LED tail lights on F53

[two_travelers]

I'm thinking about relacing the incandescant tail lights with LED's on our Winnebago Sightseer with F53 chassis. I've heard that since the LED's have a lower resistance, that it play's havoc with the cruise control. Has any one done this replacement and are there any issues that I need to consider? Any LED bulb repalcement suggestions? Thanks!

[Yankee_Clipper]

On my rig, the cruise control, brake lights, and turn signals are all on Fuse #9, so if the ground to any one of those components goes bad, they all go off.

[Daveinet]

First of all, I have a degree in electronics. And YES, it can confuse the cruise control, especially in an older unit. The reason is that when the brake lights are off, they look like a very low resistor to ground. Incandescent have a very significant turn on current, so it almost looks like a short. The cruise control wants to see this near short to ground, so that it knows the brakes are off. LEDs do not have a low resistance to ground when they are off, which confuses the cruise control, preventing it from turning on. The solution is easy, one just needs to add relay to the brake light circuit so that it really sees the off condition.

As far as the flasher, any auto parts store has a solid state flasher unit that plugs into the standard flasher relay, and will make the blinkers work correctly, regardless of the load.

[FIRE_UP]

two travelers wrote:
I'm thinking about relacing the incandescant tail lights with LED's on our Winnebago Sightseer with F53 chassis. I've heard that since the LED's have a lower resistance, that it play's havoc with the cruise control. Has any one done this replacement and are there any issues that I need to consider? Any LED bulb repalcement suggestions? Thanks!

two travelers,
First off, I'm not sure who's told you that there's related problems with cruise control performance with the use of LEDs for tail lights but, it's a bit false. There's a zillion cars/trucks/motorcycles/motorhomes and more that folks have switched to LED tail lights and never have a problem. And, while I'm certainly no electrical guru when it comes to much of this stuff, I've always been lead to believe that there's LESS resistance to an LED bulb and, that's the exact reason that, one of the only problems that crops up when one changes to the use of them for tail lights is, the turn signals go nuts.

That is, they flash considerably faster due to the fact that there's way less current being drawn and, they, the LEDs don't provide the resistance that the flashers need to see, in order to function correctly. That is why, in many cases when folks change to LED tail lights, they have to add resistors to bring up the amount of resistance the flashers need to see, in order to function correctly.

Now, in many of todays "complete" LED tail lights, some of that is already done. When I say complete, I mean purchasing an entire tail light assembly, not just a bulb. I changed the entire tail light assembly on our '04 Jeep Rubicon a few years back and, while the lights were considerably brighter than the stock incandescent ones, the stock flasher went crazy. Those tail lights flashed at over twice the rate of speed than they did with the old bulbs. I purchased some "in line" resistors that were just "plug and play" units and, the flasher functioned normal after the install of those.

But, that was a while ago and, while I've change almost all my interior lights, my compartment lights, porch lights etc. over to LEDs, I've not changed my current coach tail lights to LEDs. I'm leaning towards it but, just haven't gotten around to it yet. Soon.
Scott

[Dennis_M_M]

Don't know why they would effect the cruise control, but you might need to add resistance so the turn signal flasher works correctly.

On my fiver there are two taillights on each side. When I put LEDs in all four it was not enough load, so I put incandescents back in one pair. Now my top pair come on a second or so faster than the bottom pair, both signal and brake lights. Figure that can't hurt since it is attention getting and the flasher likes it.

I read once that at 60 MPH the quicker activation of LED brake lights is worth 30 feet of stopping distance for the driver behind you.

[Jagtech]

Actually, LED's have a higher resistance, and draw considerably less current. I can't think of a reason that they would affect your cruise control, as it is deactivated by a direct 12 volt signal from the brake light switch, and on some models a dedicated switch on the brake pedal.
Finding the right LED's with adequate brightness can be a challenge. A lot of direct replacement bulbs just aren't adequate.You might also need a heavy duty flasher for your turn signals, to make them flash at the right rate.