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LED taillight upgrades?

CamJake

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Waterfowler41 Senior Enthusiast

Waterfowler41

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the write up. I will be doing this hopefully soon. Waiting on the side of the road for a tow.....hopefully its something minor and I can get my truck back soon so I can do this install. Will order parts later. How do the LED bulbs look with lights on and flashers or turn signal on?

 

 

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slightly brighter, I used the Philip's leds which are indirect fixtures meaning they shine backwards into the housing not directly out the lens. Some of the other Ieds out there are direct in that they point straight out, IMO this causes hot spots of light and looks "aftermaket." They look brighter but they don't light the housing equal which looks meh....

 

The philips leds provide a tasteful and safe amount of light. Slightly more output than stock.

 

 

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Waterfowler41 Senior Enthusiast

Waterfowler41

Posted
Posted

9aa52fcd1a17b7ef43512325cf5c06d5.jpg

 

Finished up the drivers side. Took 15 minutes, left a lot of slack in the wires so the tails could be moved without unplugging lamps.

 

 

 

 

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SuperSierra Enthusiast

SuperSierra

Posted
Posted

9aa52fcd1a17b7ef43512325cf5c06d5.jpg

 

Finished up the drivers side. Took 15 minutes, left a lot of slack in the wires so the tails could be moved without unplugging lamps.

 

 

 

 

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What 2 of the 4 wires are the positive and negative

 

 

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Waterfowler41 Senior Enthusiast

Waterfowler41

Posted
Posted

What 2 of the 4 wires are the positive and negative

 

 

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Connect the green and black wires with the resistors for each socket.

 

 

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SuperSierra Enthusiast

SuperSierra

Posted
Posted

Connect the green and black wires with the resistors for each socket.

 

 

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I got one led working, but need to do the top light.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
njs2247 Enthusiast

njs2247

Posted
Posted

Need some help guys. So I replaced all 4 rear bulbs and both rear side marker bulbs with LEDs on my truck the other day. Everything works fine except for when my parking lights are on at night or if it's raining and parking lights come on. When I use my right turn signal, I get 3 regular blinks and then I get error message "right side turn failure." Sometimes the left will do the same, but only after the right side does it first. For example, if my parking lights are on and I want to turn left, I don't get error message. However, if parking lights are on and I turn right I get the error message and if I immediately use left signal I will sometimes get the error message.

 

I am wondering if changing the rear marker lights to LED has something to do with it since they come on when parking lights are on. But I can't figure out why that would cause only the right side to give me an error message all the time and only the left sometimes.

 

Again, this only happens when parking lights are on and doesn't happen during the daytime at all.

SuperSierra Enthusiast

SuperSierra

Posted
Posted

Need some help guys. So I replaced all 4 rear bulbs and both rear side marker bulbs with LEDs on my truck the other day. Everything works fine except for when my parking lights are on at night or if it's raining and parking lights come on. When I use my right turn signal, I get 3 regular blinks and then I get error message "right side turn failure." Sometimes the left will do the same, but only after the right side does it first. For example, if my parking lights are on and I want to turn left, I don't get error message. However, if parking lights are on and I turn right I get the error message and if I immediately use left signal I will sometimes get the error message.

 

I am wondering if changing the rear marker lights to LED has something to do with it since they come on when parking lights are on. But I can't figure out why that would cause only the right side to give me an error message all the time and only the left sometimes.

 

Again, this only happens when parking lights are on and doesn't happen during the daytime at all.

Did you use resistors?

 

 

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njs2247 Enthusiast

njs2247

Posted
Posted

Yep. I'm using 1 resistor for each turn signal bulb. So 4 total.

TheBlackPearl Enthusiast

TheBlackPearl

Posted
Posted

Why does everyone use resistors instead of using a new "led compatible" flasher unit?

 

Do the "led compatible" flasher units not work well in these trucks or something?

 

I was planning on swapping out all of my incandescent running/brake/turn light bulbs for leds bulbs and adding a led flasher unit, but if I HAVE TO use resistors, no way.

SuperSierra Enthusiast

SuperSierra

Posted
Posted

Yep. I'm using 1 resistor for each turn signal bulb. So 4 total.

Can you take a video of what happens? This seems super strange.

 

 

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Slugworth Enthusiast

Slugworth

Posted
Posted

I put LED reverse lights in my truck. I didn't use any resistors, should I have???

 

They work fine.

SuperSierra Enthusiast

SuperSierra

Posted
Posted

I put LED reverse lights in my truck. I didn't use any resistors, should I have???

 

They work fine.

No need for reverse lights just lights that blink.

 

 

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Waterfowler41 Senior Enthusiast

Waterfowler41

Posted
Posted

Why does everyone use resistors instead of using a new "led compatible" flasher unit?

 

Do the "led compatible" flasher units not work well in these trucks or something?

 

I was planning on swapping out all of my incandescent running/brake/turn light bulbs for leds bulbs and adding a led flasher unit, but if I HAVE TO use resistors, no way.

I'm pretty sure that only works on older non CANBUS cars. These trucks require resistors on each flashing lamp to "fool" the BCM so no errors are sensed by the computer.

 

 

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njs2247 Enthusiast

njs2247

Posted
Posted

I think tomorrow I will put the stock rear side marker lights back in and see what happens when I use right blinker with lights on.

 

I just have a feeling that has something to do with my issue since it only happens when all lights are on.

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