lift on the fog lights I put a twin element fitting and bulb the lower watt side was a side light bulb which came on with the lower ones and then the higher watts of the bulb were still the fog lights I keep meaning to do it on the wife's freelander non face lift as she does a lot of early morning duel carriage way driving and winter time it is no joke

rob_bell said:

Yes, the side opening rear door means that you can't have indicators in the C-pillar posts - or at least, you can't have them as your sole indicators. If you made the lamps dual function - i.e. the reverse lights were both reverse and indicators, and the lower lamps retained their original function (or had dual function), then I can't see that there would be a problem

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How can that be done? Would you have to have two bulbs in the fitting?

Or, could the straightforward swap be done and repeaters fitted?

You use dual filament bulbs, holders and connectors to get two functions in one bulb.
It does take some rewiring though.

Rich in Vancouver said:

You use dual filament bulbs, holders and connectors to get two functions in one bulb.
It does take some rewiring though.

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You'll struggle to make indicators into reverse lights with a duel filament bulb, which rob seems to be suggesting. Or have I misread what he means