hairba11
New member
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- st. louis (high ridge)
didn't know if this was the best place to start this or not, Mods can move it if needed.
getting tired of changing headlights in the m-818, and didn't want to spend $$$ on production LED headlights so i decided to try making my own.
First step was cutting the back off one of the burnt out headlights.
I used duct tape and taped it into a 6" plumbing cap to hold it level,
then duct taped a couple of pieces of 2x4 under the angle grinder to get it the right height.
using an 1/8" cutoff wheel I was able to cut the reflector away from the lens.
it took a little work to clean up the edges. I was wearing gloves, and a dust mask, and goggles, and a full face shield to try and keep glass dust away.
the edge that was left was roughly 6" in diameter.
I used a compass with two sharp ends to scratch a 6" circle on some 1/4" plexiglass.
Putting a jigsaw upside down in the bench vise allowed me to control the material with both hands and get a fairly accurate circle cut.
Using a rotary table and a tilt bed in the drill press I got to drilling a bunch of holes.
figuring that LED's have about a 20* viewing angle, and that headlight beams are closer to 30-35*, i drilled the first row around the outside with a 10* angle, and 10* separation on the rotary table. the next row was 5* angle, the third row will be the high beams, and they have a 7.5* angle to them. fourth row is a 2.5* angle, and the rest are flat.
when I got done I had swiss cheesed the piece of plexi.
I had already ordered a bunch of LED's and resistors off the bay, and I started installing them with Shoe Goo.
using an online LED calculator, and figuring on a max voltage of 27, I am putting a series of 7 LED and a 180 Ohm 1/2 Watt resistor together. These 7 LED strings will hopefully hold up through any voltage spikes, the truck normally runs at about 25.5v to 26v.
a little more done
Here's an idea of what it will kinda look like when I get done.
Now I'm just out of LED's and waiting for more to come in so I can finish up this light.
Then I have the joy of doing it all over again for the second if it works the way i'm hoping.
Thanks.
getting tired of changing headlights in the m-818, and didn't want to spend $$$ on production LED headlights so i decided to try making my own.
First step was cutting the back off one of the burnt out headlights.
I used duct tape and taped it into a 6" plumbing cap to hold it level,
then duct taped a couple of pieces of 2x4 under the angle grinder to get it the right height.
using an 1/8" cutoff wheel I was able to cut the reflector away from the lens.
it took a little work to clean up the edges. I was wearing gloves, and a dust mask, and goggles, and a full face shield to try and keep glass dust away.
the edge that was left was roughly 6" in diameter.
I used a compass with two sharp ends to scratch a 6" circle on some 1/4" plexiglass.
Putting a jigsaw upside down in the bench vise allowed me to control the material with both hands and get a fairly accurate circle cut.
Using a rotary table and a tilt bed in the drill press I got to drilling a bunch of holes.
figuring that LED's have about a 20* viewing angle, and that headlight beams are closer to 30-35*, i drilled the first row around the outside with a 10* angle, and 10* separation on the rotary table. the next row was 5* angle, the third row will be the high beams, and they have a 7.5* angle to them. fourth row is a 2.5* angle, and the rest are flat.
when I got done I had swiss cheesed the piece of plexi.
I had already ordered a bunch of LED's and resistors off the bay, and I started installing them with Shoe Goo.
using an online LED calculator, and figuring on a max voltage of 27, I am putting a series of 7 LED and a 180 Ohm 1/2 Watt resistor together. These 7 LED strings will hopefully hold up through any voltage spikes, the truck normally runs at about 25.5v to 26v.
a little more done
Here's an idea of what it will kinda look like when I get done.
Now I'm just out of LED's and waiting for more to come in so I can finish up this light.
Then I have the joy of doing it all over again for the second if it works the way i'm hoping.
Thanks.