L.R.S.
Well-known member
- May 5, 2021
- 1,672
- 2,369
Been several years since I've done a tech thread here. Figured I'd start with something simple and see how it goes...
My 2006 LLY 2500HD Duramax has 450k miles on it and I have just now decided to upgrade my reverse lights. I installed some LED bulbs a few years ago and they were brighter, but not by much. My son and I did this same mod on his truck a few weeks ago and it was so simple I decided to do mine today. I order a set of lights on Amazon for around $25.
$25 Amazon flush mounts LED's
The kit comes with templates which are really helpful.
I used a magnet to hold them on place while I found a fairly flat spot on my bumper. Then I checked behind the bumper to make sure there wasn't a bracket or anything in the way of mounting. It would suck to cut the hole and find a bracket back there. I traced it with a Sharpie and started cutting.
I used a 3" cut-off wheel. No need to drill the corners to make them perfect to the template, it's just a bumper, and the housing on the light will cover the cuts.
I had to open up the right side hole a little to get the LED to fit.
I crimped a ring terminal onto the ground wire (easier to do on the bench) and added about 24" of wire for the power lead.
Two screws to unbolt the brake light. I knew the wire for the Reverse lights is the green one because of doing my sons truck a few weeks ago. I wired the new LED's directly to the reverse lights so they will come on with the factory reverse lights. I didn't see a need to put a switch on the dash to turn them on manually, just want them for backing into my driveway.
Yes I used a crimp on connector. Why? Cause it's simple and it works.
And then I realized I had the wire on the wrong side of the tailgate cable. Fortunately GM makes the cables easy to remove so I could fix my mistake.
Not very impressive in the daylight but believe me these are effing bright! Overall this was a really simple upgrade and only cost me $25 and about an hour. Should have done it years ago.
My 2006 LLY 2500HD Duramax has 450k miles on it and I have just now decided to upgrade my reverse lights. I installed some LED bulbs a few years ago and they were brighter, but not by much. My son and I did this same mod on his truck a few weeks ago and it was so simple I decided to do mine today. I order a set of lights on Amazon for around $25.
$25 Amazon flush mounts LED's
The kit comes with templates which are really helpful.
I used a magnet to hold them on place while I found a fairly flat spot on my bumper. Then I checked behind the bumper to make sure there wasn't a bracket or anything in the way of mounting. It would suck to cut the hole and find a bracket back there. I traced it with a Sharpie and started cutting.
I used a 3" cut-off wheel. No need to drill the corners to make them perfect to the template, it's just a bumper, and the housing on the light will cover the cuts.
I had to open up the right side hole a little to get the LED to fit.
I crimped a ring terminal onto the ground wire (easier to do on the bench) and added about 24" of wire for the power lead.
Two screws to unbolt the brake light. I knew the wire for the Reverse lights is the green one because of doing my sons truck a few weeks ago. I wired the new LED's directly to the reverse lights so they will come on with the factory reverse lights. I didn't see a need to put a switch on the dash to turn them on manually, just want them for backing into my driveway.
Yes I used a crimp on connector. Why? Cause it's simple and it works.
And then I realized I had the wire on the wrong side of the tailgate cable. Fortunately GM makes the cables easy to remove so I could fix my mistake.
Not very impressive in the daylight but believe me these are effing bright! Overall this was a really simple upgrade and only cost me $25 and about an hour. Should have done it years ago.
