marker lights to led marker lights

[poorboy]

would like to change the marker lights and tail lights on the trailer to LED marker lights. has anyone done this, is it a matter of just changing the light fixture or is there more involved like changing the wiring. the LED lights are much brighter and therefore safer.

[Bumpyroad]

Durb wrote:
I changed out my marker lights and found nice ones with correct hole spacing on superbrightled.com. I read once about the light-up time of LEDs compared to incandescent; the LEDs were milliseconds quicker which really made a distance difference when going 70 MPH. May keep you from getting hit from the rear as the LEDs light up faster.

I just replaced the cab clearance lights on my truck to LED. They look good and are definitely brighter.

so your marker lights work as stop lights? good thing they light up a millisecond quicker.
bumpy

[Durb]

I changed out my marker lights and found nice ones with correct hole spacing on superbrightled.com. I read once about the light-up time of LEDs compared to incandescent; the LEDs were milliseconds quicker which really made a distance difference when going 70 MPH. May keep you from getting hit from the rear as the LEDs light up faster.

I just replaced the cab clearance lights on my truck to LED. They look good and are definitely brighter.

[carringb]

Bumpyroad wrote:
I question if changing the marker lights to brighter ones would have any effect on safety. brake lights possibly but not meaningful for the effort and cost involved.
bumpy

LEDs don't wash out in direct sun like incandescent housings, especially the ones popular on RVs.

I had one super foggy trip over the blue mountains once on I-84, and taillights weren't visible. Everybody had 4-way flashers on. Incandescents were barely visible within a car-length, but the trucks with LEDs were visible for 2-3x that distance.

[APT]

I did that. Just make sure to test the wiring +/-. Incandescent can work either direction. LED only one direction or current flow.

[aftermath]

I am in the process of changing all the lights INSIDE my trailer to LEDs. Doing this to conserve battery when out boondocking. I am going through LED for RV. Great help, answers to all my questions and they stand behind their products.

I asked him about exterior lights and he pointed out the fact that if the lights work, you probably should stick with them. There is no energy savings since your running lights run off the TV generating capacity and not your trailer battery.

If you are not happy with what you have then that is another story. You can change out the bulbs or replacing the fixtures. Talk to Dan at LED4RVS and he can guide you.

[BarabooBob]

My Class C was older and the fixtures were not in good condition so I replaced all of my marker lights and turn/brake/backup lights with new fixtures. The improvement was huge. I bought my replacements form etrailer. Make sure that you seal everything with butyl tape and test them for leaks if possible.

[trail-explorer]

deltabravo wrote:
Easy project, which I documented here when I did this on my Nash 17k

I've done the same upgrade.

The marker lights I used are these

[Edd505]

Yes did it on my old Jayco, found everything right here. Lights

[deltabravo]

poorboy wrote:
has anyone done this, is it a matter of just changing the light fixture

Easy project, which I documented here when I did this on my Nash 17k

[cavie]

Just change the blubs. Auto parts have replacements.

[Gdetrailer]

Bumpyroad wrote:
I question if changing the marker lights to brighter ones would have any effect on safety. brake lights possibly but not meaningful for the effort and cost involved.
bumpy

YES, I believe that in broad daylight with the sun shining in the drivers face driving behind my trailer they WILL see my LED tail lights!

For stop/turn I used the Bargman 84 series triples.



Trust me, these things are a wall of bright red light when you are either turning or stopping. They WILL get the drivers attention.

My trailer sits in my yard with tail lights facing the West and when I light them up with the sun shining heavily from either the East or even west you CAN easily see them. Absolutely no excuse for anyone claiming that they didn't see my lights.

But hindsight, for the cost of the LED replacements for these, I should have replaced with incadescent 84 fixtures and then added LED replacement bulbs.. The replacement cost of just one of the modules is an astronomical $50 EACH. I got smart and bought two sets of double fixtures to keep as spares, much cheaper spare parts.

I had to replace the entire fixture due to the originals having broken lenses and were totally obsolete and no replacement lenses available..

I changed out the markers at the same time, I was lucky to find the old style oval type that fit where the original markers were mounted.. And as good fortune smiled on me, the replacement markers had removable lenses and were not sealed when they started to fail.. I was able to remove the lens, grind down the failed LEDs and replace them with BETTER designed LEDs over top of the old ones.. My replacements most likely will outlast my life..

[Bumpyroad]

I question if changing the marker lights to brighter ones would have any effect on safety. brake lights possibly but not meaningful for the effort and cost involved.
bumpy

[KD4UPL]

Yes, just swap the fixtures.
However, you may need to change the signal light flasher in your tow vehicle. Some of the older vehicles have flashers that flash very rapidly (like a strobe light almost) when used with LEDs. These are readily available and it's usually a simple un-plug, plug-in swap.

[Gdetrailer]

Yes, I have done this by replacing the fixtures.

In hindsight, did not anticipate that the life of the "replacement" LED fixtures was not going to be as long as advertised.. Have had 6 out of 12 fixtures quit after only a couple of yrs. Keeping in mind that I only get to use my RV only 2 weeks a yr, that is a pretty poor life.. Even more irritating was the fact that I spent more than double for the LED fixtures over what new incadescent fixtures cost at the time.

If you already have GOOD fixtures with good lenses, I would highly recommend just replacing the incadescent bulbs with LED bulbs.

Plenty of decent aftermarket LED bulbs to choose from now days and the cost is pretty cheap. Get amber LED bulbs for amber fixtures and red LED bulbs for the red fixtures for the most brightness impact.

I would have to disagree with JIMNLIN, I WANT my RV to be able to be seen from the ISS in space.. There are way too many idiots now days on the road paying more attention and playing with their "iphones". Absolutely no one can say that they "never seen" my rig..

[JIMNLIN]

Brighter doesn't necessarily mean safer.
Some LED lights on upfitter beds for our pickups or chassis mounted service beds are too bright.
My local equipment trailer mfg had issues with this and even rear brake lights. The brake lights were so bright it made seeing the turn signals all but impossible so they found a different light supplier.

You can use the same wires for LED transitions. I did this on the back of my blue tractor. The old lights were giving up so went to all LED on the rear. This tractor sees no highway ...just county roads with lots of gulleys.