HOW TO: Modify Jamstrait 3157 LED (with pics)

[BrianS]

If you are going to use Jamstrait LED's for the stop lamps in your clear tails you have to modify two of them so they light up properly when braking. The right bulb on both tail lights has to be modified in the following manner. The LED's I used were Jamstrait 3157R Super Bright Red, from Autozone, $16.99 a pair.

1. Straighten all four wires as pictured.
http://users.zoominternet.net/~brian79/images/led1.jpg

2. Now we have to get the LED out of the clear plastic casing. Take a small screwdriver, or something similar, and insert it into one of the six holes in the casing and GENTLY push on the back of the circuit board. I moved around from hole to hole and slowly worked it up and out.
http://users.zoominternet.net/~brian79/images/led2.jpg

3. Now, holding the bulb the same way as in the pictures, cut off the third wire from the left. Then, bend the second wire over to the right then bend it again so that later it will go thru the hole in the casing previously occupied by the wire we removed. Be careful on this step, if you dislocate any of the wires(except for the third), you will be screwed unless you have a soldering iron and you can solder.
http://users.zoominternet.net/~brian79/images/led3.jpg

4. Reinsert the LED back into the casing. Make sure you have it flipped the right way so the little notch on the top of the LED is lined up with the little tab, this is called the KEY. The bent second wire is going to go into the hole where the third wire was previously. Now bend the wires back into place.
http://users.zoominternet.net/~brian79/images/led4.jpg

And there you have it. Now repeat the process for the second LED. The modified LED's go in the right side of each tail light and the unmodified ones go in the left sides. Standing behind the car facing the rear bumper it will look like this....

U, M .......... U, M

(U=unmodified, M=modified)

Make sure each LED is flipped the right way so the KEYS are on the top.

When you have all four LED's seated correctly, all four will be lit up and all four will get brighter when you push the brake. Good luck! :thumbs:

[Jeremy]

Thanks for the How-To. Great detail & pictures. :thumbs:

[RamAirGT]

Does this also apply if you install LED's in your headlights

[Rba007]

No. You can do the 194 led's without any modification, and the 3157's only require a 6 ohm resistor a piece. Its cake.

[PACE]

I always have bought the 3157 HRCK (or something) This bulb has only 3 wires instead of 4. To do these you don't want to take them apart. You can just bend the one pin to the other side diaginal of the socket that does not have a wire...See crappy diagram:

X Y
------
A B


There is no pin in spot X.....You just bend pin B diaginal to its place and your done. This is for the 2 bulbs only

[GTluver]

am i the only one that didnt had to modify anything from my leds to work properly.....and yea they are superbright red Jamstraights from autozone......they work perfectly the first time i put them in.....and lit brighter when i hit the brake...........coolio for me.....

[kong]

gtluver, what kinda car do you have?

[GTluver]

2000 GA GT1

[UNCTYPE-S]

instead of modifying the bulbs, can we just buy load equalizers. we would only need them for the turn signals correct. my buddy just put jamstraits in his corner lenses and they blink fast when the turn signals are on, but when he puts the hazards on they blink normal. the guy who sold us the the jamstraits said that he needs load equalizers to fix the fast blinking problem. can we do this instead of modifying the bulb?

[spink01]

i must be dumb, but where do you connect the 6 ohm resistor on the lights?

[BrianS]

Originally posted by UNC0808
instead of modifying the bulbs, can we just buy load equalizers. we would only need them for the turn signals correct. my buddy just put jamstraits in his corner lenses and they blink fast when the turn signals are on, but when he puts the hazards on they blink normal. the guy who sold us the the jamstraits said that he needs load equalizers to fix the fast blinking problem. can we do this instead of modifying the bulb?

Originally posted by spink01
i must be dumb, but where do you connect the 6 ohm resistor on the lights?

These instructions are for the stop lamps only. I'm not sure what is involved with using LED's in the turn signals.

[spink01]

I found out how to do it
just read icemans faq on the top of the forum for all show
it has how to put an led in every bulb socket

[gthirty6ptime]

will this work on a 92 ga gt?

[BrianS]

Originally posted by gthirty6ptime
will this work on a 92 ga gt?

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the 92 circuitry.

[CruzinGT33]

Umm.... my jamstrait doesn't have the same Circuitry... whats up?

[GTluver]

Originally posted by CruzinGT33
Umm.... my jamstrait doesn't have the same Circuitry... whats up?

maybe its not a jamstrait :confused:

[GTluver]

EDIT: to my post in here saying that i didnt have to modify mine cuz they were fine....im wrong, my uncle looked at my ass( i was backing up) lol and he noticed that 2 of my led bulbs wouldnt get brighter when i pressed the brake........BUT......its not the right ones like everyones........it was the left on both tails.......so i go ahead and modified them as the instructions here, but something musta been wrong or i dunno.......cuz now they lit up but as soon as i press the brake pedal, the will turn off wtf (only the modified ones)......
also: can anyone explain a little bit more about this "keying" thing.....cuz i just put the bulbs in and at first, they didnt lit up so i flipped it over, and as soon as i inserted, one got fried( the individual leds started burning) now im ****ed cuz i gotta get a new set of 2 leds and they arent cheap....to top it off, none of the 4 autozones i visited around here have them so i gotta order them online.......grrrrrrrr :rage:

sorry for long post

[RedGT2004]

I bought 4 jamstrait bulbs today for my tail lights and they didnt had the resistor in the leads like gimli.
I just plug all four without modifying them and they worked perfectly they get brighter when I brake.

[GTluver]

u sure all 4 light up brighter when u hit the brakes? cuz thats what i thought at first......until i had someone check my tails and me braking ....thats when i realize 2 of em ddint worked right :(

[RedGT2004]

GTluver yes all four bulbs get brighter when I brake. It might because these bulbs are the new style and they dont have resistors on the leads like the old ones. I just plug them in and checked if all four lit up and they did. I even check it by covering halve of the tail light with a towel and checking if each bulb in the housing got brighter and all four did.

[GTluver]

update: i bought 2 new jamstraits cuz i messed up my old one trying to mod them...........but......as i installed them.......my driver side tail worked perfedtly..........but on the passenger side......the inner bulb (led) wont get brighter when i hit the brakes........so i wonder if i still have to modify it like the instructions on here say........

[HoTtGTgIrL04]

Well I have clear tailz.....and they light up fine.....but ever since i got in my car accident......my right tail light....is all messed up.....You know how you have 2 led bulbs...1.for regular use and the 2nd is used when u apply the break....well the ones on the outside are supposed to be lite up all the time...but my right one is lite up on the inside....do u get what im saying??? So the bulbs are like swiched in a way.....I have no clue how to fix it?!!

[Rba007]

They should both light up, and both light up brighter when the brake is applied. Thats the point of doing this modification. If you dont modify the LED's, only one will light per side when pushing the brake pedal.

Im thinking youre saying that only one LED on each tail light is lit up all the time? Well, thats definitely not normal, read this thread through and do the mod and your problems should be taken care of...

[BLKSHDW]

okay, so on the left side tail, i have to modify the bulb closest to the trunk lid, and on the right side tail, i have to modify the outer most bulb and ya'll saying that all 4 lights will get brighter when i hit the brakes but what about the turn signal bulbs just below the bulbs closest to the trunk lid for the rear signals, and in terms of the front turn signals i don't need to do any modification what-so-ever, do i have this right

[iceman]

http://www.grandamgt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15109

http://iceman.draepi.org/banghead.gifhttp://iceman.draepi.org/banghead.gifhttp://iceman.draepi.org/banghead.gifhttp://iceman.draepi.org/banghead.gif

[BLKSHDW]

Originally posted by iceman
http://www.grandamgt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15109

http://iceman.draepi.org/banghead.gifhttp://iceman.draepi.org/banghead.gifhttp://iceman.draepi.org/banghead.gifhttp://iceman.draepi.org/banghead.gif

no i was just asking if i had that right, i read the thread that you listed and that is how i underrstood it.... is that right or wrong the way i described it

[iceman]

All the info is in that thread. So if what you said is what is in that thread, that's right. If not, that's wrong.

[BLKSHDW]

Originally posted by iceman
All the info is in that thread. So if what you said is what is in that thread, that's right. If not, that's wrong.

okay but what you were saying in that thread was to cut into and splice wires and crap, in this thread all they are talking about is modifying the bulb or do i have to do both anyway...?

[iceman]

Is this some sort of joke?

The info is in the very first post of this thread, and the one I linked is a summary of details & explanations.

[BLKSHDW]

no it's not a joke, stop being an @$$hole about it, i am just trying to understand, so do i have to do both mods for this to work...!

[iceman]

I'm not trying to be an ass, but all the information is here, and everyone took the time to write it up, you need to take the time to read it. And I answered your question, what else you wanna know?

[BLKSHDW]

do i have to do both? that all!!! sorry, i am just haveing a bad day i apologize

[Nikki]

Originally posted by iceman
what else you wanna know?

Seth...he's from Michigan, doesn't that explain it?! :D :p

Andy, PM me again and ask me, I'll see if I can help you, more.

[chrome99]

I just was wondering why the turn signal bulb flashes faster when I installed my Jamstrait?

[BLKSHDW]

if you didn't modify the bulbs then it is going to do that until you do, go through this thread and it will explain it all, i am going to be doing this mod myself here but not for a little while...

[BMoney]

com com com
Whats up everyone well its my first post soo here it goes. Two days ago i cleared out my tails thanks to help from a previous forum but when i tried following BrianS's directions on how to mod the 3157 it did not work. I have a 95 GAGT soo my guess is that the circuitry and wiring is completely different that the 99 and up GAGT's the 3057 bulb is on order and i will let you guys know if it works peace

BMoney

[BLKSHDW]

probably, that wouldn't surprise me in the least

[Kodeblue]

This might be a stupid question, but why are people changing to LED's for tails? Are they that much brighter? If so, great, I will also follow suit and do this mod.


Also, where is a good place to order these bulbs on-line? If anybody from Canada, like Gimli, knows a place we can get them here, let me know.


Thanks

[Jagey]

Originally posted by silverbullet00
This might be a stupid question, but why are people changing to LED's for tails? Are they that much brighter? If so, great, I will also follow suit and do this mod.


Also, where is a good place to order these bulbs on-line? If anybody from Canada, like Gimli, knows a place we can get them here, let me know.


Thanks

They are basically for people who have cleared their tails, because LED's just look better. They also burn out much less frequently than the other bulbs

You can get them from www.driverfx.ca (supplier for canadian tire and partsource)

[Gimli]

LED replacement bulbs are actually much harder to see than regular bulbs in broad daylight. They do look a lot better though.

I always get mine from http://www.myroadster.net

They're in the U.S. but they're cheap and they ship USPS so you don't get hammered by the insane UPS brokerage fees.

[RamAirGT22]

What if your LED's don't have resistors like that???

[RamAirGT22]

Figured it out..nevermind

[redramair01]

I didnt have to modify mine, they were just plug and play and they all work. I had a tech at work look at them while I was pressing the brake pedal and turning the park lights on while pressing the brake pedal and all of them was lighting up.

[RamAirGT22]

I tried unmodified and modifed and only the modifed woulf work. To anyone who does this and buys the "newer" Jamstraits they do not have the same resistors as the pics. The resistors are on the circuit board. If you see the big resistor that is running perpindiclar(sp?) to the leads make sure that is facing you and then continue as follows.

[Ibanezrp07]

hey , like gthirty6ptime asked, will this owrk for our GAGT era?

[Ibanezrp07]

like gthirty6ptime asked, wil this work for our era? 92-95 Ga Gt

[rickhigginshtbr]

Update for this old thread... Jamstraight just put out a new version of the 3157... I went to modiefy one today and broke it, so I ran over to autozone to grab a new set. Popped them in and worked great AND the way they're supposed to. When seeing if they're the new or old (i just got old ones a month ago), read the back. The first sentance should read "blah blah exclusive Non-Polarized intergrated dual element..." and the last sentance in the next paragraph should read "blah blah Non Polarized blah blah blah Ford, Dodge, Chevy, blah, either way you plug them in"

So, hopefully, no one will have to modify these from now on.