Mike's DIY "Raptor Style" LED Mod Thread

Hey guys, figured I would make a DIY for the "Raptor Style" amber LED's. A lot of people like me who don't have much electrical experience may be intimidated by this mod, but it's actually pretty easy (if I can do it you can!). Thanks a lot to RowdyRon and 15TRDPRO for providing some great info that made it really easy for me to tackle this project. I will share what I learned from them, as well as some suggestions from others. The way I set it up was to run ONLY when my headlights are on and that's how it will work with this DIY. There are other methods to doing this if you want it set up another way.

Here is a link for the LED's:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-wired-bolts/miniature-led-license-plate-bolt/1685/


Step 1. Gather all of your supplies (look and see what you have and make one trip to AutoZone instead of 3)

You will need: 18 gauge red wire, 18 gauge black wire, (4) 18-22 gauge butt connectors, (1) 14-16 gauge butt connector, (1) 14-16 gauge ring terminal connector, (1) small bolt and nut for ground, electrical tape, zip ties, (3) M6-1.0 size nuts, (1) low-profile mini add-a-circuit, (1) 5 amp fuse, (3) LED lights.




Step 2. Prep your LED's (remove the crappy spacer and put nut they give you back on snug as a spacer).




Step 3. Prep your wire. Cut two 12" pieces of red wire and two 12" pieces of black wire. Add 18-22 gauge butt connectors to each of these pieces of wires that you cut. These will be crimped on later to the left and right side LED wires in order to extend them to meet up in the middle.




Step 4. Take off your hood bulge. (3) 10mm bolts and the rest are clips. Just pull slowly in different areas until you get one to pop out then the rest are easy. I like to tape it so I don't scratch anything. There are already 3 holes that we are going to use to install the LED's. The middle one has a metal plate just above it.




Step 5. Drill a hole through the small metal cover in the way of the middle hole big enough for the LED to fit through (easier to make it slightly bigger that way you have some wiggle room trying to get the nut on this one because its a pain in the ass).




Step 6. Mount all of your LED's in the position you want them and tighten up the nuts to secure them on.




Step 7. Add your 18 gauge positive and negative extensions on the side LED's and route them through the back towards the middle (you can zip tie them in place if you want). Add some electrical tape on the connections to make it look better.




Step 8. Twist the ends of the two 18 gauge positive wires with the positive wire from the middle LED and crimp on your 14-16 gauge butt connector. Twist the ends of the two 18 gauge negative wires that you added to the side LED's with the negative wire from the middle LED. Crimp these on to your 14-16 gauge ring terminal connector. Zip tie wires down wherever there is extra wire and mount your ground bolt and nut. I drilled a hole through the metal support bracket behind the hood bulge and came through from the back with the bolt to make it easier to mount (tried a self tapping screw here first and it seemed loose).




Step 9. Run more 18 gauge positive wire from your battery area up through the small hole towards the right inside the hood bulge area. Bring it towards the middle where your positive wires meet up and crimp it to the 14-16 gauge butt connector that has your 3 positive wires on the other end.




Step 10. Run the other end of your positive wire that we left towards the battery down to the shock that opens the hood. Zip tie your wire securely to the bottom portion of the shock cover that moves up and down when your hood opens and closes. Cut the wire to where it will sit about an inch below the cover to your under hood fuse box.




Step 11. Connect your low profile mini add-a-circuit to the other end of the positive wire. Take out the fuse for either one of your low beam headlights (there is one for left high beam, one for right high beam, one for left low beam, one for right low beam, all in the same area just look underneath your fusebox cover). After you take out the existing 15 amp fuse put it in the front of your add-a-circuit and put the 5 amp fuse that you have in the back of the add-a-circuit (the 5 amp fuse should line up with the positive wire that comes off the add-a-circuit).




Step 12. Using a razor, notch a small hole on top of the right side of the fuse box that way your wire will fit down in it flush with the rest of it. Put the top back on your fuse box, and reinstall your hood bulge and your good to go!

(Refer to previous picture, you can see the notch just to the left of the wire)


Step 13. Enjoy the finished product. Looks pretty good IMO, my truck still needs to be leveled out so they may look slightly different (probably better) if you have a lift.

 

Nice DIY

 

Thanks guys, just updated with the rest of the pictures that were missing.

 

How long did this take?

 

Took me about an hour and 45 minutes, but It can definitely be done much faster.

 

Good thought there Ron. Gonna see how long these lights last and use something similar next time if necessary. Also considering making a modification later on and extending it into the cab like you guys and tapping into one of the fuses inside the truck that way I can have them on with just the amber DRL's or with the headlights. Think I would like that first thing in the morning and on the way home from work when headlights aren't quite necessary. I originally wanted them on all the time, but I'd rather them last as long as possible as I do a lot of daytime driving for work.

 

Thanks for the right up!!! I did it in about 1.5 hours. I managed to get the power wire through the hood but it took some work.

 

I wish I was home and had time to do some mod's, been on the road too much lately. Anyhow, looking good!

 

Looks great man! Glad to help! May have to run the wire like you have it once I get a tool to do it with.

 

I had to run it down from the top first and it made it half way, I pulled it through half way and folded the wire in half and then restarted to feed it the rest of the way to the bottom if that makes any sense lol. Took about 25 minutes just for that wire. I used a chop stick style method to snag the wire through the hole.

 

Well heres my first night shot debut lol

 

Definitely helps, thanks Ron! Was searching through my garage trying to find something that would work, never thought to try some stiff cable! Will have to give it a go soon.

 

Did anybody find a fuse in the under hood fuse box that will keep the lights on when the truck is running without having the headlights or parking lights on?

 

Your gonna have to do a few tests. Get all the stuff you need and run your wiring and try some of the ones that Ron mentioned. Although the headlights are labeled as accessory key powered, they only come on when you turn that item on. I'm thinking some things automatically come on like the IGN or INJ or EFI and will enable the lights to come on all the time when the truck is on. It's easy to test which ones work whenever you have everything wired up. I originally wanted them on all the time as well, but after thinking about it I would rather get the maximum life out of the LED's (I do A LOT of daytime driving for work), so I made them only come on with the headlights.

I think the best option for these lights is to run them into the cab (which I plan on doing soon and updating this thread) and tap into the "TAIL" fuse. Doing it like this will enable them to be on anytime your taillights are on, which IMO is better than the headlights because when headlights aren't quite needed you can have them on with just your DRL's and your tails. Good luck and post your findings in here if you try out some of the other accessory key powered ones!

 

I appreciate everyones input. I did try some under the hood but didn't have time to try them all. All of the empty slots had power all the time. I will try the IGN fuse when I get a chance. I'll let everyone know how I make out.

I don't mind if they will be on all the time (when the truck is running), I figured as cheap as they are I would just replace them if they burn out.

And RowdyRon thank you for the "God bless our Veterans past, present, and future. All gave some, some gave all." I'm still proudly serving Thanks to all who have served.

 

No problem man, the IGN fuse will be your best bet for what you want. Thanks for your service!

 

Success! Got it done last night. Works how I want it to. Running the wire through the hood was easy (or lucky), I started at the hole by the hinge and ran my fish tape towards the front from there. Got it on the second try.

Thanks for all the help!

 

Hmm Tundra lights or Raptor lights. I like Tundra lights.

 

No its my buddies 2014 with raptor installed light bar

 

So its a 2014 ford with raptor lights added? Our trucks look WAY better IMO. Those lights are too close together on that one, not to mention in the dark pic it looks like an older chevy instead of a new ford.

 

I will be sure to tell him that lol

 

So everyone has used the same lights?

 

I guess I have just not seen many raptors at night lol could have sworn the lights were further apart though. Did he do a mod similar to ours or did he get the ones that actually come on the raptors? Think it was just the lighting in the pic plus viewing it on my cell phone that made it look more square like an older chevy. Looks more like a Ford now that I'm on a computer, but the lights still look like they are really close together.

 

Me too

 

He said it was the raptor bracket but yes they are closer together than the raptor, I believe
the raptor is wider and allows more separation