Tail Light Recommendations

Western96 · March 10, 2020

About a year and a half ago, one of my truck's OEM tail lights got smashed while it was parked overnight on the street. I took the chance to swap both tail lights with some aftermarket ones made by Spyder. I like the smoked/blacked out look but durability was less than stellar. Unfortunately, it only took around 6-7 months for the resistors in those lights to go out and now my tail lights have the too-fast LED flash.

Does anyone have any recommendations for some higher quality smoked tail lights that won't fail in a couple months? There's a bunch of options out there in the same price range as my lights. Then I also found some significantly pricier ones made by Recon - is there a corresponding increase in quality with that company?

Or does anyone know how doable it is to find the resistor in my current tail lights, cut it out and splice in a new one? I'm not much of a wiring guy but not afraid to learn new things, especially since these lights are screwed up already anyways.

davester · March 10, 2020

Most likely, the resistor died due to heat. If you do figure out how to get the existing resistor out of wherever it is and get standalone ones, mount it on something metal to be a heat sink (and also so it doesn't get wet from the rear wheels.

davester · March 10, 2020

Note, it's possible the LED's have a completely different setup to limit the current to the LED, and that circuit has failed (again, probably due to heat and really cheap components). You may want to test the LED and/or circuitry to see if they still work prior to spending money trying to fix them.

jscottl · March 11, 2020

I bit the bullet and paid bit extra for Recon's. All four lights are Recon.

Donstar · March 11, 2020

Stock taillights have ample visibility. I'd look for functionality over looks. Maybe an autowrecker would have a mate for your original unbroken light. I was behind a Chevrolet 1500 two days ago with faulty brake lights. It was heavy stop and go traffic and I was reminded just how helpful brake lights are to other drivers! If I was texting or dealing with spilled soup or shaving, I might of smashed into him/her!

peterlawl84 · March 12, 2020

that sucks, one of our boys backed into the trashcan and knocked a hole into one of the Sierra taillights and I didn't want to spend $150+ for replacement, was able to find one at local salvage yard for alot less.

15BlueSilverado · March 12, 2020

I got these off eBay. I like that they're different and they look good. The centers light up with the brakes and I have a LED bulb for the reverse light.

Western96 · March 14, 2020

On 3/11/2020 at 9:22 AM, jscottl said:

I bit the bullet and paid bit extra for Recon's. All four lights are Recon.

How long have you had those on for? Looks good, my truck looks similar right now, I got a Recon light bar on mine and it's been flawless so that might be a good sign for the rest of their products.

Western96 · March 14, 2020

On 3/11/2020 at 9:30 AM, Donstar said:

Stock taillights have ample visibility. I'd look for functionality over looks. Maybe an autowrecker would have a mate for your original unbroken light. I was behind a Chevrolet 1500 two days ago with faulty brake lights. It was heavy stop and go traffic and I was reminded just how helpful brake lights are to other drivers! If I was texting or dealing with spilled soup or shaving, I might of smashed into him/her!

I've got a LED light bar on the back of my truck that really lights up when I hit the brakes and I know for now my brake lights are working well, definitely something to keep an eye out for though. Driving behind guys with one/no brake lights really sucks.

jscottl · March 14, 2020

1 hour ago, Western96 said:

How long have you had those on for? Looks good, my truck looks similar right now, I got a Recon light bar on mine and it's been flawless so that might be a good sign for the rest of their products.

Got them last summer

dieselfan1 · March 14, 2020

On 3/12/2020 at 4:02 PM, 15BlueSilverado said:

I got these off eBay. I like that they're different and they look good. The centers light up with the brakes and I have a LED bulb for the reverse light.

I like those. How much?

BTW Thanks for your service