Convert Front Blinker to Running Light Mod

JEA3 · October 2, 2018

Hello All!

New member here! I am looking for a possible way to have my front blinkers remain "on" all of the time and blink "off-on-off-on" when activated. Obviously, the way they are now on my 2018 LT Silverado is they remain "off" all of the time and blink "on-off-on-off" when activated. Does this make sense? In essence they would become an amber running light when the blinker is not activated. Any ideas on how i might could do this with any wiring and/or diode trickery? I would only want to do this for the front blinkers and not change the behavior of the rear blinkers in the process.

Thanks for any ideas!

Silveradoh · October 2, 2018

Hello All!

New member here! I am looking for a possible way to have my front blinkers remain "on" all of the time and blink "off-on-off-on" when activated. Obviously, the way they are now on my 2018 LT Silverado is they remain "off" all of the time and blink "on-off-on-off" when activated. Does this make sense? In essence they would become an amber running light when the blinker is not activated. Any ideas on how i might could do this with any wiring and/or diode trickery? I would only want to do this for the front blinkers and not change the behavior of the rear blinkers in the process.

Thanks for any ideas!

Interested in this as well, I have the LTZ headlights so it would be the LED switchbacks for me that would become additional DRLs, but same principle would apply I’d think. Maybe Phil or one of the harness companies could fab something up?

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Kubs · October 2, 2018

This is the only product I know of. It used to say it worked for both LT and LTZ style headlights, but now it only says LTZ.

https://www.gen5diy.com/collections/14-18-silverado-p-p-harnesses/products/16-18-silverado-turn-signal-drl-override-harness

JEA3 · October 2, 2018

Thank you both for your replies! Kubs... I checked out the harness you linked above. That applies to making your DRLS stay on when the blinker is activated. I actually want the blinker to stay on when the lights are on and then blink off-on-off-on when activated. In essence giving me an amber running light up front in addition to the white LED running light.

I hope that makes sense.

Thanks again!

E-rich1210 · October 2, 2018

Could you tap power from your DRL for each side to power each blinker through a diode. When the DRL's are on they would power the blinker light and then when you activate that blinker the DRL shuts off so the blinker would function normally? And with the Diode in place, the blinker wouldn't back feed into the DRL's when blinking. You might have to add a diode into the blinker wiring as well so the DRL's don't feed back into the blinker circuit. Maybe Phil or someone with more electrical knowledge could help more...

xMEATxHAMMERx · October 2, 2018

Thank you both for your replies! Kubs... I checked out the harness you linked above. That applies to making your DRLS stay on when the blinker is activated. I actually want the blinker to stay on when the lights are on and then blink off-on-off-on when activated. In essence giving me an amber running light up front in addition to the white LED running light.

I hope that makes sense.

Thanks again!

I like the way this sounds and I subbed hoping that a viable solution is found. Maybe pgamboa might have an idea? He's a wizard for this kind of stuff. Look him up and send him a message!

And as always... Enjoy your ride!

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xMEATxHAMMERx · October 2, 2018

Thank you both for your replies! Kubs... I checked out the harness you linked above. That applies to making your DRLS stay on when the blinker is activated. I actually want the blinker to stay on when the lights are on and then blink off-on-off-on when activated. In essence giving me an amber running light up front in addition to the white LED running light.

I hope that makes sense.

Thanks again!

I like the way this sounds and I subbed hoping that a viable solution is found. Maybe pgamboa might have an idea? He's a wizard for this kind of stuff. Look him up and send him a message!

And as always... Enjoy your ride!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

JEA3 · October 2, 2018

E-rich1210... That could possibly work, but for one small detail I didn't mention earlier. I have the DRLS wiring modded so they continue to stay on with the blinkers activated. Thanks for taking the time to think it through!

E-rich1210 · October 2, 2018

25 minutes ago, JEA3 said:

E-rich1210... That could possibly work, but for one small detail I didn't mention earlier. I have the DRLS wiring modded so they continue to stay on with the blinkers activated. Thanks for taking the time to think it through!

Well that throws my plan out the window haha unless you could tap the DRL feed before your mod...

JEA3 · October 2, 2018

E-rich1210... thinking about your idea, even if I were able to connect them up stream of the mod at the BCM, I think that would just turn the blinker on in a sense that it would blink. It would not remain illuminated constantly, right?

E-rich1210 · October 3, 2018

19 hours ago, JEA3 said:

E-rich1210... thinking about your idea, even if I were able to connect them up stream of the mod at the BCM, I think that would just turn the blinker on in a sense that it would blink. It would not remain illuminated constantly, right?

In theory the blinkers would be on whenever your DRL's are activated by the BCM. Then when you activate your blinker manually, the signal from the BCM would drop out and you would be left with your standard blinker signal going to the blinker. When you shut off the blinker the BCM signal to the DRL for that side would turn back on and therefor your blinker would light up again. How do you have your DRL's modded to always be on?

JEA3 · October 3, 2018

E-rich1210...I did the diode mod found on this site that keeps the DRLS bright when headlights are on as opposed to dimming like they normally would. As a result, the DRLS stay on even with the blinkers on as long as the headlights are on. If the headlights are off then the DRLS go off when the blinker is activated. Makes sense? 1st world concerns, huh! Lol!

xMEATxHAMMERx · October 3, 2018

E-rich1210...I did the diode mod found on this site that keeps the DRLS bright when headlights are on as opposed to dimming like they normally would. As a result, the DRLS stay on even with the blinkers on as long as the headlights are on. If the headlights are off then the DRLS go off when the blinker is activated. Makes sense? 1st world concerns, huh! Lol!

So you can't have them do both? They are either blinkers like they are now, or they are drls after the mod? Just to be clear, I believe the op was wanting to mod the amber lights, which are factory turn signals, not the whites which are the drls.

And as always... Enjoy your ride!

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JEA3 · October 3, 2018

Correct. E-rich1210 understands that. He is on to a way you could have the Amber lights do both (act as a running light as well as a blinker). Which is what i want. However, I have monkey wrench in it since i have done the mod posted above.

E-rich1210 · October 4, 2018

If you could find a signal somewhere that runs the DRL's before the diode mod then you would be all set. I just don't know if there is anywhere to grab this signal before your diode mod. I would think someone like pgamboa may know of a location for the DRL signal... otherwise you may just have to pick between blinker always on and your DRL's always on...