Installed & Tested: Awesome RC Repairs LED Lights

Many manufacturers offer model-specific LED lighting kits, which you may be able to install in other vehicles–or maybe not. You may not get the exact colors you want in the quantity you want, and leads may be shorter than you need. Not ideal. Nor are these light kits very robust, typically; the wires are fine, and can be easily damaged with hard use. Awesome R/C Repair’s light kits are very much the opposite. These rugged lights feature durable 22g wire in a protective plastic sheath, and you can customize the colors and lengths any way you like when you order. I tried a set myself, and found they’re very high quality and easy to install–all you need to do is make a hole.

Light kits are offered in 12″ and 18″ versions, wired and ready to install.

 

Each individual LED lead plugs into this distribution block, so it’s easy to swap in leads of different lengths for a custom fit, or to change the color of an LED.

 

You can get the braided sheaths in 18(!) colors, so you should definitely find something you like. Each LED includes the threaded 5mm holder as shown here.

 

The LEDs simply press-fit into the holders via a friction fit.

 

With the braiding slid back, it’s easy to see how much fatter the Awesome R/C wires (top) are compared to a typical light kit’s thinner wires. They’re built tough.

 

If your model has light buckets designed for 5mm LEDs, you can remove Awesome R/C’s supplied holder and just plug the LEDs into the the factory part. Otherwise, all you need to do is ream or drill an 8mm hole to accept the LED holder. The holder’s nut is installed from behind the body to clamp it into place. Then all you have to do is plug the LEDs into the holders.

 

The lights are bright, especially on maximum power. They’re rated for 12 volts, so you can power them directly from a 3S LiPo (11.1 volts) with no worries.

 

WHAT YOU GET

Awesome R/C sells the lights in 4-LED and 6-LED sets, and each includes zip-ties and 5mm LED holders. You can select 12″ or 18″ leads (go with the longer size for 1/8 scale models), and each set includes two white and two red LEDs. If you get a 6-LED set, the remaining two LEDs color choices are up to you. See below for a full color list. And the price? $31.99 for the 4-LED sets, and $34.99 if you want a 6-LED setup. Not bad at all considering how ruggedly Awesome R/C builds ’em.

 

INSTALLATION

Ream hole, insert LED holder, thread the nut on, and press the LED into place–that’s it. What you will spend more time on (how much depends on your model) is routing the wires and getting the plug to your receiver. I kept it simple by powering the lights via a dedicated 3S LiPo mini-battery installed on the body itself. That way, the lights and their power supply are contained entirely by the body, and I don’t have to deal with plugging and unplugging the power lead whenever I take the body off.  And, I get maximum brightness. If you plug into the receiver for power, you’ll typically get six volts. Which is still fine, really. The LEDs throw plenty of light either way, but I prefer maximum brightness.

 

THE VERDICT

These are really nice light sets. There are plenty of other LED offerings out there that can light up your model, but if you want you want to do more than just make your car or truck pretty and need a rugged set of LEDs that will hold up to heavy thrashing, get these. And unlike factory light kits, you’ve got waaay more options with the Awesome R/C offerings–just look at that chart. You can also get single LED leads as replacement parts or to change your lighting setup’s look. That versatility is a real plus. Added bonus: the colored braiding looks pretty trick when neatly routed along the chassis or body (and you can always get black if you want to hide it). So, thumbs-up for Awesome R/C’s LED light sets. High quality, good price, works great. That’s always the best combo.