Envoy Tail light Ideas

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
So I currently have tints on my tail lights. I kind of want to change it and unfortunate for us envoy owners we really cannot do much with the tail lights due to only one kind of aftermarket light! Now I saw this picture of the euro lights painted to match the body paint. What do you guys think? Should I paint a pair of euro lights for my truck? Now one reason for me to want to get rid of my tint is because I kind of hate driving and have to worry about cops is all, I have a medium tint and not black dark but still risky! Any help is appreciated!!!

DSC05630Medium.jpg


Here is what my truck looks with the tints and maybe will give a better idea to those so they need to see the color etc
IMG_0444.jpg

IMG_0445.jpg

IMG_0443.jpg

IMG_0448.jpg

IMG_0447.jpg
 

DJones

Member
Jan 21, 2012
701
St. Petersburg, Florida
Some people have put on the Ascender tail lights which are an unique style. Have you considered them?
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
DJones said:
Some people have put on the Ascender tail lights which are an unique style. Have you considered them?

Yes I have considered them and looked at them! They are different but very hard to come buy and expensive when I do! One guy had them for $85 each light which was a bit much for me considering there stock and that I need to buy LEDs etc. not worth it at that price so I passed you know!
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I like your tints better. Not really dark enough to get attention, but enough to smooth out the flow of the truck.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Not a fan of those altezza lights, at all. Actually I've never seen any altezzas that look good, they are always weird or gaudy or something.
 
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Wooluf1952

Member
Nov 20, 2011
2,663
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
You could use the red tint nightshade.
That would look close to the Ascender lights.
 

jrSS

Member
Dec 4, 2011
3,950
ItsOnVoy said:
So I currently have tints on my tail lights. I kind of want to change it and unfortunate for us envoy owners we really cannot do much with the tail lights due to only one kind of aftermarket light! Now I saw this picture of the euro lights painted to match the body paint. What do you guys think? Should I paint a pair of euro lights for my truck? Now one reason for me to want to get rid of my tint is because I kind of hate driving and have to worry about cops is all, I have a medium tint and not black dark but still risky! Any help is appreciated!!!

DSC05630Medium.jpg


Here is what my truck looks with the tints and maybe will give a better idea to those so they need to see the color etc
IMG_0444.jpg

IMG_0445.jpg

IMG_0443.jpg

IMG_0448.jpg

IMG_0447.jpg

Man that truck looks nice!! Clean
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
Wooluf1952 said:
You could use the red tint nightshade.
That would look close to the Ascender lights.

I thought about that but not sure! I like the painted to match the body idea but not sure how I am going to go about it is all! Or if i even do :undecided:
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
Does anyone on here have a fire and ice bar on there truck? I hear they burn out quick and aren't the best...is that true?
 

Cable810

Member
Dec 5, 2011
690
HARDTRAILZ said:
I like your tints better. Not really dark enough to get attention, but enough to smooth out the flow of the truck.

Agreed! Keep the tint I think it will look better!
 

jrSS

Member
Dec 4, 2011
3,950
Personally I like ur tinted tails!! I wanna do mine come round spring time. Dunno if I wanna do the red vht or black vht...euros are fugly.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
ItsOnVoy said:
Does anyone on here have a fire and ice bar on there truck? I hear they burn out quick and aren't the best...is that true?

You just have to make sure the ends are sealed up nice if you get the rigid bar style (like I got) Some moisture got inside the ends, and the 4 red LEDs on either side, have gone out. The reverse lights are fine though. Here's some old pics (pre-Depo tails) I've had mine for 2 years now

100_0159.jpg


100_0157.jpg
 

Short Bus

Member
Dec 2, 2011
1,906
I like your tinted tails better than the altezza lights.

ItsOnVoy said:
Does anyone on here have a fire and ice bar on there truck? I hear they burn out quick and aren't the best...is that true?

Save some money by getting this, If it burns out it's not a big deal because it's < $5

[EBAY]250975883121[/EBAY]

This is the one I have, but he doesn't have them listed now

[EBAY]330658724586[/EBAY]

0131121611.jpg
 

smitty5150

Member
Nov 18, 2011
1,069
I would get some clear coat tinted with your vehicle color. Lay down a coat or two of red, and then a few coats of the tinted clear. That will leave the lights "redded out" when illuminated but body color otherwise. That would be hella good and super sweet:biggrin:
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
silvernclean said:
Smitty...was it u that tore apart headlights and painted them ?

He gave me some good pointers before I did that to mine :yes:
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
Blckshdw said:
You just have to make sure the ends are sealed up nice if you get the rigid bar style (like I got) Some moisture got inside the ends, and the 4 red LEDs on either side, have gone out. The reverse lights are fine though. Here's some old pics (pre-Depo tails) I've had mine for 2 years now

Yeah I would read reviews on how they would burn out within a couple of months and not work well. That might be a reason to that you think? People do not seal the ends?

Short Bus said:
I like your tinted tails better than the altezza lights.



Save some money by getting this, If it burns out it's not a big deal because it's < $5

[EBAY]250975883121[/EBAY]

This is the one I have, but he doesn't have them listed now

[EBAY]330658724586[/EBAY]

0131121611.jpg

Yeah those are wayyyy cheaper!! the fire and ice bar is quite a bit lol where did you hook the wires up to on your truck?

and that hitch cover is sweet!! I wish they made something like that for the envoy!

smitty5150 said:
I would get some clear coat tinted with your vehicle color. Lay down a coat or two of red, and then a few coats of the tinted clear. That will leave the lights "redded out" when illuminated but body color otherwise. That would be hella good and super sweet:biggrin:

wow I never thought of that!! So will it look like body color from a distance and then you see more red as you get closer? The brake lights should be just fine due to the fact that it is clear coat right? Or will that tint of body color affect that?
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
There was sealant in the ends, but I guess it wasn't sealed well enough, cuz when the first LEDs went out, I looked closer and could see a tiny bit of condensation inside the housing. The alternative is to get the flexible silicone strip style like Short Bus has.

Now the big question is, what all functionality do you want to have? :undecided:
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
Blckshdw said:
There was sealant in the ends, but I guess it wasn't sealed well enough, cuz when the first LEDs went out, I looked closer and could see a tiny bit of condensation inside the housing. The alternative is to get the flexible silicone strip style like Short Bus has.

Now the big question is, what all functionality do you want to have? :undecided:

Honestly I just want the brake lights! The reverse and blinkers would have been extra for me! Now how well do those light up while its sunny? Because LED's are not the greatest when it comes to distance :no:
 

Short Bus

Member
Dec 2, 2011
1,906
ItsOnVoy said:
Yeah those are wayyyy cheaper!! the fire and ice bar is quite a bit lol where did you hook the wires up to on your truck?

and that hitch cover is sweet!! I wish they made something like that for the envoy!

:thankyou: I spliced on some speaker wire (even the light gauge speaker wire I used is at least as heavey as the wire lead that the strip comes with) so it would reach the right tail light. I ran the wire through the hole to lower the spare tire and tapped into the brake light and ground wires on the tail light harness.

0319111822.jpg


Blckshdw said:
Now the big question is, what all functionality do you want to have? :undecided:

:iagree: I just wanted to make sure people can see brake lights in the daylight with my tinted tails + I don't like the look of 1/2 the bar/strip flashing for the turn signal. Reverse lights would be nice, but they're not worth the extra money to me.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
They can be seen easily enough from a distance. Mine are on as parking lights in the pic above. They are much brighter when the brakes are applied. The model I bought was the 49" Rampage bar, you can get em for about $35 I think.

[EBAY]140690993301[/EBAY][EBAY]190639172902[/EBAY]
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
Yeah $35 seems to be much better in price! The ones I was running into where like $70-$100 and thats quite a bit that I would not spend lol I would rather buy a new set of tail lights for that money and they would be cheaper too! lol

But the $5 mod with a strip of LED back there is good! Cannot go wrong with it! My only problem is I am currently learning how to wire things (as of before I knew nothing but now I am taking a class that teaches me everything that is part of my major) so if its not plug in play it would be much harder for me to work with it lol so if I end up doing the strip of LED's, can I run the wires to the where the spot is for the hitch? Where you plug in what needs to be plug if your towing anything!
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
That was one of the minor annoyances for my bar. It's got the 4 pin trailer plug, which required an adapter. Since it looked funny down there, I just unhooked the stock trailer plug, and ziptied it up on the frame. Of course, I didn't know a whole lot about wiring back then (I was still a nooblet) so I would redo it and tap into the wiring directly.
 

Short Bus

Member
Dec 2, 2011
1,906
ItsOnVoy said:
Yeah $35 seems to be much better in price! The ones I was running into where like $70-$100 and thats quite a bit that I would not spend lol I would rather buy a new set of tail lights for that money and they would be cheaper too! lol

But the $5 mod with a strip of LED back there is good! Cannot go wrong with it! My only problem is I am currently learning how to wire things (as of before I knew nothing but now I am taking a class that teaches me everything that is part of my major) so if its not plug in play it would be much harder for me to work with it lol so if I end up doing the strip of LED's, can I run the wires to the where the spot is for the hitch? Where you plug in what needs to be plug if your towing anything!

You could run it there, but the wiring will be the same and behind the tail is more out of the weather. Just get a test light and have someone hold the brake so you can find the brake wire. the ground will be the one with no power with the brake pedal pushed in and the 4 ways and running lights on (black IIRC)
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
Perfect got it!! Thanks a lot guys! That does help with your ideas :yes: Just waiting for that 3rd brake light to burn and going to work up that LED avalanche light also :thumbsup: Thanks to Carlton I actually know how to remove the 3rd brake light :rotfl:
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
Actually, I love those tinted Tails. Damn laws lol. Are they any darker at night?
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
03envoy said:
Actually, I love those tinted Tails. Damn laws lol. Are they any darker at night?

Well they seem a lot darker at night yes but the light goes through them really good!!! Even during the day! They are not black dark, but a medium smoke to them you know! But our law states that we can have tint on them as long as you can see red from 500Ft away! So a light tint doesn't hurt the light output that much!
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
ItsOnVoy said:
Well they seem a lot darker at night yes but the light goes through them really good!!! Even during the day! They are not black dark, but a medium smoke to them you know! But our law states that we can have tint on them as long as you can see red from 500Ft away! So a light tint doesn't hurt the light output that much!


So are those technically legal? What did you use on them? I may put the red tint on mine, or go with the crappy chrome Altezza's

There is a guy that I have seen that has a solid black cover over his headlights and tailights, There is no way that was legal but, he hasn't removed them so I think you would be fine, by it's case by case.
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
03envoy said:
So are those technically legal? What did you use on them? I may put the red tint on mine, or go with the crappy chrome Altezza's

There is a guy that I have seen that has a solid black cover over his headlights and tailights, There is no way that was legal but, he hasn't removed them so I think you would be fine, by it's case by case.

technically prob not to be honest!! But (knock on wood) I have had quite a few cops behind me and they didn't do anything about them, and buddy of mine with the window tints got pulled over for window tints and the cop didn't say anything about his tail light tints (same darkness as mine) and he even got pulled over for a tint cover on his license plate but the cop didn't say anything about his tail lights haha now if you want them done, I would go medium or light depending on what you like and you'll be fine!! If you want to be safe you can put LEDs where the brakes are but you wont really need that! I use VHT nite shade and then some clear coat to finish off!

Those covers to me are tooo dark and will pull attention and don't always look good either you know! But DO NOT go with chrome Altezzas lol if anything get black and paint match them like that photo I have above if you really want those ones! Chrome looks really cheap on those tails and I have seen them in person on a green voy and I wanted to throw up lol
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
ItsOnVoy said:
technically prob not to be honest!! But (knock on wood) I have had quite a few cops behind me and they didn't do anything about them, and buddy of mine with the window tints got pulled over for window tints and the cop didn't say anything about his tail light tints (same darkness as mine) and he even got pulled over for a tint cover on his license plate but the cop didn't say anything about his tail lights haha now if you want them done, I would go medium or light depending on what you like and you'll be fine!! If you want to be safe you can put LEDs where the brakes are but you wont really need that! I use VHT nite shade and then some clear coat to finish off!

Those covers to me are tooo dark and will pull attention and don't always look good either you know! But DO NOT go with chrome Altezzas lol if anything get black and paint match them like that photo I have above if you really want those ones! Chrome looks really cheap on those tails and I have seen them in person on a green voy and I wanted to throw up lol



It just sticks cause we don't have any options. I am in the same boat as you..
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
03envoy said:
It just sticks cause we don't have any options. I am in the same boat as you..

Yeah I feel ya man!! I mean we can do the Ascender lights also but those are such a pain to come across!! If you want the tint, you can do a tint film and get like 35% or something and if you get hassled for that then peal them off. Now how great are they when it snows on them no idea lol
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
ItsOnVoy said:
Yeah I feel ya man!! I mean we can do the Ascender lights also but those are such a pain to come across!! If you want the tint, you can do a tint film and get like 35% or something and if you get hassled for that then peal them off. Now how great are they when it snows on them no idea lol


Thats really the only solution we have that looks good lol. And yea, because it won't freaking snow here!!
 

Cable810

Member
Dec 5, 2011
690
Taken from MSP - Traffic Laws FAQs

Question: Is having smoked tail light/brake covers legal in Michigan? How about the smoked ones with slashes or vents in them showing a small part of the original red lens?

Answer: MCL 257.686 requires a tail lamp to emit a red light plainly visible for at least 500 feet to the rear of the vehicle.


MCL 257.697 requires stop lamps to emit a red or amber light and be capable of being seen and distinguished from other lamps for a distance of 100 feet, including during normal daylight.
If the cover you apply prohibits the lamp from meeting these requirements then it is unlawful.


If ya tint make sure your TB/Voy is emmitting light(When on the Brakes) 500 Feet, and just with the Tails on 100 Feet back. Thats how I'm reading and understanding the LAW.
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
03envoy said:
Thats really the only solution we have that looks good lol. And yea, because it won't freaking snow here!!

It snowed just the other day lol we got like a good 2"-3" in Rochester area!

Cable810 said:
Taken from MSP - Traffic Laws FAQs

Question: Is having smoked tail light/brake covers legal in Michigan? How about the smoked ones with slashes or vents in them showing a small part of the original red lens?

Answer: MCL 257.686 requires a tail lamp to emit a red light plainly visible for at least 500 feet to the rear of the vehicle.


MCL 257.697 requires stop lamps to emit a red or amber light and be capable of being seen and distinguished from other lamps for a distance of 100 feet, including during normal daylight.
If the cover you apply prohibits the lamp from meeting these requirements then it is unlawful.


If ya tint make sure your TB/Voy is emmitting light(When on the Brakes) 500 Feet, and just with the Tails on 100 Feet back. Thats how I'm reading and understanding the LAW.

for the 100ft it is saying that a person should know that you are signaling to the right or left and braking at the same time. But 100ft is nothing to be honest!! its the 500ft that can be an issue depending on how the sun hits the lights! I mean people that don't have tints are hard to see them brake sometimes if the sun hits them just right! So its kind of your luck at that point I think!
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
Yea, Here too. But, In Gaylord, Mi where sometimes I stay on the weekends they get that nightly. So its nothin. But, Can you see yours 500ft away? Another isssue is getting in an accident an somebody saying you had tinted tails and they couldn't see them.......
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
03envoy said:
Yea, Here too. But, In Gaylord, Mi where sometimes I stay on the weekends they get that nightly. So its nothin. But, Can you see yours 500ft away? Another isssue is getting in an accident an somebody saying you had tinted tails and they couldn't see them.......

I sure hope they can see them 500ft away haha and if someone rear ends me it will still be there fault!! It will be them not paying attention, or on their phone etc. Honestly idk what the cop will do but I am sure they will ask me to brake and see if they can see them! I should be more then fine! Ill try to grab a picture of them someday from a distance during the sun and cloudy and get them up for ya! Give me a few days or so to do that!
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
ItsOnVoy said:
I sure hope they can see them 500ft away haha and if someone rear ends me it will still be there fault!! It will be them not paying attention, or on their phone etc. Honestly idk what the cop will do but I am sure they will ask me to brake and see if they can see them! I should be more then fine! Ill try to grab a picture of them someday from a distance during the sun and cloudy and get them up for ya! Give me a few days or so to do that!

Alright Thanks Man!
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
Well here are a couple of pictures of the lights with the brakes on, left turn signal and no brakes on a sunny day. Now the lights are usually brighter in person but these give a good idea!

photo3.jpg

photo3-1.jpg

photo2.jpg
 

jrSS

Member
Dec 4, 2011
3,950
ItsOnVoy said:
Well here are a couple of pictures of the lights with the brakes on, left turn signal and no brakes on a sunny day. Now the lights are usually brighter in person but these give a good idea!

photo3.jpg

photo3-1.jpg

photo2.jpg

Little off topic but these look pretty sweet tinted too
6c6500af-ca04-5c8b.jpg
 

ItsOnVoy

Original poster
Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
silvernclean said:
Little off topic but these look pretty sweet tinted too
6c6500af-ca04-5c8b.jpg

I personally have LED's in the corner so not worth for me to tint, plus I like the chrome up there lol flows in with my handles and side views!
 

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