I decided to customize the 3rd brake light on my 1997 XJ. The standard 3rd brake light was very faded and old looking. I got a custom LED third brake light designed for the Toyota 4Runner. The angle of the trunk lid of the XJ and the 4Runner match so this made this light a good fit. I did however have to buy a dremel saw and cut the tailgate to make it fit. It wasn’t exactly easy, but it wasn’t exactly hard either. I simply made a pattern of the light first and went to working, cutting a little bit at a time. The secret I found was to take my time cutting and checking, cutting and checking. I finally got the light to sit nicely and flush to the tailgate. To mount the light I used some 3M adhesive tape on the underside of the light. It came out great I think. Its a big improvement from the stock 3rd brake light. Here are some photos below of my new 3rd brake light…
