Brake,tail and signal light conversion to LED
I have a 2012 3500 silverado and pull a 14000 lb 5th wheel. I want to switch out the standard tail lights to LED. I'm sure you all have done this, any advise?
Forum Discussion
Some vehicle mfr's are doing separate circuits for trailer wiring and / or using electronic flash controllers that don't care about the resistance of incandescent or LED bulbs on the trailer circuits.
Sure, it will will give a fault indication when a bulb is out on the TV, but it won't tell you about the trailer because there are to many variables there for them to set the system to proper resistance sensitivity.
Connect up a different trailer with a different number of lights and the flash rate would change. This used to happen on old resistance flashers when you spliced trailer lights directly into the tail lights of the TV.
The newer vehicle circuitry is also why it is not uncommon to have all lights working on the TV and nothing on the trailer plug - separate circuits with their own fuses.
LED lights do generally last a lot longer, as long at you buy a reputable brand. I have many commercial trucks processed through with Maxxima, Grote and Ttuck-Lite brands and can't recall a customer complaint of a premature failure.
Sure, it will will give a fault indication when a bulb is out on the TV, but it won't tell you about the trailer because there are to many variables there for them to set the system to proper resistance sensitivity.
Connect up a different trailer with a different number of lights and the flash rate would change. This used to happen on old resistance flashers when you spliced trailer lights directly into the tail lights of the TV.
The newer vehicle circuitry is also why it is not uncommon to have all lights working on the TV and nothing on the trailer plug - separate circuits with their own fuses.
LED lights do generally last a lot longer, as long at you buy a reputable brand. I have many commercial trucks processed through with Maxxima, Grote and Ttuck-Lite brands and can't recall a customer complaint of a premature failure.
