Would reflective tape look bad on a L Series?

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 12:49 am

My L Series is a dark red colour, with flat black trim pieces. Looking at it at night in the car park, I mostly see the rusty white rims, roo bar and glint off the windscreen and headlights. The car's body nearly disappears into the night. I was thinking some stick-on reflective tape to go on the factory black trim strip might be a good idea.

Thoughts?

A total repaint in a lighter colour would be cool, but I think it'd cost too much to make it look right.

Venom · Post by **Venom** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:24 am

Leave the backing on the sticky side and mock it up on the car with some masking tape or something.

Personally i think stealthy is cool, and reflective add-ons are best left for grandpas and their camry's.

Post by **TOONGA** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:31 am

Venom wrote:Leave the backing on the sticky side and mock it up on the car with some masking tape or something.

Personally i think stealthy is cool, and reflective add-ons are best left for my grandpas and their camry's.

+++++ 5 don't mess with it but if you are going to (as most subi owners do) mock it up first that way you don't regret doing a bad job

TOONGA

Venom · Post by **Venom** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:50 am

I don't understand why you would need it. you can ONLY see the rims, front bar and reflections of the windscreen? If someone hits two sets of rims with a bull bar and some windows floating around in mid-air then some reflective tape isn't going to save you from them.

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:02 pm

I was thinking while camping it might be a pain at night, with the lights off.

The rear isn't very visible. Trailer hitch is dark and the rear bumper flat black.

The previous owner re-wired the lighting system.
It will not stay on without keys in the ignition.

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:03 pm

TOONGA wrote:+++++ 5 don't mess with it but if you are going to (as most subi owners do) mock it up first that way you don't regret doing a bad job

TOONGA

most subi owners do what, exactly?

That's why I spent several hours putting on my flares,
leaving no obvious panel-to-flare gap and adding plenty of screws.

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:05 pm

No reason why you couldn't put the tape on possible problem areas like the tow hitch? Not right on the ball but somewhere nearby if you're worried about walking into it.

MTB92 · Post by **MTB92** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:33 pm

2nd Hand Yank wrote:The previous owner re-wired the lighting system.
It will not stay on without keys in the ignition.

i dont think its been rewired either, its just how they are. all the L's i have had anything to do with will switch the lights off when the ignition is off. i dont thinkn its a bad thing, its saved me many flat batteries!

Post by **TOONGA** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:42 pm

2nd Hand Yank wrote:most subi owners do what, exactly?

modifying there cars to the point of madness

TOONGA

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:47 pm

There is a switch on the top of the steering column for your parker lights if you want them on without the ignition on

taza · Post by **taza** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:22 am

TOONGA wrote:modifying there cars to the point of madness

TOONGA

Mines getting there. Lol

Isn't reflective tape illegal or just certain collies to have on cars in Australia?

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:42 am

2nd Hand Yank wrote:The previous owner re-wired the lighting system.
It will not stay on without keys in the ignition.

As MTB92 has said - this is how the L series are wired. Most things on the L series are negatively switched as opposed to positively switched like many older vehicles are.
This is only for the post 1987 models as the units prior to this were still positively switched and could flatten batteries if you left the lights on...

You don't need a whole reflective strip - maybe a reflective bumper sticker for the rear, I find the front end easy enough to find in the dark with a torch due to the front lights reflecting enough light to make it out in the dark... I've got a round reflective sticker on the rear of my subi for the wilderness medical institute (which are now "equip") that goes alright. The number plate reflects too

I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it, I'm just giving you my experiences etc.

Cheers

Bennie

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:46 pm

My old plates from SA weren't very reflective. The surface was in pretty rough shape. Now that I've got my new WA plates on they are a lot more reflective.