Has any one up graded to LED bulbs on the older coaches?Good Idea, or not?

At least five years ago I put LEDs in the taillights of our '05 Mountain Aire fiver. There are four lights and with LEDs in all of them there was not enough resistance to trigger the flashers in the truck. Rather than messing with adding resistance I just put the incandescent bulbs back in the lower pair of lights.It actually worked out pretty well so I have just left it that way. When I hit the brakes the upper pair of lights (LED) come on a second or two before the lower pair (incandescent.) I figure it his just a little bit more attention getting that way.I put white LEDs behind the red lenses.

I changed all mine to these plug and play type. Everything works as it should.

Tom/Barb wrote:Has any one up graded to LED bulbs on the older coaches?Good Idea, or not?Tom,Well, the first thing is, why are you thinking of changing? I mean, what is your reasoning? The primary reason most guys change incandescent lights to LEDs are, 1. Considerably less draw (of amperage) in any given circuit that they're installed in.2. Considerably less HEAT in the bulb itself, especially if the application is for some/certain ceiling lights in the interior of some coaches.3. The "supposed" duration/longevity of an LED bulb vs a much shorter life span of incandescents. 4. The activation of light in an LED is phenomenally faster than an incandescent light bulb, i.e. it lights to full brightness light-years faster than the other style.Now, one thing to consider, an incandescent light bulb produces a fair amount of resistance in a circuit, when it's used as a turn signal bulb. And that resistance is calculated when the design of a flasher, to make it flash is designed and manufactured. But, if you simply remove the incandescent bulb and install an LED in its place, what you will find is, the LED has little to no resistance in it and, the flasher is still trying to see resistance so it can flash at a normal rate. But, since it sees no resistance, the flasher flashes at a seriously faster rate. And, in some cases, based on the advanced technology of the individual motor home/car/truck/etc., it may throw a code in the vehicles data system. You may see an icon come on that's warning of an issue with lighting. It depends on the coach/car/truck etc. Depending on the actual design of the LED bulb itself, and there are many designs, it can be several times brighter than the original incandescent bulb. For us motorcycle pilots, we REALLY LIKE THE ADDITIONAL BRIGHTNESS of LED lights. Now, on final thing. Since LEDs do have a significant set of improved operations over the incandescents, and, they're still a bit more costly to manufacture, they cost considerably more than the incandescents. So, you have to ask yourself, are all those reasons mentioned above, worth the additional cost, per bulb? Scott

FIRE UP wrote:Tom/Barb wrote:Has any one up graded to LED bulbs on the older coaches?Good Idea, or not?Tom,Well, the first thing is, why are you thinking of changing? I mean, what is your reasoning? The primary reason most guys change incandescent lights to LEDs are, 1. Considerably less draw (of amperage) in any given circuit that they're installed in.2. Considerably less HEAT in the bulb itself, especially if the application is for some/certain ceiling lights in the interior of some coaches.3. The "supposed" duration/longevity of an LED bulb vs a much shorter life span of incandescents. 4. The activation of light in an LED is phenomenally faster than an incandescent light bulb, i.e. it lights to full brightness light-years faster than the other style.Now, one thing to consider, an incandescent light bulb produces a fair amount of resistance in a circuit, when it's used as a turn signal bulb. And that resistance is calculated when the design of a flasher, to make it flash is designed and manufactured. But, if you simply remove the incandescent bulb and install an LED in its place, what you will find is, the LED has little to no resistance in it and, the flasher is still trying to see resistance so it can flash at a normal rate. But, since it sees no resistance, the flasher flashes at a seriously faster rate. And, in some cases, based on the advanced technology of the individual motor home/car/truck/etc., it may throw a code in the vehicles data system. You may see an icon come on that's warning of an issue with lighting. It depends on the coach/car/truck etc. Depending on the actual design of the LED bulb itself, and there are many designs, it can be several times brighter than the original incandescent bulb. For us motorcycle pilots, we REALLY LIKE THE ADDITIONAL BRIGHTNESS of LED lights. Now, on final thing. Since LEDs do have a significant set of improved operations over the incandescents, and, they're still a bit more costly to manufacture, they cost considerably more than the incandescents. So, you have to ask yourself, are all those reasons mentioned above, worth the additional cost, per bulb? ScottI do like the brightness, And I can cope with the blinking issue, You simply replace the blinker with one used with LEDs. The price is an issue, but a two pack of 1157 replacements are about 18 bucks. @autozone.

If you swap out your turn signal flasher with an electronic flasher, which is available at most automotive supply stores, that should solve the issue of your turn signals flashing too fast when switching from incandescent bulbs to LEDs.

LED Tail/signal light bulbs | Good Sam Community

donfrump
Explorer
Dec 29, 2015
RedRollingRoadblock wrote:
Just a reminder that amber stop/tail lights are illegal. Amber lights are legal for turn signals, and in my opinion should be mandatory.

I think pretty much about everyone knows that
I like the amber flashers myself.I have clear lense with amber bulbs on my SUV and it really shows up at nite
RedRollingRoadb
Explorer
Dec 29, 2015
Just a reminder that amber stop/tail lights are illegal. Amber lights are legal for turn signals, and in my opinion should be mandatory.
Stefonius
Explorer
Dec 29, 2015
mike brez wrote:
They are Bargman lights. They are the exact replacement for my old ones. They were stamped Bargman 86 on the lens.. PPL, Carid and etrailer sell them plus many others.
Thanks! I'm looking for some flush-mount LED panels to replace the "low bidder" single bulb tail/stop lights on my fiver. I'm probably going to wire in dedicated turn signals and reverse lights while I'm at it.
Tom_Barb
Explorer
Dec 29, 2015
Gjac wrote:
Tom/Barb wrote:
Gjac wrote:
I get that they are brighter but I wouldn't spend $70 to replace OEM tail light bulbs that work on a 20 year old MH, just my opinion.

When you are worried about spending $70 bucks on your coach, to give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, you probably shouldn't be owning one. Just my opinion.
Tom, are you are saying I should sell my 20 year old MH because I don't think it necessary to buy LED tail lights. I am not saying that it is a bad idea for you or any others that posted, they look nice. You asked for opinions in your OP and I gave you mine. I did not mean to offend you by my opinion and if I did I apologize.

I don't advocate you do anything you don't want to for your own reasons.
Gjac
Explorer III
Dec 29, 2015
Tom/Barb wrote:
Gjac wrote:
I get that they are brighter but I wouldn't spend $70 to replace OEM tail light bulbs that work on a 20 year old MH, just my opinion.

When you are worried about spending $70 bucks on your coach, to give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, you probably shouldn't be owning one. Just my opinion.
Tom, are you are saying I should sell my 20 year old MH because I don't think it necessary to buy LED tail lights. I am not saying that it is a bad idea for you or any others that posted, they look nice. You asked for opinions in your OP and I gave you mine. I did not mean to offend you by my opinion and if I did I apologize.
FIRE_UP
Explorer
Dec 29, 2015
Well,
Faster operating, longevity, SERIOUSLY BRIGHTER, less amperage draw, the "Cool" factor, and, in my case with my Jeep below, it's also a Nostalgic look. I never did like those boxy looking tail lights on so many year jeeps. We've only had 8 so, I decided to alter the tail lights. I wanted anyone following us, to really be notified of our intensions. And, I really like them. In one pic, you see the old, Kleenex box tail lights and, the others, you see the new style LED ones.

And, since the left rear tail light on a Jeep Wrangler (Rubicon) actually has five functions, when I changed to the 4" round, 32 LED flush mount ones, I had to also install:
1. Tail marker
2. Turn/brake
3. Back-up light
4. License plate light
5. Side marker light

It was a fun little job and, the rear of that Jeep not only lights up like a Christmas tree, but, those little CREE (6-LED) back up lights I added are some SERIOUS back up lights and, like stated, I like the nostalgic look of the old, flat fender tail lights but, with new and modern optics.
Scott
Tom_Barb
Explorer
Dec 29, 2015
Gjac wrote:
I get that they are brighter but I wouldn't spend $70 to replace OEM tail light bulbs that work on a 20 year old MH, just my opinion.

When you are worried about spending $70 bucks on your coach, to give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, you probably shouldn't be owning one. Just my opinion.
Gjac
Explorer III
Dec 29, 2015
I get that they are brighter but I wouldn't spend $70 to replace OEM tail light bulbs that work on a 20 year old MH, just my opinion.
Tom_Barb
Explorer
Dec 28, 2015
Ordered the LEDs to convert all our clearance/turn and stop lights for just under 70 bucks. 4 - 1157LEDs, 4 -194 LEDs 2- 1156LEDs. Plus I'll clean all the sockets and re-preserve, and polish the lenses.
RLS7201
Explorer II
Dec 28, 2015
I replace my 95 Bounder F53 tail light assemblies with Bargman replacement LEDs. They are DOT approved and much brighter. Makes lane changing a little easier, except in CA.
After the change, the torque converter quit locking up and the cruse control quit working. The EEC-IV engine/transmission management system looks for a positive voltage on the stop light wires to turn off the cruse and unlock the torque converter. There was about 3.5 volts of inductive voltage on the stop light wires, that was being pulled down with the old incandescent bulbs. I added 2 sockets and 912 bulbs to the stop light wires and the problem went away.
Take that problem to your local RV repair shop and see what happens. GRIN

Richard

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