How To: Make the trunk-mounted taillights function as brake lights

[sciphi]

For those of you who have more skills at wiring/electronics than I do (I can cobble a basic headlight harness and that's about it), what would it take to make the trunk-mounted taillights function as brake lights? We already have a dual-filament bulb in that location, same as the quarter-panel-mounted brake lights. I'd love to have additional brake lights with all the distracted drivers on the roads these days.

[Ru5ty]

during the day i dont think that the licence plate light will have any effect considering that they are pointing down and are not pointed towards the car behind you, during the night they will be visible but then again they would be off when your foot is not on the brake, which means you could potentialy get a ticket because the police would not be abel to see your licence plate.

[4piecekit]

No, I believe sciphi s talking about the portion of our tail lights that are on the trunk lid. If you notice as you're backed up in front of a window, these lights aren't used as brake lights. I think it'd be a great feature to have with all the crazies driving around here. Each day I drive in rush hour is an experience.

[spacedout]

also seems to be a large amount of cruzes getting rear ended, more lights might help with that.

[sciphi]

during the day i dont think that the licence plate light will have any effect considering that they are pointing down and are not pointed towards the car behind you, during the night they will be visible but then again they would be off when your foot is not on the brake, which means you could potentialy get a ticket because the police would not be abel to see your licence plate.

Not the license plate lights in the chrome trunk garnish, the red taillights immediately left and right of the chrome garnish. Those could conceivably be used as additional brake lights. They already have a dual-filament bulb in place.

Time to check other forums and see how they've done it. This is an old trick on some boards, but new to the N. American Cruze.

[Ru5ty]

oh sorry i did not understand. im excited to see the results!

[70AARCUDA]

It would only take one additional wire, but it'd (obviously) have to be routed forward along the side of the trunk up to where the trunk hinge is and then back to the trunk-mounted LAMP on one side and then across to the other LAMP on the other side of the trunk. Of course, this assumes the lamp sockets are already wired to "accept" this additional wire (push-on, solder, etc.).

Ask ER for details.

[sciphi]

Courtesy of ElantraClub dot com and the great folks over there who helped direct me to it, here is a writeup on the same thing done on the XD Elantra hatchback: DIY Project 88

That's my inspiration. Given how our CHMSL (3rd/center brake light) is LED and shouldn't draw that much power, running two additional bulbs off it shouldn't be that big an issue. Well, at least to me.

I'll have to yank off the trunk covering tomorrow and see if the bulb sockets already have the necessary socket.

[Aussie]

Just checked my Holden CDX Diesel and while the globes have 2 elements they are only tail lights.

[JHC828]

I would also be very interested in doing this... Subscribing for the how-to write up.