Wild E Coyote Lighting Upgrade With American Muscle and Raxiom

A large part of the Mustang hobby is customization. As we all know, what we do to the outside (and inside) of our Mustangs is extremely personal. It’s our way to reflect the theme of the build and set us apart from the pack. With that, we decided it was time to install some show parts on our 2011 Mustang project.

Our Project Wild E Coyote has received numerous upgrades in the performance department lately. We decided that to help further differentiate it from the herd we’d upgrade its lighting, and appearance at all four corners, thanks to our friends at American Muscle. A lighting upgrade is not only going to add looks and style to our car, but also will in some cases improve safety.

We got together with the folks at American Muscle, a leading online retailer for a variety of Mustang performance and appearance accessories.  AM provided us with a host of lighting upgrades for the exterior of our ’11 Coyote-powered pony to get us better visibility and some more style.  Follow along as we show you a little bit of what AM offers in the lighting department, and how easy it is to do this kind of modification to your own car.

Starting Out Back

Tail lights are probably one of the least upgraded areas of many Mustangs. We’re really not sure why that’s the case, maybe it’s because we seldom walk up to our cars from the back; we leave looking at the backside of our car to the guy in the other lane. The rear of the 2010+ Mustangs has been a subject of controversy since it was first previewed, with some even calling it import-like in appearance.

AM offers a variety of lighting upgrades for the rear of 87-12 Mustangs. Everything from stock type replacements, to smoked or chrome lenses, euro style and more.

Installing the MMD Tail Light Trim is a matter of cleaning the back of the car, remove the adhesive backing from the cover, the press and hold firmly against the tail light. You'll want to hold this in place for 30-60 seconds, applying even firm pressure. Be sure not to press to hard or you could damage the trim or the lights themselves.

Brighter Lights

AM sent us several Raxiom products which offered the type of appearance improvements we’re looking for. The MMD Matte Black Tail Light Trim was not compatible with our new lights.

Not only do these Raxiom parts offer improved appearance but as AM’s Chris Rose tells us, “Raxiom lights are about adding style without sacrificing quality.” On the quality front we did notice during our installation that all of the upgrades were simple, straight forward, and fit the car very well. As Rose explained a big reason for this high quality is, “All of the lights carry a two year warranty, and are made in the same DOT approved facilities as most OEM lights.”

Part numbers for rear upgrade:

  • MMD Matte Black Tail Light Trim: 41273
  • Deck Lid Blackout Panel: 80174
  • Raxiom Smoked Aero Tail Lights: 49145
  • Smoked Third Brake Light Tint:  26080
  • Smoked Quarter Marker Light Tint: 26087
  • Raxiom License Plate Light LED Conversion Kit: 49181
  • Raxiom Front and Rear Side Marker Light LED Conversion Kit: 49173
  • Raxiom Reverse Light LED Conversion Kit: 49193

Panel Upgrade

There’s a noticeable dead space between the rear tail lights on 2010+ Mustangs. While the GT Cap here is nice the space still looks like an empty void to us. This was even more apparent with our new tail lights installed.

To correct this issue AM sent us one of their 10-13 Mustang rear blackout panels. This panel installs in just a few minutes with no drilling, cutting or other damage to your car required.  Once in place we found this was a very nice way to tie together the blacked out appearance of rear of the car.

Top: Installing the Decklid Blackout Panel: Again make sure the area you're working on is clean. Remove the adhesive backing, line the panel up and press firmly. Bottom Left & Right: You can see what a clear improvement in appearance the combination of the MMD Tail Light Trim and the Decklid Panel make in these before (left) and after (right) photos.

Tail Lights

Left to Right: Removing rear tail lights. Inside the trunk you'll need to use a non marring trim tool to remove the plastic retaining clips and nuts that secure the rear scuff panel/cover revealing the backside of the housings. You can then loosen and remove the three nuts which hold each housing in place. Now disconnect the tail light connectors. Finally pull firmly but gently to remove the light assembly.

Raxiom lights are about adding style without sacrificing quality.

We’re installing a set of Raxiom Smoked Aero Tail Lights on our 2011 GT. This lighting setup moves the backup/reverse lights to the bottom of the lens and does a great job of cleaning up the appearance of the rear of the car. This light looks less busy and more well thought out. Installation time should take less than an hour. We should note that the space to work in is a bit tighter on car’s equipped with the Shaker audio system, but still about an hour’s task to complete.

Installation is simply the reverse of removal. We took the opportunity to upgrade our reverse lights with some Raxiom LED's while here, which as simple as changing a standard bulb. To install the housing simply line it up, press firmly into place. Now you'll just need to tighten down the nuts to secure them in place. Don't over tighten these or you risk damaging the housings. Connect your electrical connections and test the lights before reinstalling the rear covers.

Markers,  Third Brake Light, License Plate and Reverse Lamps

We also chose to add a bit of style to our third brake light and marker lights as well. AM offers a very high quality smoked vinyl film for these applications that simply applies to the lenses to achieve the smoked look. This meshed nicely along with our new tail lights and headlight upgrades. It is important to note that you need to check local laws in your area, regarding tinted lights before installing these products. The last thing you want to do is spend your money and time installing something like this, only to give the local long arm of the law a reason to stop you and write a citation.

License Plate bulbs remove simply with just a Phillips head screw driver. This procedure is the same as replacing an ordinary bulb.

We also installed Raxiom’s LED conversion kits for the front and rear side marker lights. Since we were already smoking the lenses on these we thought it would be wise to upgrade the bulbs from the low powered incandescent that the factory provides to some super white LED’s. AM actually recommends this type of upgrade anytime you’re making a change to dark or smoked lenses. As Rose told us “The obvious advantage is that the light has much better output. The LED bulbs are also much more reliable than standard bulbs.”  This upgrade is as simple as performing a bulb change, and we had it done in less than fifteen minutes.

Installing the Marker Tint, left to right: Make sure the surface of the quarter marker is clean. Also having this area damp with soapy water or a tinting product can be helpful in getting things lined up properly or adjusting them. Carefully peel the backing from the tint, once peeled you can also apply the soapy water to it. Line up the tint as best possible and carefully lay it on the marker lens. You can now move the tint around to secure it. Once it is in place, use a tint squeegee or a towel to press firmly against the tint and remove the water from behind it. The process is the same for applying the third brake light tint.

Additionally we performed an LED conversion on our backup lights and license plate lights. This goes along with our full LED conversion at nearly every replaceable exterior bulb other than the headlamps. Just like the marker lights upgrading the license plate and backup lights is as simple as doing a bulbs swap. Since we were already swapping the tail lights that made the backups upgrade that much easier.

Seeing Ahead

When it comes to headlights we all know they’re important. Just how important though is something that we often times fail to consider until it’s an issue. If you’re Mustang has some years and miles on its odometer then chances are good the original plastic lenses are dull, scratched and faded. While you can try cleaning and “restoration” products, chances are that your lenses are so far gone the only way you can successfully improve nigh time lighting and visibility is to replace them.

Aside from appearance, replacing your lights can also add several safety benefits. First it obviously allows you to see better at night. It also reduces your chances of “out driving” your headlights. This term refers to driving at a rate of speed high enough that by the time an object is made visible by your lights, say an obstacle in the road, there is not enough time for you to correct safely if even at all. Replacing your headlights also improves your cars visibility to other drivers.

Part numbers for the front upgrade:

  • Raxiom Smoked Projector Headlights CCFL Halo: 49129
  • Raxiom H9 Headlight Bulbs: 49154
  • Black Front Side Markers: 4191
  • Raxiom Switchback Turn Signal Conversion Kit: 49182G05
  • Raxiom Front and Rear Side Marker Light LED Conversion Kit: 49173

Headlights

AM offers several lighting options for Mustangs. We could have chosen from LED or Halo accent conversions, headlight splitters and more. We found that we really liked the appearance of the  Raxiom Smoked Projector Lens headlights (also available in chrome). These lenses feature a black background which will blend in nicely with our factory paint color. They also have a very aggressive look and lend to the dark and stealthy appearance we’re going for with this car. The lights offer better vision at night by using the projector beam style lighting instead of just an ordinary halogen reflector. They also feature an LED accent strip under the turn signal, as well as a HALO which adds a bit of style for cruising the streets at night.

We upgraded the headlight bulbs as well, with a set of Raxiom’s high quality H9 bulbs for our lights, to further improve night time vision. The headlight installation is quite a bit more involved than doing the tail lights, but it can still be done in your home garage with only basic hand tools in a rather short period of time.

Left to Right: Removing the stock lights. Begin by removing the front bumper cover, this is necessary to gain access to the two lower mounting bolts on the headlight and to remove it. Next remove the retaining pin from the top of the housing, followed by the three bolts. You can now slide out the housing and disconnect the electrical connectors. If you are transferring any old bulbs to your new housing this is the time to note those bulbs and swap them out one at a time.

Left to Right: Now is also the time to install any upgrades that are going to be used in the headlight housing. We upgraded to these Raxiom H9 bulbs for better night time vison. We also installed the Raxiom Switchback turn signal and running light system. This requires some minor wiring work, just follow the included instructions.

Turn Signals and Parking Lights

The reason we’ve decided to make most of the lights we have is because customers were calling and begging us to get Raxiom to produce them. -Chris Rose

While we could have stopped with the installation of our new projector beam lenses we decided to step things up another notch. Taking the place of the amber bulbs in our front headlight and parking/turn signal housings is now a Raxiom Switchback Kit.

This upgrade utilizes some trick technology to change our lights from white while we’re driving with the headlights on, to amber when we hit the turn signal switch. While installing these requires a bit more work than a simple bulb change, we still found it could be done in just a matter of minutes. Much like the upgrade to our reverse lights earlier this upgrade was made even easier by the fact that we already had the headlight assemblies removed making this part of the job that much easier.

The Raxiom Switchback corner markers go from white with the headlights or parking lights on, to amber when the turn signal switch is activated. This gives us some extra visibility to other driver's at night and still keeps our turn signals in compliance with local laws.

We also swapped out the front side markers with a set of Black Side Marker lights, again matching the theme. These too were easily installed in only a few minutes, and while we were doing the swap we also installed the LED replacement bulbs.

With the front bumper cover still off the car, we installed the new side markers and upgraded LED bulbs. The side markers are held in place by two nuts, and swapping them only took a couple of minutes with the bumper cover off.

With trends constantly changing within the Mustang landscape, as well as the blue oval making changes to the car every few years manufacturers have to keep up with both the latest style trends as well as OEM changes. On both these fronts Rose told us, “We’re constantly developing and releasing lights based on customer input. The reason we’ve decided to make most of the lights we have is because customers were calling and begging us to get Raxiom to produce them.”

The Payoff

About the author

Don Creason

Don Creason is an automotive journalist with passions that lie from everything classic, all the way to modern muscle. Experienced tech writer, and all around car aficionado, Don's love for both cars and writing makes him the perfect addition to the Power Automedia team of experts.
Read My Articles

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