Jeep Cheap Cherokee Build

RockMonkey said:
How 'bout that image? Not having to be bright/dim is what I needed to know. So, any idea how I can wire it so it blinks when the parking lights and turn signals are both on?
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If your using LEDs you could use a resistor in-line with the park wire to the light which would make it dimmer during park use, and wire it straight from the brake/turn wire so it gets brighter during brake/turn use. If you ever get the chance to take apart a dual brightness led that is how they do it, with a resistor.

or you could just find some dual "element" leds and wire it normally.

or you could just run mutiple marker/tail lights 2 each side and use one as a park light and the other as a brake/turn light.

btw I was a six states recently and they had a bunch of cool led lights if I was doing some again I would go there as well as fleetlite and check out what they have to offer in a dual elemnet led.

also I can't remember on an XJ if the turn signals are part of the brake light or a separate amber unit, if they are separate you can consolidate them down to one by using a trailer wire harness converter so instead of having three lights (park,brake, and turn), you just have two, (Park and Brake/Turn)
 
For now I'm working on the front. I *think* I'm going to leave the tail lights stock, but that might change when I start reworking the back end. I looked at Six States, and they do have a bunch of cool LEDs, but no dual-element LEDs that I could find. That idea of an inline resistor on the parking light lead is good. That just might do the trick! I have four holes in the bumper I could use for park and turn signals, but I really want to use the outer two holes for auxiliary/fog lights. I haven't tried Fleetlite, I'll give them a shot. Thanks!
 
Nice,looks good! How far away are you from taking it out? Let me know, I'd like to be there. Oh and my wife blames those " Kemp brothers " for my Jeeps.:rofl:
 
Braden, I bought those exact lights when I was going to flat fender the LTJ. I still have them and was going to use them on the buggy, but didn't know how to wire for the park/turn either. Now I'm thinking of going with the stock 53 turn signal assemblies and fitting an updated pigtail with an LED light in there.
 
JoeT said:
Nice,looks good! How far away are you from taking it out? Let me know, I'd like to be there. Oh and my wife blames those " Kemp brothers " for my Jeeps.:rofl:
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Those damn Kemp brothers... :squint:

I'm planning a Moab trip in Spetember sometime with my dad. Should be a nice mild trip to work the bugs out. I'll let you know when I have more details!
 
Bart said:
Braden, I bought those exact lights when I was going to flat fender the LTJ. I still have them and was going to use them on the buggy, but didn't know how to wire for the park/turn either. Now I'm thinking of going with the stock 53 turn signal assemblies and fitting an updated pigtail with an LED light in there.
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I just got a pair of the 2.5" amber LEDs from Fleetlite. I'm going to try wiring a resistor on the parking light lead and see if I can dim the parking light enough to make the full-strength turn signals stand out. I really like that idea. So, can anyone give me an idea of what kind of resistor I need? I know zero about resistors. I presume their rated in ohms, and built for specific voltages? So do I need to look for a 12 volt resistor that is a certain number of ohms? What's a good starting point?
 
Through sheer trial and error I found a resistor that worked great. I wired it into the positive lead, and it worked great on the bench. It was just about the perfect brightness for parking lights, then when I added 12v to the direct lead it brightened up for the turn signals. Worked prefectly. Then I wired it into the wiring harness on the Jeep, and it stopped working. In fact, now the turn signal on that side doesn't even work with the LED disconnected. I'm not sure what happened. I might have fried a relay or the flasher or something.
 
You are gonna need to diode isolate both power leads from each other before the light so they do not back-feed the circuits...

The signal not working is probably because it isn't plugged in... the flasher has to see a load on it (light bulb, or resistors and LED's) to function, so I doubt that anything is damaged... just needs a few diodes.

Also, most diodes will lower the input voltage by approx 1 volt on a 12 volt system.... but that probably won't affect anything.
 
bryson said:
You are gonna need to diode isolate both power leads from each other before the light so they do not back-feed the circuits...

The signal not working is probably because it isn't plugged in... the flasher has to see a load on it (light bulb, or resistors and LED's) to function, so I doubt that anything is damaged... just needs a few diodes.

Also, most diodes will lower the input voltage by approx 1 volt on a 12 volt system.... but that probably won't affect anything.
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One way valves for electrons! Brilliant! I'm guessing diodes only word with DC current? So I would wire the park light wire like this: vehicle wiring harness - resistor - diode - splice into light positive lead. Then I would wire the turn signal wire like this: vehicle wiring harness - diode - splice into light positive lead. Right? Any suggestion on what diodes to use?
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=diode&origkw=diode&sr=1
 
RockMonkey said:
One way valves for electrons! Brilliant! I'm guessing diodes only word with DC current? So I would wire the park light wire like this: vehicle wiring harness - resistor - diode - splice into light positive lead. Then I would wire the turn signal wire like this: vehicle wiring harness - diode - splice into light positive lead. Right? Any suggestion on what diodes to use?
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=diode&origkw=diode&sr=1
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Right...although it won't matter which side of the diode you put the resistor on.

These ones should work just fine...
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...&sr=1&origkw=diode&kw=diode&parentPage=search
 
RockMonkey said:
One way valves for electrons! Brilliant! I'm guessing diodes only word with DC current? So I would wire the park light wire like this: vehicle wiring harness - resistor - diode - splice into light positive lead. Then I would wire the turn signal wire like this: vehicle wiring harness - diode - splice into light positive lead. Right? Any suggestion on what diodes to use?
Click to expand...

I want pics of this when you're finished. Sounds like a great way to go.
 
RockMonkey said:
I'm guessing diodes only word with DC current?
Click to expand...

You can use diodes on AC voltage but it won't stay AC, it will change it to DC.

So if you are wanting to convert an AC voltage to a DC voltage you would use a set of diodes, or a bridge rectifier... Every Automotive alternator has diodes in it to give you the DC voltage. Most alternators that I've seen go bad were because the bridge rectifier (diodes) were burned up.
 
Is there any issue with putting heat-shrink tubing over the diodes and risistors? I let the parking light run for several minutes through the resistor to see if it built up any heat and it did not. I wouldn't expect the diodes to build any more heat than the resistors. Am I wrong?
 
Thanks Suisuki and Bryson! The resistor worked perfectly once I trial and errored my way to the right one, and the diodes were exactly the item needed to make it work! I'll post a how-to in a new thread with details.

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Progress has been painfully slow. I plated the bottom of the frame directly behind the bumper, to make a place strong enough for a track bar mount. I did the passenger side too, just to make in consistent. I also made the track bar bracket.

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