LED Lights

[Hawkez]

I would like to upgrade my trailer to LED bulbs.  Can anybody recommend a good buld and/or source?  I have 21 bulbs in the trailer so I will do it a few at a time.

 

Thanks for the recommendations.

[Mopar1973Man]

Here is a start.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/wedge-bulbs/

[War Eagle]

I used this company for my LED lights in the RV.

 

http://www.ledtrailerlights.com/cm/cm_CL32.htm

 

One of the reasons I like them is there is a lot of technical info included so you can choose the temp range of the lights as well as the lumen output.  So many of the sites selling LEDs don't include that information and you can be easily dissatisfied with your purchase because they don't have the kind of output you were hoping for.  You can look up the lumen output and the temp range of the incandesent bulbs currently in the RV and then choose LEDs that have more lumen output, etc.

 

You can use soft light or choose daylight and make it light and brite inside the RV.

 

 

 

I would recommend you choose regulate LEDs (run on wide voltage range).  They will last much longer than the cheap China LEDs and you won't loose light output as your batteries start to taper off.

[flagmanruss]

I bought several bulbs as samples off ebay for interior fixtures in my trailer...  they throw a whiter light but all seem to be less bright & wife doesn't like them.  I have moved them to secondary locations & still use filament bulbs in primary working fixtures.  There seems to be no standards for these lights.  Buyer beware.  The advertising does not typically give lumens...  guess why? 

Look at the Share your RV Mods thread... http://forum.mopar1973man.com/index.php?/topic/4577-share-your-rv-mods/  my LED info & others is in there. 

 

I have replaced the running lights on my project utility trailer with LED units...  I'd say for running lights, buy the assembled / sealed units with DOT rating & you know they'll be bright enough.   

Edited June 19, 2014 by flagmanruss

[flagmanruss]

I've been upgrading my trailer running lights to LED units as time permits.  I just replaced the lights on the "landscape" trailer (hay trailer).  Although these lights were not intended for this type of trailer, they were an almost perfect fit.  I had to drill holes to mount them & run wires...  drilling was harder than I expected.  The left side has the tap for the center clearance light set... 

 

The right light does not.

 

The plate is fastened to the ramp & not lighted (illegal).  But so is losing the plate when it drags the ground. 

I'm wonder if these lights show enough light to the side or if I need side markers???  Opps! 

The idiot OEM used the same colors for both wires on each side so the Left side the clearance light tap indicates the running lights...  on the right side there's no easy way to tell.  Yes, I could run a jumper full length to test continuity or could just test with a vehicle...  when my truck comes home.

[MnTom]

Russ, you can buy LED license plate lights also. I put LEDs on my fiver and also a boat trailer. My son was following me one night when I was pulling my fiver and he complained about how bright the brake lights were.......

[flagmanruss]

The left light, the wiring is more exposed...  ugly.  On the right, I drilled a extra wire hole through the bracket which I thought was neater.  I am seriously going to upgrade my drill bits.  Cheap drills are ok for wood but horrible for steel...  I am going to trash the cheap ones because they keep finding their way to steel projects.   

 

The lack of a white plate light is only a violation at night...   I just pull the pin on the gate & it pretty much falls to the ground.  I don't think a light could survive much of that.  It's been that way since a month after I bought the trailer (10 years or so), when the plastic bracket was torn off.  Though I should have put the destroyed bracket back when I replaced the light that was damaged...  so I could tell a cop "See!"   

 

I mounted the plate above the light on the little trailer, so it can't hang up...  was even closer to the ground...  but there's no ramp on the tilt trailer...  white light is underneath, shinning at the ground.  LOL!  

If I like the plate above the light deal...  I might change the big trailer also.  This was a more recent thought. 

 

Tail lights too bright, I like it!  

 

The bright glow is DOT tape which I did the flat surfaces of the frame, when it was new also.  I originally thought I might be taking it to re-enactments where parking is a dark field.  My idea was to make a black trailer so reflective that anyone hitting it would feel very stupid.  That didn't happen much so not really tested the theory.  I'm not replacing it as it comes off...   Guess I would big pieces... 

Edited June 26, 2014 by flagmanruss

[flagmanruss]

I have my truck back...  I'll test the new LEDs on the landscaper's style trailer & see if I got the wires right or need to switch them.   I had to pull the trailer forward to work on it...  thought the inlaws were going to use it a week ago...  but it's annoying & I'll push it back while I'm that close. 

[flagmanruss]

I plugged the trailer into the 7 way plug.  The right side, I was concerned about works & is nice & bright.  The left side, doesn't work at all (running or turns) BUT the 3 center clearance lights, which get their power from the Left, are nice & bright.  This says to me that the left is off ground...  the clearance lights are getting power & making ground through their own mounting screws. 

Sooo, I need to pull the mounting bolt where the light is grounded & scrape it down to metal.  Rust or Paint!  I like these lights.  (Good thing...  they were rather pricy.) 

[flagmanruss]

Per my testing...  I ground down the paint & rust under the mounting screw where I grounded the Left Tail-light.  Reassembled.  

The running portion lights nice & bright now but the turn only lights half & very weakly.  This side I nicely soldered & shrink tubed.  Yeah, that paid off!  I am pissed because of the labor involved.  

I have another pair of lights intended for the camper, so I can swap in another light...   I'm going to test both of them first.  I'm going to contact the seller & see about returns.    I hate this BS. 

I like these lights...  but they have to be reliable. 

 

I used an ATV battery I had on the bench to test the 2 new 'spare' LED lights.  Both work fine.  I suspect the unit that's mounted is defective but there's always a possibility of another wiring fault.  I'll test the problem unit directly with the battery & determine where the fault lies.   

Edited July 4, 2014 by flagmanruss

[MnTom]

I just put a set of LEDs on a small boat trailer. Both lights acted like your left one did, Russ. I even used a grinder and cleaned each light mount down to bare metal, but the trailer is so old I finally wound up running a ground wire from the left light to the right light and then to the tongue. Lights are nice and bright now!

[flagmanruss]

The running 'tail light' & turn, use the same ground...  so I have a good ground now.  Yes, a wire ground is an option for that type of fault...  we tend to forget. 

I should have tested the lights before installing...  should not have to test new products.

[MnTom]

Yea, I know what you mean. I bought a pair to put on my fiver and one had some sort of wiring problem. When it was hooked up some of the brake light side didn't work. I tried others (of the same light) and they were the same so I wound up putting a diode in the turn/brake wire and fixed it.

[flagmanruss]

OK, I replaced the Left LED tail light with one I'd tested on the bench.  The LED had long leads so I cut the old off between the light & my solder splices saving the Y splice to the working center clearance lights.  I used crimp connectors this time.  Hooked up to the truck & it works nice...  nothing like bright tail lights.

Sooo, I brought the light in that I'd just removed...  tested on the bench with a battery, clip leads...  it works fine.  So I'm not going to return it & look stupid.  I always plug the trailer in the same way & wiggle the plug around to help the connection.  But that is the only difference.   I think I had multiple problems chasing...  I didn't like the way the socket was on the Explorer but wife claimed it was doing it on my truck too.

Last year, inlaws replaced bulbs when they used the trailer, claimed they were bad...  I'm sick of fussing with bulbs where I don't have to.    

Anyrate, I have all lights working on the trailer now.       

Edited July 6, 2014 by flagmanruss

[flagmanruss]

I've bought new oval LED clearance/marker lights for the camper.  The old bulb lights have the ground wire under the cover, with a ring connector under the mounting screw...  the lights all work, so i guess this is fine. 

The new LED lights look the same or close but the ground wire is threaded through the back & has a ring terminal.  Can I just screw through the plastic body & this ring terminal with the mounting screw...   Will it ground through the skin finish? 

 

Or should I cut off all the new ring terminals, pull the wire back, & install a new terminal & make it like the one that's coming off.  Please don't tell me I need a separate ground screw under each light.   

Edited July 20, 2014 by flagmanruss

[MnTom]

All you need to do is scrape a bit of paint where you plan on putting the ground wire. If you wanted you could do what you said and move the ground wire. Either one would be good.

[flagmanruss]

Thanks.  Scraping the paint is the least re-work & how the maker intended it to be done.  I'll try that first.  Putting the wire under the screw head, as the OEM did, only uses the threads for grounding as the rest is plastic. 

[JAG1]

Not sure about using LED anymore. I put a set on my old truck and the bulbs start burning out and you cannot just change the burnt bulbs you replace the whole light.

though it does make the rv or truck look updated, I think I'm going be putting in the old lights again anyway.

[flagmanruss]

I don't intend to go LED on the truck.  It wasn't designed for LEDs & I don't feel inclined to mess with the correct loads to make it work.  

 

On the trailers, I feel different.  Simpler system for one.  I am swapping assemblies as they need replacing.  The bulb/socket system on trailers is troublesome with corrosion / oxidation on bulbs that test good with a meter.  Even if they are working, the lenses are UV faded so as to be clear.  The LEDs inside the housing are not serviceable...  especially if my darling wife bumps a hard object like stone wall or steel welding table.  Hopefully we have learned that lesson. 

 

The LED assemblies I am buying are lifetime guarenteed (except for breakage) and DOT approved.  For occasionally used trailers, where I just need the thing to work when I need it without screwing with the lights after I hook up...  I expect this to be a plus.  Might it not work, well, yes.  The weak link is the trailer plug but with only a single connection, I'm confident I can get on the road quicker. 

 

I recognize this is a theory...  we'll see.      

 

BTW.  I read that "cheap" LEDs were not voltage regulated & could encounter problems because of it...  but size & cost were the links.  More of an issue installing conversions into bulb type sockets.  I'd like to know more. 

Edited July 20, 2014 by flagmanruss

[JAG1]

I should clarify.... My LED's went on a flatbed on my older truck. Now I'm wondering if they are lifetime or they were the cheap ones. I paid about $125 for all the way around (including side markers) but are burning up.