2010 LED Reverse Light Installation

[Jared@Lethal]

A customer of ours recently asked me if we had a LED replacement bulb for the 2010 Mustang reverse lights. I was initially under the impression that the entire 2010 tail light assemblies used LED's. However after looking into it a little further it turns out that the 2010 still uses conventional bulbs for the reverse lights. 4 of them total to be exact. I found the proper bulb and went to town on our 2010 GT500. The installation is very simple. It can be done within 10 minutes. The results are even better than what we saw on the earlier models as the new LED look matches the rest of the 2010 tail light assembly. Best of all it seems that since there's already LED bulbs used on the 2010 there's already a resistor installed so the bulbs will not glow at all like previous models without resistors. Simply install the new bulbs and be done.

Below is a step by step installation I did this afternoon. I'll take a few more pics of the car once it gets dark but in person the new bulbs look awesome.

You can purchase these bulbs directly from our website through the link below. You need (2) packs which is (4) bulbs total.

http://www.lethalperformance.com/20...ang-white-led-reverse-lights-set-of-2-p-30729

Please feel free to give us a call if you have any other questions.

Open the trunk of your vehicle and remove the plastic push pins that hold plastic trunk liner to the sheet metal.

Unclip the connector to the light assembly. This will allow you to move the plastic trunk liner away from the wall and give you more space to work with.

Using an 11mm wrench remove the (3) 11mm nuts from the studs that hold the light assembly to the vehicle.

Pull the light assembly away from the vehicle. You'll see (2) white connectors on each side of the vehicle. Those are the connectors that for reverse bulbs. Turn the connector counter clockwise and remove it from the housing.

Pull the conventional bulb out of the socket.

Install the LED bulb in the same fashion that you removed the stock bulb in.

Do this for the (2) white connectors on the drivers side and the (2) white connectors on the passenger side. Now that all of the LED's are installed in place of the stock bulb you're going to want to test them before reinstalling the light housing assembly back to the vehicle. Because LED's are polarity sensitive they must be installed the correct way in order for them to work.


With the key in the ignition turn the key to the on position but do not start the vehicle. Push in the clutch and put the car in reverse. Get out of the vehicle and go to the back of the car to see that all bulbs are working. If one bulb isn't lightning up remove it from the connector, rotate it and then put it back into the connector. The bulb should then light up. After checking that the (4) LED reverse bulbs are lit you can now start reinstalling the light assemblies back onto the vehicle in the same fashion you removed them.

LED (left) vs. Stock (right)

Stock

LED

You're done!

 

[rford426]

Looks awesome!!! anything for 05-09?

 

[me32]

sweet thanks for the write up

 

[ZmanM3]

The 05 mustangs use the same bulb as the 10 GT500's correct?

 

[Jared@Lethal]

Looks awesome!!! anything for 05-09?

The 05 mustangs use the same bulb as the 10 GT500's correct?

Yes the 05-09 GT uses the same bulb for it's reverse light. You only need (2) bulbs. However the 05-09 doesn't have built in resistors like the 2010 does so the bulb will have a faint glow when the car is shut off. No big deal as I ran them on our 08' GT500 for over a year with no issues. It won't drain your battery or cause any negative effects.

Here's a pic of our 08' with them installed. (Same thing. The camera makes them look blue when they are actually white)

STOCK

 

[Hawgman]

So for your '08 you didn't have to add a load resistor to get the bulb to work? On my '05 the bulb didn't draw enough amperage to turn on. I had to put a load on the circuit for the bulb to work. Same with the 4410 replacement for the 211 bulb that is the trunk light. Odd thing is though, I didn't have to do that for the license plate light or the interior lights.

 

[EscapedGreg]

Thanks Jared for the writeup. I'm gonna place an order with you'll.

 

[Jared@Lethal]

Thanks Jared for the writeup. I'm gonna place an order with you'll.

Thanks a bunch. Just a note before you order. On our 2010 Gt500 there was no glow after the car was turned off and we aren't using a resistor. However I've gotten feedback from a few customers that run these bulbs on their V6 and GT models that have experienced the glow after the car was shut off. I'm not sure why that's the case but figured I'd let you know in case you have a GT or V6. The glow will not cause your battery to go dead or damage the car in any way.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

So for your '08 you didn't have to add a load resistor to get the bulb to work? On my '05 the bulb didn't draw enough amperage to turn on. I had to put a load on the circuit for the bulb to work. Same with the 4410 replacement for the 211 bulb that is the trunk light. Odd thing is though, I didn't have to do that for the license plate light or the interior lights.

Hawg,
On the 08' the reverse lights we used functioned properly when the car was turned on and put into reverse however it would emit a very dim glow after the car was shut off. I believe a resistor for each side is needed in order to get rid of the glow. It's the same way when replacing the dome lights. They will glow a tad if a resistor isn't used.

Hope that helps.

Jared

 

[Hawgman]

Hawg,
On the 08' the reverse lights we used functioned properly when the car was turned on and put into reverse however it would emit a very dim glow after the car was shut off. I believe a resistor for each side is needed in order to get rid of the glow. It's the same way when replacing the dome lights. They will glow a tad if a resistor isn't used.

Hope that helps.

Jared

Must be an electrical difference between the year models. My '05 doesn't have the glowing issue. There just wasn't enough amp draw to turn on the bulb. Easy enough fix.. just annoying at first.

What size (ohm and wattage) resistor did you have to use? Like I said before, I just used a small 12v bulb (one of my old interior lights) to reproduce the draw on the circuit. But was considering a resistor instead. Looks like 25ohm or so would be enough, but has to be a pretty high wattage because of draw through it. Anything under 25w burns.

 

[Jared@Lethal]

Must be an electrical difference between the year models. My '05 doesn't have the glowing issue. There just wasn't enough amp draw to turn on the bulb. Easy enough fix.. just annoying at first.

What size (ohm and wattage) resistor did you have to use? Like I said before, I just used a small 12v bulb (one of my old interior lights) to reproduce the draw on the circuit. But was considering a resistor instead. Looks like 25ohm or so would be enough, but has to be a pretty high wattage because of draw through it. Anything under 25w burns.

They're 6 Ohm / 50 Watt resistors.

Hope that helps.

Jared

 

[Hawgman]

Wow! Big (in physical size) resistor! Thanks. That is exactly what I was wanting to know.

 

[Ingwe]

I'm going to go for the white reversing LEDs but I want to replace the actual tail lights on my 07 GT with red LEDs as i've got smoked taillights and i'm concerned they aren't bright enough during the day.

Any idea what bulbs they are and what type of resistor i'd need?