2 questions about LED trailer lights

[teslaman]

I'm looking to replace my aging trailer light system with an LED kit. Are there any kits that are particularly better than the other? What is a good kit for the cost?

Also, I would like to run a seperate ground if possible and not rely on the trailer chasis. Are most LED kits equipped with a ground wire or would I need to solder one to each light? I saw a kit in the store the other day and it didn't appear to have a ground.

 

[WaterWitch2]

Re: 2 questions about LED trailer lights

I've never used the LED lights but I highly recommend the separate ground wire. It solved all my grounding problems with grounding through the frame.

 

[SuzukiChopper]

Re: 2 questions about LED trailer lights

If you're going to get an LED kit, get one where the board is encased in epoxy. Never have to worry about water that way. Some cheaper kits I have seen do not do this.

Also, if there is no ground wire from the board and the board is encased you will not be able to solder a ground wire to it. No big deal because in that case they're designed to ground through the mounting bolts or the housing and you can run a ground wire from that point and not have to rely on the mounting point itself.

 

[QuadManiac]

Re: 2 questions about LED trailer lights

If there's no ground wire put a ring lug, connected to your ground wire, under one mounting nut of each light.

 

[PondTunes]

Re: 2 questions about LED trailer lights

Tractor Supply / Northern sells a Submersible LED trailer light kit, the boards are sealed, they are of good quality, have a external ground wire, and are multi function. Stop/Turn/Tail/Brake/Tag Ilum/Side Clearance Etc. They run about $50.00 I've been very pleased with mine.

 

[bigtwin]

Re: 2 questions about LED trailer lights

I installed Optronics kit on my trailer (paid $40 for the kit). This kit is epoxy sealed and has a seperate ground lead from each light. They are very bright and draw almost no power. When I brought them home I opened the package to look at them, it was too late in the day to install them, but I wanted to see how bright they were, so I wired one of the lights up to a 9V battery (type used for smoke alarms and old transistor raidos), even with only 9v available the both the brake and tail lights were bright, I left them connected over night, in the morning the light was still shinning bright (8 hours from a 9v battery!!)

 

[roscoe]

Re: 2 questions about LED trailer lights

Some of the cheaper sets just use an led bulb array stuck into an old fashioned socket. No good.

 

[C-VENN]

Re: 2 questions about LED trailer lights

I have installed 2 Optronic kits on my 2 trailers, very pleased. They also come wih all the clips and nuts needed. You truly only need the kit and shrink tubing or electrical tape. And yes very brite.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 2 questions about LED trailer lights

if you have read my post i have advocated running the ground wire for years. i started doing it 20 years ago.. just connect to the mount bolts on the old style lights, or the ground if the fixture has the ground wire.

 

[JMRuth72]

Re: 2 questions about LED trailer lights

Good choice to go with LED lights. I recently installed a set for a friend of mine and what a difference. Of course his wiring was all messed up from age so I went through and redid all of it. Every splice was a enviromental splice (water tight, heat shrink with glue), and we eliminated the trailer chassis as the ground. The biggest thing that I can say is make sure of what the tow vehicle is putting out on each pin. I took a multimeter and read out the different pins from his truck and compared it to what the wiring schematic I had said it should be. Then wired everything from there as close to color coded as possible so that if we have to redo anything it will be identifiable in the future. Plus it will match what appears to be the standard for wiring colors. That means that anyone at any trailer repair place can fix it with little problem. There are a couple of places where we had to differ because we didn't have the right color wire, but it is close enough the difference is pretty obvious. Take your time and verify everything before you shrink, tape or strap it down and you will be happy with the results. Good luck.

 

[gunner1]

Re: 2 questions about LED trailer lights

Plus one for the Optronics. It's a VERY good kit and Very easy to install. Each individual light is grounded as is the wiring harness itself. You won't believe how bright they are! Also, if one gets broke, they sell individual replacements at Gander Mountain.