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Flashing third brake light (in the US) is usually a dealer profit addon. Personally, I think these violate federal vehicle safety law. I'll add a link to a fede

by toast0 1y ago

Flashing third brake light (in the US) is usually a dealer profit addon. Personally, I think these violate federal vehicle safety law. I'll add a link to a federal letter that I think agrees with me [1]... But no enforcement means dealers alter the wiring harness to add these on to all their inventory and add a line item on the bill. They'll remove it if you complain, but the wiring harness has been altered. I'm ok with factory strobing on hard braking, and I think that is permitted generally. [1] https://www.nhtsa.gov/interpretations/20288ztv https://www.nhtsa.gov/interpretations/20288ztv

potato3732842 1y ago
They're not altering anything. This isn't a stereo shop in 1990. They're literally just getting paid to plug something in.
- toast0 1y ago
  From the install guide [1] under "Installation Instructions, General", step 5 is: > Cut the positive wire to the third brake light and strip the insulation from both ends of the cut. That's altering the factory wiring harness. That's an extra junction the factory didn't authorize and when it fails, the factory warranty won't cover it, because the wiring harness modification lead to the failure. All so the dealer can make about $250 extra on a sale. If these were built as a module you plugged in between the wiring harness plug and the light module socket, I'd have a smidge less hate for them; but there's too many plug types for that, and there might not be enough room anyway, so the dealer has to cut into the wiring harness for this ... if there's a real benefit to flashing brake lights, it should be standardized and done by the manufacturers. [1] https://pulseprotects.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sales-Rep-Install-Guide-03.09.20.pdf https://pulseprotects.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sales-R...
  - potato3732842 1y ago
    They literally make drop in bulbs https://www.ebay.com/itm/184234748289 https://www.ebay.com/itm/184234748289
    - toast0 1y ago
      That'd be fine, I guess. But these guys [1] have more dealer sales outreach and they sell a module which you hack up the wiring to add. [1] https://pulseprotects.com/ https://pulseprotects.com/

by toast0 1y ago

potato3732842 1y ago

They're not altering anything. This isn't a stereo shop in 1990. They're literally just getting paid to plug something in.

toast0 1y ago
From the install guide [1] under "Installation Instructions, General", step 5 is: > Cut the positive wire to the third brake light and strip the insulation from both ends of the cut. That's altering the factory wiring harness. That's an extra junction the factory didn't authorize and when it fails, the factory warranty won't cover it, because the wiring harness modification lead to the failure. All so the dealer can make about $250 extra on a sale. If these were built as a module you plugged in between the wiring harness plug and the light module socket, I'd have a smidge less hate for them; but there's too many plug types for that, and there might not be enough room anyway, so the dealer has to cut into the wiring harness for this ... if there's a real benefit to flashing brake lights, it should be standardized and done by the manufacturers. [1] https://pulseprotects.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sales-Rep-Install-Guide-03.09.20.pdf https://pulseprotects.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sales-R...
- potato3732842 1y ago
  They literally make drop in bulbs https://www.ebay.com/itm/184234748289 https://www.ebay.com/itm/184234748289
  - toast0 1y ago
    That'd be fine, I guess. But these guys [1] have more dealer sales outreach and they sell a module which you hack up the wiring to add. [1] https://pulseprotects.com/ https://pulseprotects.com/