Thank you for making this video!

Thanks RussieCA for this great, low cost safety mod. I picked up my 2023 Bolt EV last Wednesday. I spent two partial days working on this. I had a third brake light flasher that I had previously ordered. I installed it several days ago. Those I had in the past would flash three time and then remain steady. This one would flash four times fast, then four times slow and then steady. Too much and I decided if I could get the brake mod to work, I'd remove it. The brake light mod is complete, so I removed the flasher. Great step by step instructions but I dislike doing this type of stuff on a new car. I only have basic skills, but I excel in patience when required. I figured it was worth the risk.

This is amazing! Thank You!

Excellent!! Thank you very much for the video. I plan to follow these instructions once I've got a free weekend to do the work.

@rtabcum

Жыл бұрын

Just be careful when pulling out the plastic panels. Use a plastic pry tool to try your best reach each clip and snap them out 1 at a time. Good luck.

Awesomeness! Our newer Bolt finally got the modern taillights over the fugly worms tails and they didn't enable it for braking! This should've been the right way all along and I was thinking of hacking it myself. Brilliant hack!

@JDDevice

Жыл бұрын

I like the face of the old Bolt and the ass of the new Bolt. Wonder if the dimensions are the same 🤔

Good video! Thanks!

Thank you.

Great Mod! Thanks for sharing with the Bolt community to help make our cars safer! Before finding this video, I was planning to tap into the wires from the high level brake lamp and add a 12v red led strip light to the inside of my back window, effectively making my high level brake light bigger. Would this work as well? If so, which color wires from the high level brake light would I tap into?

Chevrolet needs to do this at the factory. Too many people do not feel safe with the current braking!

@tiagankoob820

Жыл бұрын

They ship from the factory perfectly legal, most crossovers on the road have similar brake light positions

@ulrichhavershim5529

21 күн бұрын

@@tiagankoob820 just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s good

Thank you!!!! I was wondering how to remove the pivot bolt. My pivot bolt broke off. Now I can replace it. Mahalo!!!

Thank you!!! This is MUCH needed on my Bolt! I’m a bit nervous cutting the wires to my brakes, but this does look like it might be simple to buy some clips and maybe make a harness?

@rtabcum

Жыл бұрын

Yes, no need to cut any wires. You can use a wire tap instead. You will need a Diode to gate the voltage from tail gate from energizing the 3rd brake light.

Nice Video. Subscribed. How much will you charge for a 2022 Bolt EUV to modify the brake light what you did with your EV? Socal area?

Thank you so much for this video. I am seriously considering buying a Bolt EUV, and the placement of both the brake (and the turn signal) lights so low down is of great concern to me. I have not seen any other hatchback with this poor design, and I've been looking! Any suggestions about where one could have this modification done commercially in the SF Bay Area? This is not something I could do myself. Again thanks!

I wonder if it’s possible to tap in to the rear view mirror camera and record what it is seeing like a dash cam

My pivot broke in half because a piece of luggage hit it. How do remove the remaining pivot! Do I remove the panels first or can I just pull the pivot out with some pliers like you did? I do not want to damage the interior trim. Thanks.

Really cool to see. I’d like this on my Bolt EUV, but the tail lights are split between the hatch and quarter panel so it’s more of a hassle to wire

@burnsg1232

Жыл бұрын

following

@fluffysheap

Жыл бұрын

On the EUV you probably have a better situation because you could wire the outer lights for turn signals + tail lights and the inner ones for brakes only. All the signals would be inside the same panels and you'd have all the advantages - brake lights that work even when the taillights are on, turn signals separate from brake lights, it would be almost like having a properly designed car

Great video! Have you also notice that the brake lights go off while at a full stop on one pedal driving? Or at least it does on my 2020 bolt. Thanks again for the great hack.

@rtabcum

Жыл бұрын

I did check the 1 pedal operation and verify that the brake lights do stay ON after stopping and continue to stay on until I press on the gas pedal. The only way it goes off after stop with 1 pedal is when I shift into neutral.

@kraisydave

Жыл бұрын

@@rtabcum Wow, that's a great improvement. Glad to hear.

So I'm confused about the brown wire... power is being routed from the purple wire, through the diode, to the brown/grey wire?

great mod! We just got a 2023 EUV and I'm gritting my teeth that GM f!@#$d up the tail lights from the 1st gen EV.. they *had* proper separate brake lights and amber turn signal lights. now they have the dumb AF North America-only combined brake/turn lights. I'm hoping to find a way to convert them eventually.

1n4001 diode is only good for 1 Amp . I'd recommend a 5 Amp diode. While you're correcting things, I'd recommend going with a Schottky diode. And, you're tying the left and the right lights together. That's likely not a good idea either, so I'd recommend using a separate 5 Amp diode for the left light, and a 5 Amp diode for the right light.

@Turk380

6 ай бұрын

5A?? 1A is probably already extreme overkill for an LED fixture!

@kirkkohnen5050

6 ай бұрын

@@Turk380 If I'm interpreting the video correctly, the diode is being used to power the incandescent bulbs in the bumper. If this is truly the case, peak currents into the incandescent bulbs hits multiple Amps.

@Turk380

6 ай бұрын

@@kirkkohnen5050 it's powering the LED arrays in the rear hatch. AFIAK, there are no incandescent bulbs on the EUV

@kirkkohnen5050

6 ай бұрын

@@Turk380 The different models and years is the issue. My '17 Bolt has incandescent bulbs in the bumper.

@Turk380

6 ай бұрын

@@kirkkohnen5050 on your '17 Bolt you wouldn't need to do this mod in the 1st place. Since they were sold in the EU back then (as an Opel) they were obligated to design proper tail lights. Now that Opel is no longer in the picture some brainiac at GM decided to downgrade your experience with US-only tail lights.

What guage wire is the existing wire?

How about a video on a 2017 to have both lights work (vs. switching when hatch is open)? And/or a way to easily hook up a trailer light type harness?

@rtabcum

Жыл бұрын

Sorry, I don't have a 2017 vehicle.

Did any of the clips or pins get damaged when removing them? Great video! BTW, pretty handy with soldering iron👍🏼

@rtabcum

Жыл бұрын

Yes, the gray Pivot clip (one time use) I took off got a little cracked at the sleeve when I pulled it off with a pair of pliers. The rest was re-useable. I just re-ordered it through GMPartsDirect.com. Everything is very tight the first time removing it. I recommend to put some silicone grease on all the metal clips when re-installing.

if you added a resistor to the violet/grey wire to dim the taillight running lights, wouldn't your brake light hack work at night too?

Thanks for the video. Is the rear hatch aluminum or steel on the EUV? I know my 2020 EV is aluminum.

@rtabcum

Жыл бұрын

Steel as far as I can tell.

@mosfet500

Жыл бұрын

@@rtabcum Walk around the car with a magnet, might be interesting!

@rtabcum

Жыл бұрын

@@mosfet500 Interesting...! I might just do that. Would be good to see how much metal vs aluminum is on the car. While I was under the back of the car inspecting the bumper light wiring, I did see aluminum members supporting the bumper.

@mosfet500

Жыл бұрын

I just checked around the Bolt forum. Bolt EUV has steel panels, trunk lid, hood and doors. Bolt EV has aluminum hood, doors and trunk lid. Rear quarters are steel on both cars as is the roof. It looks like they kept the aluminum suspension parts on the EUV.

Probably best to go with a Starsky and Hutch Style magnetic roof light. The standard lighting is fine, but this is better

If this is a safety concern, I wonder why Chevy did it this way. Also, are those liftgate lights yellow?

Why?

Does this modification nullify the warranty?

@Steve-wz5pz

Жыл бұрын

My understanding of the law is that no, it does not -- UNLESS -- the modification was the DIRECT CAUSE of the otherwise -warranted failure.

@Turk380

6 ай бұрын

absolutely not. only and only maybe.. warranty on the 3rd brake light or tail lights, but they would have to prove the mods were the cause.