Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet?

[DrFoster]

Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet, or am I going to be the pioneer?

Anyone have any contacts / resources?

How about load simualtors or whatever they are called; or is the flasher unit on the deuce not load dependant?

 

[Recovry4x4]

RE: Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet

Bjorn has done this on his truck. Might have to wait a while to get a response from him.

 

[Djfreema]

RE: Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet

Wasn't there an article he wrote either on this site or in MV Magazine? I remember seeing pictures of the LED's being placed into the tail light housing.

 

[G744]

RE: Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet

The flasher is not load dependant.

Newer trucks have sealed-all LED light units. Grote makes them, they go around $125 per. Sometimes also on eBay.

The milspec LED replacement lamp units are just for the blackout positions, IMHO. Never seen any for the stop/turn/tail duty in the supply system.

I started a prototype lens adapter to use a solid red LED unit fitted into the older round metal housings. If you pair it up with the correct vintage round blackout/blackout stop light (two units mounted side-by-side it would be correct and save a lot of turn signal switches from early death due to arcing ever time you signal a turn. They also would be happy with anything from 12 to 24-Volts without changes and would be great for trailers pulled by various trucks.

I'll post a photo when I get it looking presentable.

dg

 

[CGarbee]

RE: Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet

I'm lazy... I just ordered a bunch of LED "bulb" assemblies that have the same mounting as the incandescent lights in the front and rear composit housings and swapped out the old bulbs. Works well. One of these days, I'll get around to adding a couple of extra light housing onto my trailers (doubling the number of rear lights from two to four) for some added piece of mind.
Bjorn has a photo or two of his setup and parts numbers on his Imagevent site at:
http://imageevent.com/cranetruck/assortedimages
Looking forward to seeing DG's setup...

 

[DrFoster]

RE: Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet

wow - thanks guys! I'll get pics asap, I've been doing a lot of work - ball joint boots (ARGH!!!), lighting, gauge repair and replacements, installs, painting, interior work, and now this too.

 

[WillWagner]

RE: Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet

Do LEDs care if they are fed 12 or 24VDC?

 

[rmgill]

RE: Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet

Some do, some don't they usually state specific voltages.

 

[Knucklehead]

RE: Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet

An LED runs off of 3 volts.Resistors are used in the light assembly to reduce the voltage to the LED. The higher the voltage the vehicle has , the larger the resistor has to be.

 

[n3uka]

RE: Replacing Filament Bulbs with LEDs... anyone done it yet

Have never purchased any yet, but had found this site that has a variety of led bulbs for 24v towards the bottom of the page.
Hadn't gotten to the point of figuring out which I would buy.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=OTHER

 

[ccain529]

I don't know if this has been posted somewhere on here before but......
I found these in a catalog.
"TruckLite" makes LED lights with housings. It also looks like they make the lamps with buckets for a retrofit.
Here are some pics. These are all available from NAPA.
Not sure about how pricey they are though.

 

[emmado22]

These guys make TONS of 12 and 24V LED's for the military... www.ledtronics.com

 

[BFR]

those are cool (the ones from napa) but at over 500 bucks for a pair of tailights I'll have to pass.

 

[clinto]

but at over 500 bucks for a pair of tailights

 

[ida34]

I was at a yard sale around here a few years ago and the guy had a box full of the front turn signal composite leds like the napa ones. I can't remember the price but it sure wasn't $500 a pair. I just wish I could remember where the guy lived.

 

[gbooth]

Yes I thought they looked cool too, But I can buy a lot of 24 volt bulbs for that price.

 

[emmado22]

I've bought sets of trucklite LED 2 tail lights and 2 front turn signal lights off ebay for $200 total.

 

[Gossamer]

How do you buy from TruckLite? I put a set of the 07240 lights on my Jeep and I want to get the LED version. There are none for sale on E-bay at this time that I could see. Thanks

 

[cranetruck]

This is what I did, the El Cheapo solution:

The guts of the Track Master Inc stop/turn/tail light model 61 fit perfectly within the composite light of the deuce.
The incandescent lights and sockets must be removed for space.
Find the LED lights on ebay by using "stop turn tail tmi" for key words. Was about $19.00/ea.

The small printed circuit board in the picture is the voltage regulator, which permits use of a wide range of supply voltages (10 to 30).
Taking apart the model 61 is perhaps the biggest job, a hacksaw around the edge will do, just be careful.

I have had these on my deuce and M105 trailer now for well over a year and they are still going strong.
The BO lights on the deuce were already LED's, so it's 100% LED now.

 

[Rattlehead]

Bjorn,
Do you think the printed circuit of those lights should be sealed up with that potting glue, whatever it is called? Or maybe it wouldn't help, as for moisture being able to come in from the LED terminal side.