http://www.challengertalk.com/forums/f53/challenger-daytona-tail-light-overlay-kit-hpp-58908/

 

What happens with the reverse light with this overlay?

 

They are small circles.

I will be installing mine this week.

 

I just did mine, and the overlays aren't big enough to cover up the edges of the tail lights. As a result, I get a lot of shine around the edges, which really sucks. The brake lights are also tiny and indented, so you pretty much have to be directly behind the car to see them. The parts mount in a really cheap fashion, with just a strip of sticky tape along the top and bottom. And since they don't fit the tail lights properly, a lot of that tape is actually not touching. If they were a quarter inch taller, they would have fit fine, 'cause they have the proper pattern to follow the various layers of the tail lights. Pretty odd that it doesn't work out, actually.

The parts are plastic, with a textured pattern that sort of mimics the plastic that surrounds the tail lights already. They're pretty thick, but they're pretty thick plastic. The mesh in the brake light circles is messy and has holes around the edges that are filled in. I would think these cost about $20 to make.

All in all, they're not worth anywhere near the $195 I paid for them. In fact, I don't think I'd pay even half that if I had to do it again. Maybe I'm being a little too down on them and I'll start liking them more in the coming days. We'll see.



As far as the install, there are two things I will note:

1 - You have to peel off the DODGE lettering from the brake light. You can easily do this with a credit card.

2 - You can slightly adjust the tail lights by loosening up a pair of plastic screw things inside the trunk. One is on top of the carpet, and one is underneath. Oddly enough, a much bigger change can be had by just grabbing the light and moving it around from the outside. You'll hear a clang sound, and the light will sort of jump from being tilted up to tilted down. Not sure what's going on there, but it holds. *shrug*

 

http://www.challengertalk.com/forums/f194/daily-specials-67544/

Scroll thru the post, there is some very good pictures there
Luke

 

Thanks for the info everyone. I ordered them this morning.

 

Thanks for the feedback Rake.. I've been toying with the idea of getting them, but after what you describe, it's not gonna happen. To me, that's not minor, and it is something from a quality perspective, should have been handled during the engineering/design phase.

The minimal brake light exposure would really concern me. I worry all the time about people coming up behind me and not seeing my brake lights until it's too late. Sure wouldn't want to restrict them at all

Thanks

Mike

 

I've been contemplating the purchase but not sure how it would look with my sequential lights, think I'll pass but thanks for all the information.

Sent from my SGH-T999

 

Seems like you should put down a strip of electrical tape before the install to stop the lights frim bleeding around the edges.

 

Dang it..

I'm going to erase rakes post from my mind and be positive about my install since I already have it. I will update with my thoughts post install.

As a side note, I think I got the super bird version so we will see if the fitment is any different..

 

Well I think this post may have changed my mind about buying these...Hmm and it had so much potential.

 

okay here is my take on the superbird version..

quality: i feel the same as rake. For $200.00 I expected something different. In the packagin it felt like it was a solid product, but once I took it all apart it was just some cheap plastic looking china crap. wtf.

installation: very easy to install. cleaned the brake lights off really well, and slapped them on. I spent about 20 minutes just holding them up there to see if I was going to like it before I actually peeled and stick.

fitment: eh.. mine fit snug, right up onto the lense, but like rake said, there are gaps around the lips where it looks like it will probably shine through. i'll check tonight.

overall not pleased but it may grow on. i need outside input, i know i should be the deciding factor but if a lot of people go "thats badass!!" it can sway me in that direction


as for the electrical tape fix.. as you can see in the picture i was going to do that but while it might of kept the light from shining out, it would also look like junk during the day. so i did not continue with that idea.

 

My two cents, and it's just that, is that the look is awesome...

however...

Based on the feedback i've read about build quality and the fitment issue, i'll personally pass for my SRT8. My biggest concern is that light leaks around the edges and at night, it could look cheap and give the appearance of a "rice" install.

 

on my own personal Challenger now for approx 4 months and i really like them, but i guess it is by choice
Luke

 

In the pictures I think it looks bada$$. Always felt it did, which is why it was high on my list. But, I am concerned about the quality, and also concerned about lighting showing through, and is there enough lighting during the day for folks to see my brake lights.

Something just wrong about spending $200 on what should be a quality product, only to have to compliment the install with electrical tape.

Pics look great, and I was ready to buy but I really feel I need to see it in person to make up my mind.

Mike

 

will take a picture of mine tonite and post it tomorrow
luke

 

Me too, I'm just waiting in the sun to go down.. Does yours leak light through?

 

now I do have a dog in this hunt since I'm a distributor and have probably 20 of these on the shelf, what I will tell you, this product may not be for everybody,
yes there is a gap, like all urethane products there will be some expansion in the heat and cold, if you make it too tight, it may crack, too loose it may fall off, has to be a happy medium

cheap, i would dare anybody to create the mold, the engineering behind the item, time to tool up, test and develop and then try to sell an item that probably will not sell in large quantity, takes balls to even try

what i can tell you about the product, it is injection mold type product, hand cut and sanded and then painted, just creating the molds alone probably set Heide Performance back a chunk....

it isnt a cheap piece of plastic, not thin, actually pretty heavy

I remember reading the total number of produced Challengers on this website, i dont remember the totals, but it wasnt many, be much easyer to make Mustang parts, probably 20 Mustang sold for evey Challenger, much better chance of making a profit selling aftermarket parts for Mustangs

my daddy always told me 25% of the people you meet are going to love you, 25% are going to hate you, worry about the other 50%
Luke

 

Thanks for putting in your honest opinion. I wanted these, but have decided not to do it. You are right it takes more effort and risk to make stuff for the Challenger, and it probably did have significant cost getting these set up and into production. The other side is that it should have been developed until it was a quality product, and fit as would be expected of a 200 dollar part. It does not matter if it costs 50 bucks or 500, most Challenger owners are not going to put something cheap looking on their car. Dodge nailed the look, and you really have to be careful with what you bolt on or it will detract from the great looks. From the crappy, low res pics I was able to see, it looks great ( probably like the 20 foot remark) If I had spent 200 bucks on them, only to have what some describe on here - I would have been hacked off. Why would I want to put an ill fitting, sagging cheap looking chunk of plastic on my car? The manufacturer should know this and done it right to begin with, then he could have sold all he made. It seems to me that there will be lots of returns on this one.

 

 

 

there is some bleeding thru, but that could be resolve very quickly
Luke

 

if you scroll down this link, you can see daytime pictures as well as up close pictures of the overlays sitting on a bench
thanks

Luke

 

Super bird version in the evening

 

I'm happy with them

As you can see there is some bleed through but the glare from the lights reflecting on the glass like paint over powers it, the pics I took I had to find the perfect angles to get the shine through that you see..

I loved this option from the moment I saw it before having my challenger. I felt it was a better option over tinting the rear and I still feel this way.

I'm stoked..

I love my 392

 

Throwing in my 2c, I had a set of the HPP Daytona overlays briefly. The Fit & Finish I felt was pretty bad, lots of excess plastic on the back, specifically the middle section. It was also pretty much too heavy for the default 3M tape and the middle section started to sag. Even with additional tape added the issue returned. Also, I had to remove the D and E from the DODGE lettering on the back to get them to fit on, which was not noted anywhere prior. I should also note that after washing, a lot of water gets caught in the overlays. Probably need to lift the trunk lid up to drain them, but I question if they would really dry well in wetter months.

In addition to all that, it arrived damaged with a bit of the plastic broken. I repaired it but it never looked perfect. Overall it looked unique and good enough from 20 feet, but that was about it. I was highly disappointed on all fronts. Luckily the vendor was good enough to take a return, however that process took more than a month and many back and forths.

Long story short, I definitely dont recommend these from my experience.

pic attached, looks good in the pic... didnt in person.

 

Wow.. Must of been an early version.. The center section had a big sticker explaining to remove the dodge lettering.. The instructions said in bold to do the same thing.. It was expressed many times.

The packaging was A+ , no way it could be damaged.

 

I got mine at the very start of Sept, and that was my experience. Maybe things have improved since then, but for me things were unfortunately as described. But for those happy with theirs, I'm glad for them! I just hoped to help anyone else avoid dealing with the same stuff I had to, because it was pretty disappointing to say the least.

 

We sell them, we installed them, we will gladly take them back if you don't like them
Luke

 

I think they look pretty good and plan on getting a set...

 

Well, at least people know about the light that shows around the edges now, and can judge the purchase accordingly. I think I saw every single thread about these here at Talk, and this completely shocked and saddened me. Never saw a pic at night with this outline on it, anywhere. I was kind of hoping I had somehow installed them wrong, and they could actually be fixed with a new roll of 2-way tape. Or maybe the '12 tail lights changed, and they fit perfectly on the earlier cars. Or something. Now I see that this is how the product was designed, and its supposed to look like this. They're plastic, they don't fit right, the reverse lights are literally dangerous, they have a cheap, amateurish mounting method, and HPP and its vendors actually believe that they are a $200 value. I'm a real life Eeyore and I'm still surprised at how poorly this went.

I, for one, will not settle on this. I want my '69 Charger-style tail lights, and I will have them. I'll pull these covers off, pull the tail lamps off, paint the edges, and then reinstall everything. I may drill out the reverse light holes so they show through a little more, as well. Their big problem is vision from the sides, though, and I don't know how to address that. That may be a liability that I simply have to live with.

It'll probably be a week or more, but I'll post a tutorial on painting the tail lights. How to remove them, how to mask them off, where to get more 2-way tape, etc.