[3hondas3]

I am looking to improve the rear side visibility of my CRV on dark nights and was wondering if anyone knew if LED or illuminated rear reflectors for the 2018 CRV exist.



Looking for a source to buy. Amazon has currently sells such an item for the 2012 - 2014 CRV, but I have been unable to find anything for later models.
https://www.amazon.com/iJDMTOY-LED-Bumper-Reflector-Insight/dp/B008DILDTS

Thanks.

 

[mrtn]

There's fog lights there in European variants. See if the shape matches, then you could order a pair of those.

 

[kloker]

You might contact that company (iJDMTOY) and ask them. This looks like a good safety accessory!

 

[3hondas3]

I think I've given up on this idea. The few I found were either too funky looking for my tastes, or super expensive (i.e.: $159). But more importantly, I simply could not reach the reflector by hand to remove it as the tail pipe muffler obstructs access on each side. Looks like you have to remove the whole rear bumper to get at the reflectors, and I'm not up to that much work.

 

[newbie99]

One can simply buy/install 2 x 2.5" LED lights, install under the rear bumper and connect to one of the rear factory lights via 3 Amp inline fuse. Being LED, they consume very little watts. re: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/c2sAAOSwUqVb23rj/s-l1600.jpg

If wondering, I did this to my wife's CRV and it works great. IMO, this should be factory build.

 

[williamsji]

I think I've given up on this idea. The few I found were either too funky looking for my tastes, or super expensive (i.e.: $159). But more importantly, I simply could not reach the reflector by hand to remove it as the tail pipe muffler obstructs access on each side. Looks like you have to remove the whole rear bumper to get at the reflectors, and I'm not up to that much work.

Not really much point in putting lights in there to begin with in my view. Why? Because those are designed precisely to be reflectors of headlights behind you.. and when headlights from a car behind you hit them.. they really really do flash bright reflections back at the vehicle behind you. In other words.. working as intended.

You certainly have plenty of taillight on the gen5 CRV, at driving eye level, as to not go unnoticed when your lights are on or you hit your brakes.

 

[3hondas3]

Thanks guys.

I've thought of that too and may yet try that newbie99. We drove home on the interstate at midnight over the weekend, and I inspected the rear end of just about every vehicle that passed me to see how visible they looked from behind. I don't' think much light is needed to make a noticeable improvement.

williamsji you may be right about the CRV given the brightness of the existing taillights. It may not be necessary. I have a Pilot as well and came up fast on a slow and poorly lit car in a rainstorm a couple of weeks ago. I had to brake hard to avoid rear ending him. It was one of those irritating light, but constant rains where trucks and vehicles threw off a fog like mist making visibility bad, even at 10 AM in the morning. It got me to wondering just how visible I am to cars behind me in those conditions. My Pilot tail lights are not as bright or plentiful as the CRV, and it is bigger and dark colored vehicle too. So I am going to add an extra tail & brake light to the rear bumper on the Pilot this week. Parts are already on order. I may revisit the CRV once I'm done with that job and see how it looks.

 

[newbie99]

To view the extra rear lighting I installed on my wife's 2014 CRV rear, see attachments.

re: 2 x 2.5" LEDs screwed under rear bumper - facing a 30 degree angle / pointing to the ground. Thus, more "ground reflection" instead of direct LEDs. Being LEDs, they are actually brighter than appearing in below pics.

Hope this visualization helps....

 

[kloker]

I like this! I think I might just do it too!

 

[newbie99]

If one doesn't like installing individual LED lights and don't tow with their vehicle, one can install ID Light bar under its rear bumper instead. If wondering, our other vehicle has this rear lighting upgrade and it works great as well. For visual, see attachment.

Note: For its LED light bar, 1 wire to frame ground and its other wire to rear running lights via 3 amp inline fuse. One can use a steel L-bracket to better angle the ID light bar as well.

 

[kloker]

These could also fit on an overhead luggage rack if you had one. Nice!

 

[3hondas3]

For its LED light bar, 1 wire to frame ground and its other wire to rear running lights via 3 amp inline fuse.

How did you connect to the rear running light wire for power?

 

[newbie99]

On my 2014 CRV, the previous owner bought / installed trailer wiring cord/plug. For extra rear lighting, I simply T-Tapped into its brown wire. For more details on my 2014, surf:

- click here to view video -

For your 2018 CRV, do investigate if similar product / install instructions for Trailer Cord/Plug as well. Or, perhaps one can T-Tap directly into the blue plug wires (located in left rear cabin area).

Hope this helps.

 

[3hondas3]

On my 2014 CRV, the previous owner bought / installed trailer wiring cord/plug. For extra rear lighting, I simply T-Tapped into its brown wire. Hope this helps.

Thats a big help. It confirms what I thought. I'd much rather splice into a "plug & play" add-on wire harness like trailer wiring than tap into any factory installed harness. Done that twice before ... I used the illuminated door sill accessory wire harness for the extra lights I put in the front doors (didn't actually installed illuminated door sill), and spliced into the ambient foot well light accessory wires to add a light for the glove box. I'll probably order a trailer wiring harness from eTrailer, and knock this project out in a few weeks.

 

[newbie99]

For my other vehicle (Dodge mini-van), I installed extra rear lights under its rear bumper as well. Same install method as my other 2 vehicles. re: Installed 2 x 2.5" LEDs under its rear bumper and T-Tapped into its brown wire (for running / marker lights) - on its after market Trailer wiring cord/plug. For visuals, see below.

 

[3hondas3]

Right or wrong, I finally took matters into my own hands and added some LED accent lights to my rear bumper for added safety when it is dark. Like newbie99 I used the brown wire on my trailer wiring harness for power. All I did was buy 4 small weatherproof accent lights from SuperbrightLEDs and mounted them on the rear bumper above the reflectors. They are very visible from the rear considering how darn small they are. I feel much better now.

 

[newbie99]

Looking great! And, nice/clean finish. You do good work!

 

[BoostedV]

Not a fan but whatever blows your hair back.
Could have gotten the led replacement reflectors and not had to drill any holes with the same wiring for $40

 

[3hondas3]

Could have gotten the led replacement reflectors and not had to drill any holes with the same wiring for $40

Possibly, but all the led replacement reflectors I found on Amazon, and elsewhere, were indeed led illuminated, but had absolutely NO reflective material to them once you took a closer look. I'm no DOT expert, but I would question if those (China made) ones that I saw with no reflective material in them are even legal in the US. I knew that no matter what I approach I took, did not want to lose the oem reflective value on the car's bumper. There may be led replacement reflectors out there with real reflectors in them, but I did not see any when I searched.

 

[newbie99]

If not a fan, then why comment at all? Very strange....