LED tail light replacement - bad idea?

PopUpPapa · 03-05-2018, 03:06 PM

Hello,

Last summer we bought a 2000 Jayco Eagle M-12 UDK & are loving it!

One tail light is dimmer than the other, and neither are great. (Interestingly, after we got a new wiring harness for a different vehicle, the relative brightness between the two switched sides.)

I've been thinking about replacing the tail lights with an LED option. Anyone done this before? I can follow directions and figure a thing or two out on my own, but I'm definitely not an accomplished handyman or electrician. What we have now is functional, so I don't want to take a step backwards!

I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts, advice, etc.

Thanks for the help!

Sundancer330 · 03-05-2018, 03:43 PM

I had read this on etrailer about mixing lights. And have heard some LED stop/turn lights are very dim and hard to see during the day.

This is what etrailer said:
One main difference between LED lights and incandescents is the amount of power each one draws. I did a little research and found that if you were to have LEDs and incandescents on the same circuit, it would be too much power draw for the LEDs without using the proper resistors to compensate for the differences. It would be best to replace all the lights to one type or the other on the same circuit.

PopUpPapa · 03-05-2018, 04:01 PM

Thanks a bunch! That is definitely helpful to know...

Sound like it's all or nothing on the LED conversion!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundancer330

I had read this on etrailer about mixing lights. And have heard some LED stop/turn lights are very dim and hard to see during the day.

This is what etrailer said:
One main difference between LED lights and incandescents is the amount of power each one draws. I did a little research and found that if you were to have LEDs and incandescents on the same circuit, it would be too much power draw for the LEDs without using the proper resistors to compensate for the differences. It would be best to replace all the lights to one type or the other on the same circuit.

etex211 · 03-05-2018, 04:58 PM

I installed the LED circuit board conversions on my camper taillights without doing anything to the side markers or my truck taillights, and everything works just fine.

The only real issue I know that can exist from changing over the LEDs is that if you eliminate all of the incandescent bulbs from the system, then the flasher might recognize the lack of resistance as a burned out bulb and not function properly.

spoon059 · 03-05-2018, 06:28 PM

I have always put LED tails on my trailers. Super easy to do. If you buy a kit that is meant for your light manufacturer, its as easy as swapping a bulb and lens. If you buy a new taillight, you just have to connect 3 wires per side. The standard RV taillights are horrible, usually a flat piece of mildly reflective metal (that quickly gets dirty and stops being reflective) and a regular 3157 halogen bulb.

I find that in rain or fog the standard RV taillights are too dim for safety, hence changing them out. I also change to LED clearance lights in the rear for enhanced visibility. We drive through the Eastern US mountains a lot and it can get foggy/cloudy up there.

ThatGTI · 03-06-2018, 11:34 AM

I changed the bulbs in my tail lights to LED. It was an easy swap and they worked fine with the trailer. I wanted to do full LED assemblies, but it seemed like too much work for tail lights that already function properly.

All the lights (except the xenons) on my car are LED, and I wanted to change some of the pop-up lights to LEDs. The brake lights/turn signals were first on the list. LEDs turn on and off immediatley and don't have the "fade" of halogen bulbs. So when I had the halogen bulbs in and had the turn signal on, there was almost a delay from the turn signal on my car and the trailer. It just looked kinda odd. So I bought some LED bulbs to replace the stock CEC3157 bulbs with. The LEDs are brighter than the factory halogen bulbs, but the only downside is that the difference in brightness between light on and brakes on isn't as much as the halogen bulb. The LEDs are brighter with the lights on and brighter with the brakes on, but the difference in brightness between them isn't as much as the halogen bulbs. So when looking at it the brake lights are a bit more noticeable on the halogen bulbs if you have the lights on.

Factory Halogen

LED

I did encounter an issue with them though. My car has bulb monitoring for the trailer, and for some reason the car system thought that the driver side tail light (I know the picture below shows the other side) on the trailer was out. So I had to put the stock halogen bulbs back in. Most tow vehicles don't have this though, so I would imagine it would be fine.

PopUpPapa · 03-14-2018, 01:02 PM

Thanks for all of the very helpful info!

Does anyone have any suggestions on specific options for LED lights?

There seem to be a lot out there. If I'm going to do this, I want to make sure I get lights that function really well, that fit my pop-up, and that I can (relatively) easily install!

RVhiker · 03-14-2018, 03:19 PM

I replaced my tail/brake lights with these Bargman LED lights. They are much brighter than the lights Jayco supplied. These lights do not have a license plate bracket or light, so you would also need something like this LED license plate bracket/light combo. I did not change my clearance lights.

Measure carefully; my new brake light/tail lights fit perfectly, but if the proper area on the trailer had been an inch smaller they would not have fit.

PopUpPapa · 03-16-2018, 11:36 AM

I found these lights which I think would work well. (Driver, Passenger)

Does anyone know if/where I can get the opposite end of the connector for the red & black wires? My existing light has three separate wires on the tail light connecting to three separate wires in the trailer. If I could find the other end of the connector on this light to add to the wiring in the trailer, I think I'd be in business.

Thanks again for all of the help!

**norty1** · 03-16-2018, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PopUpPapa

I found these lights which I think would work well. (Driver, Passenger)

Does anyone know if/where I can get the opposite end of the connector for the red & black wires? My existing light has three separate wires on the tail light connecting to three separate wires in the trailer. If I could find the other end of the connector on this light to add to the wiring in the trailer, I think I'd be in business.

Thanks again for all of the help!

That is a pretty standard connector. Look in a auto parts store that has trailer accessories. Take a picture of it.

curver900 · 03-23-2018, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PopUpPapa

Hello,

Last summer we bought a 2000 Jayco Eagle M-12 UDK & are loving it!

One tail light is dimmer than the other, and neither are great. (Interestingly, after we got a new wiring harness for a different vehicle, the relative brightness between the two switched sides.)

I've been thinking about replacing the tail lights with an LED option. Anyone done this before? I can follow directions and figure a thing or two out on my own, but I'm definitely not an accomplished handyman or electrician. What we have now is functional, so I don't want to take a step backwards!

I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts, advice, etc.

Thanks for the help!

check the grounds on both of the lights.. chances are that is your issue... take out the lens/grommet and follow the white wire... clean the connection if really rusty well you will have to clean it up with new LED or whatever light you put in it...

LED replacements are easy.. usually plug and play.. make sure you have a good ground..

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