Old lights to LED?

[Bee in Canada]

Trillium Jubilee:

Looking to brighten my brake/driving lights....can I just switch out original bulbs with LED bulbs, instead of retrofitting the whole 'guts' of my tails lights?

[cpaharley2008]

It all depends on your bulb and if you can find a suitable LED replacement. The more led's the better. Remember that to match your lens color, yellow and yellow, red and red. Here is a good link 3157 CK LED Bulb - Dual Intensity 45 SMD LED Tower | LED Brake Light, Turn Light and Tail Light Bulbs | LED Car Bulbs | Super Bright LEDs

[Dennis Clinton]

I replaced my bulbs with LED's from Superbright LED and really like them. They are much brighter than the filament bulbs. But I still may switch to the new Bargman LED taillights(when I get ambitious).

[Bee in Canada]

I was just told that the LED may not be as bright.... Is that why several people have switched out the whole base plate with an LED panel?

Thanks
Bee

[Eddie Longest]

The external LED light fixtures I have dealt with are usually potted and sealed and offer better reliability. When you just replace a bulb you still have to deal with the bulb contact issues in external fixtures. Also new external light fixtures have to be meet DOT standards FWIW.
Eddie

[Nelmes]

I replaced mine lights with the round lights from princess auto, they go on sale for $20 each and work great. I does involve a whole new light, but was much easier than expected (Anything with wires is my weakness when working on these trailers).

[frankcfx]

I don't understand why the push to change out the tail lights to led's The only time they are on is when you are towing and hooked up to the tow vehicle which has plenty of power to light two tail lights

[cpaharley2008]

I don't understand why the push to change out the tail lights to led's The only time they are on is when you are towing and hooked up to the tow vehicle which has plenty of power to light two tail lights


LED's are brighter and they also illuminate quicker, that 1/2 second difference may be all that is needed to avoid someone hitting you in the rear.In addition with all LED's on the trailer less 12v from the tug is being used to illuminate and more is available to charge your batteries.

[steve dunham]

I changed the taillight lamps in my 1999 Scamp to LEDs purchased at O'Reilly Auto . They made little or no improvement as far as visibility . It was not $32 well spent . Hopefully the newer LED taillights work as advertised

[sparky1]

I just changed the interior Lamps except the stove. No reason for me to spend money till bulbs burn out. or they become obsolete.
sparky1.
have a great Camping summer.

[beemerphile1]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

LED's are brighter....

That blanket statement is a common myth. Many LED lamp replacements are dimmer than the original incandescent. You need to know what you are buying.

[Ian G.]

As another option 4" LED taillights will fit right inside the original Boler "Hat" lens. I installed these in mine and used silicon to seal them into the lens.
They are very bright, this is what they look like.

[lonnyda]

My Honda Odyssey van had an issue with our trailers, when you plugged in the lights, it burnt out the adapter (Curt) each time. I had replaced it 4 times, until I changed the tail lights and clearance lights to LEDs (full LED units from Bargman). That cured the issue and was successful at towing both our Bigfoot trailers with lights on. It did not affect the brake or signal lights, but park lights pulled too much current on both trailers for the trailer light adapter to the Honda.
So from my experience, I will be changing to LEDs just to make it easier on my tow vehicle going forward. I also really like the bright lights much better than the old lights in appearance and color.

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by Bee in Canada

...can I just switch out original bulbs with LED bulbs, instead of retrofitting the whole 'guts' of my tails lights?

You can, but the retrofit into the Trillium housing is so simple. It gives much better results than a simple bulb swap will do. It also resolves the problem of corroded bulb sockets since they are sealed waterproof units. If purchased on sale, cost is about the same.

Here is a how to do it thread with links to other threads:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post313004

[frankcfx]

By switching to the LED I believe you masked the problem instead of fixing it. For instance a poor ground connection often causes arcing and increased current draw. If it burnt out the adapter that could also been caused by poor grounding. I am curious as to what "park lights" are.

[Night Sailor]

I have five trailers. I have replaced more than a few incandescent lights. So far about two years on some trailers, all the LED lights have worked faultlessly.

They are more expensive however if you buy these from the right source prices are more reasonable. I use Amazon and eBay. eBay is cheaper but take longer to arrive.

[Night Sailor]

Parking lights is the correct term for what most people call running lights. They were intended as lights to be left on when a vehicle was parked--but nobody does that.

[lonnyda]

Originally Posted by frankcfx

By switching to the LED I believe you masked the problem instead of fixing it. For instance a poor ground connection often causes arcing and increased current draw. If it burnt out the adapter that could also been caused by poor grounding. I am curious as to what "park lights" are.

Well, that would be a good assumption, and one I initially worked with, however, after plenty of testing the light circuits on the trailer, and then finally working closely with the Curt factory, it became apparent that the amount of lights on the trailer drew more current than the adapter was designed for. Curt finally designed a prototype and sent to me (which worked) however, by that time, I had changed to the LEDs and never looked back. Curt even agreed that it was good idea to cut the amperage draw by going to LEDs.