LED Trailer Lights

[GaryBDavis]

I’m building another trailer and am once again considering using LED lights.

I use the oval tail/brake lights and 2 inch round clearance lights that mount with the rubber grommets. I’m still using the sealed beam lights as they are cheap, easy to find, and for the most part, different brands look pretty much the same so you can interchange them.

The LED lights are still kind of expensive and different manufacturers have different LED patterns for the same size lights. I was kind of hoping they would all settle on one configuration so they could be somewhat interchangeable. But, it doesn’t look like they are there yet.

Anyone out there have a brand recommendation that seems to be the most popular and on-line supplier that carries them?

 

[Mike_C]

I highly recommend Peterson Manufacturing. Not only are they probably the most popular, they have a 100,000 hour
rating (not sure if it's actually a guarantee). I bought a bunch of LED marker lights from them, and a few died because they were close to the ground and I think
salt water got into them during Winter, and I called them to complain and they shipped out new ones at no charge. They only asked that I send the old ones back so they could check them for manufacturing defects. They have a web page here
www.pmlights.com You can call them and ask who is selling them in your area or ask them for a web site. I asked them for a web site for the marker lights and they gave me www.4statetrucks.com which is a place that primarily caters to 18-wheelers, but they had the lights I wanted and gave me great service. Many of the LED lights require pigtail connectors, so make sure you check into that and buy them if necessary.

 

[frederic]

I love LED's on vehicles. They are bright, and under normal circumstances they don't burn out.

Anyway, if you want to roll your own, a friend of mine put together homemade LED lights for his mustang, and they came out excellent. Last summer I duplicated his project for my F350... and they too came out really nice.

http://www.midimonkey.com/~frederic/taillights/

Might be more work than it's worth for most, but it was a fun project none the less.

 

[Ranch_Hand_Supp]

I think the best feature of the LED light is..... that it does not have a high amp draw.

Ronald

 

[RedRocker]

What are you building this time Gary? I'm kicking around building a 22' myself, maybe using 2X4 tubing for the frame.

 

[GeneD14]

LED lights also burn cooler than an incandecent bulb. Although the LED's last much longer keep in mind that the majority of lighting failures on trucks and trailers are from corroded terminals and other connections. I used to work in the Heavy Duty Truck Lighting Division of a Tier 1 supplier and corrosion has been the #1 cause of failure for years.

The best combination seems to be an LED light with terminals coated with dielectric grease and protected from salt or water spray.

 

[slowrev]

The demise of most trailer lights I have seen are due to collisions and abuse, not bulbs burning out or corrosion. The led's might keep on burning after the housing is broken away /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Ben
I will probably try some soon though, they are getting cheaper.

 

[frederic]

LMAO, good point.

Though my trailer lights usually do burn out because I've welded simple metal shrouds around them for protection.

While rather bent at this point, the housings are okay!

 

[farmer_wanna_be]

I installed a set of LED lights on my home built utility trailer. I got mine at the local Northern Tool, and they probably sell them on line. I forget the brand name of the lights I bought. I think I have also seen them at the local Tractor Supply Co. store, so you can probably get them on line there too.

Although the lights are probably worth more than the rest of my trailer (I've had it 20 years), I like them 'cause they burn brighter than the former standard lights. The lower amp draw also means they wont screw up your turn signals if you don't have a HD "blinker."

 

[Mike_C]

Frederic, I would be interested in seeing your schematic to see exactly how you handled the dim -vs- bright states of the LED's.
I bought some no-name aftermarket LED taillight bulbs that were direct replacements for the 3157's, and they burned out after six months. My idea in putting in LED's was to make them last for the life of the truck, and instead I had people yelling at me that I had no brake lights. Sigh.