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Adding mirror turn signals?

todd308

By todd308
in Modifications, Wheels & Tires

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Juddmann Enthusiast

Juddmann

Posted
Posted

Not a bad alternative. At least there's a function for them with that. Work lights are cool but driving lights for sure. Wouldn't mind the spot lights for the sides of the roads and the deer at night. Wonder if there's a way to work around the hi beams only. 

gemarsh Senior Enthusiast

gemarsh

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, Juddmann said:

Not a bad alternative. At least there's a function for them with that. Work lights are cool but driving lights for sure. Wouldn't mind the spot lights for the sides of the roads and the deer at night. Wonder if there's a way to work around the hi beams only. 

I think they would be too bright to use on dim. On coming traffic wouldn't like it, at just about when the bumpers would align.

Juddmann Enthusiast

Juddmann

Posted
Posted

I wouldnt want them on constantly but being able to push the button rather than flash the hi beams would be cool. I like the idea of turning them into turn signals more than driving lights. Switch to an amber led. But the hi beam mod is better than the factory option

eppieguy Senior Enthusiast

eppieguy

Posted
Posted

I’d love to turn nine in to turn signals as well, I wonder if there is some amber tint that could go over the clear lens? But I guess first task is getting the lights to work with the turn signals, Boost, where are you?

Juddmann Enthusiast

Juddmann

Posted
Posted

Driving with brights is too bright as well lol. Just for functional purposes of course. Im thinking just use the low or high beam signal when either lows/hi beams are on. swap that with the park signal the spot lights is getting which only allows it to be used when in park. So in theory the low or hi beam signal would simulate the park signal and allow the switch to cycle through the settings. If its just a wiring issue im sure there can be a work-around. My last mods were on an 04' avalanche and computers werent as advanced im guessing.

kodiakdenali Enthusiast

kodiakdenali

Posted
Posted
On 2/3/2021 at 7:06 PM, eppieguy said:

I’d love to turn nine in to turn signals as well, I wonder if there is some amber tint that could go over the clear lens? But I guess first task is getting the lights to work with the turn signals, Boost, where are you?

48 minutes ago, Daryl Casey said:

@kodiakdenali

 

This is right in your wheelhouse! Any thoughts/advice on this idea?

 

They do make yellow or amber films designed specifically for this purpose. you can find it on Amazon. I think it would look rather ugly though to have those lenses always colored yellow.


As with any information about modifying wiring, verify before you implement! If you try anything, please report back! This is based on the upfitter manual for a 2020 sierra.


To make the task lights turn on with the turn signals a relay or diode can be used to connect the two signals.

Left turn signal is BCM X4 pin 3, GRN/PPL; left task light is BCM X7 pin 5, BLU.

Right turn signal is BCM X5 pin 2, BLU/WHT; right task light is BCM X7 pin 17, BLU

all of the above appear to be +12V signals according to the schematics. the task lights probably draw relatively little current, it might be sufficient to use a diode to activate them, the stripe should go towards the task light wire. I'd use a diode rated for 3-5A forward current. you could also do this with a relay, but use a solid state relay otherwise you'll get a relay clicking as the turn signal flashes. Note that according to the BCM schematics its appears the left and right wires are both blue in color, you will need to use the connector cavity position to know which is which.


I've got a ton of ideas in my head for what to do with the task lights, as they are a great concept but virtually useless in their stock implementation. I'm sure there are regulatory reasons why they are setup the way they are.

other ideas:
same as the above but using an off delay relay so instead of flashing with the turn signals they would be on solid while the signal is flashing so they are effectively cornering lights. there are some problems with this though. one being if you are in a turn lane waiting for oncoming traffic will they be blinding to other drivers? they are a wide flood beam so they might not be too bad, I would have to turn them on in a dark environment and just see how blinding they are. I would definitely have this functionality on a switch. another problem is if you are in a dual turn lane with your signal on you could be blasting the side mirrors of a car next to you with light. if you want to get really sophisticated you could wire them up such that when the blind spot monitoring warning in the mirror is active this corner light feature would disable itself. but after considering those things I'm not sure if its really useful enough to be worth it.


task lights on with high beams I think would be useful, definitely should be switchable

to do this relays are required, since the high beam signal is ground but the task lights switch with +12V. either use 2 relays (or a double pole) for the left and right output to keep them isolated since the factory feature allows you to turn the lights on one at a time, you don't' want to tie them together.

high beams are BCM X5 pin 18, BRN/PPL (switches GND) use this to activate relays to apply 12V to BCM X7 pins 5, BLU (left) and 17,BLU (right).

Task lights on with puddle lights, this would activate the task lights as part of the approach lights when unlocking at night, or for illuminated exit. these should be the only times when the puddle lights are on.

use a diode or relay (relay safer, the puddle lights circuit might not have much over head in it)

puddle lights: BCM X7 pin 8, GRY/GRN (+12V signal) to apply +12V to both BCM X7 pins 5, BLU (left) and 17,BLU (right). to activate the task lights, remember to keep the two blue wires isolated, either diode isolate them, or use a double pole relay and apply +12V separately.

Task lights on while in gear. The task lights could be quite useful, but not the way they are designed from the factory. They would be very useful for maneuvering in tight quarters at night. for this mod I want to apply it as part of another mod. I've got 2 sets of fog lights on my truck. the stock ones and a set of aftermarket. right now they are connected together. one set is cool white (Stock) which look good for fair weather use, my added set are amber beams which are much better for poor weather/wet roads. I'd like they to be separately switchable to activate one set alone or both at once. to do this I want to actually take control of the factory task lights button to use it for my poor weather fog lights. because seriously...why are the nearly useless task lights controlled but a button integrated into the trucks MAIN VEHICLE LIGHTING SYSTEM CONTROL KNOB while the stock fog lights (also a primary vehicle lighting system) is located somewhere else entirely? Some GM designer must have had a bad nights sleep ?
So if I use that button for another purpose, I would then add my own switch or use an upfitter switch to control the task lights by applying +12V to the blue wires (I don't care about the left only/right only feature that is available stock, I don't see that being very useful). and certainly I would make them work while out of park. stock you can't even use them in neutral with the parking brake set! the trick here is it may require some logic to work for every case. I think I might want to set it so that they would automatically turn off once the truck reaches 10 or 15mph, so I can use them for parking but can't forget to turn them off before driving. they also need to be able to be used with the ignition off so they can continue to serve their task lights functionality, but if the ignition is off they need to timeout after a while to prevent draining the battery (I'd make it more like 30 minutes instead of the stock 10) so certainly possible, but I've got some thinking to do about how exactly I want to do this.

Any combination of the above should be possible.

I have not implemented any of this yet, working on my gauge pod first! Before I do any of this I will verify everything with a multimeter. if you beat me to it be sure to test and verify the information above before you modify anything! Please report back if you implement any of these mods. and as always please post here if you see/find any errors in those descriptions, I don't' want someone working on wrong information because of a typo or if I read a schematic incorrectly ?
Happy modding!

Juddmann Enthusiast

Juddmann

Posted
Posted
41 minutes ago, kodiakdenali said:

They do make yellow or amber films designed specifically for this purpose. you can find it on Amazon. I think it would look rather ugly though to have those lenses always colored yellow.


As with any information about modifying wiring, verify before you implement! If you try anything, please report back! This is based on the upfitter manual for a 2020 sierra.


To make the task lights turn on with the turn signals a relay or diode can be used to connect the two signals.

Left turn signal is BCM X4 pin 3, GRN/PPL; left task light is BCM X7 pin 5, BLU.

Right turn signal is BCM X5 pin 2, BLU/WHT; right task light is BCM X7 pin 17, BLU

all of the above appear to be +12V signals according to the schematics. the task lights probably draw relatively little current, it might be sufficient to use a diode to activate them, the stripe should go towards the task light wire. I'd use a diode rated for 3-5A forward current. you could also do this with a relay, but use a solid state relay otherwise you'll get a relay clicking as the turn signal flashes. Note that according to the BCM schematics its appears the left and right wires are both blue in color, you will need to use the connector cavity position to know which is which.


I've got a ton of ideas in my head for what to do with the task lights, as they are a great concept but virtually useless in their stock implementation. I'm sure there are regulatory reasons why they are setup the way they are.

other ideas:
same as the above but using an off delay relay so instead of flashing with the turn signals they would be on solid while the signal is flashing so they are effectively cornering lights. there are some problems with this though. one being if you are in a turn lane waiting for oncoming traffic will they be blinding to other drivers? they are a wide flood beam so they might not be too bad, I would have to turn them on in a dark environment and just see how blinding they are. I would definitely have this functionality on a switch. another problem is if you are in a dual turn lane with your signal on you could be blasting the side mirrors of a car next to you with light. if you want to get really sophisticated you could wire them up such that when the blind spot monitoring warning in the mirror is active this corner light feature would disable itself. but after considering those things I'm not sure if its really useful enough to be worth it.


task lights on with high beams I think would be useful, definitely should be switchable

to do this relays are required, since the high beam signal is ground but the task lights switch with +12V. either use 2 relays (or a double pole) for the left and right output to keep them isolated since the factory feature allows you to turn the lights on one at a time, you don't' want to tie them together.

high beams are BCM X5 pin 18, BRN/PPL (switches GND) use this to activate relays to apply 12V to BCM X7 pins 5, BLU (left) and 17,BLU (right).

Task lights on with puddle lights, this would activate the task lights as part of the approach lights when unlocking at night, or for illuminated exit. these should be the only times when the puddle lights are on.

use a diode or relay (relay safer, the puddle lights circuit might not have much over head in it)

puddle lights: BCM X7 pin 8, GRY/GRN (+12V signal) to apply +12V to both BCM X7 pins 5, BLU (left) and 17,BLU (right). to activate the task lights, remember to keep the two blue wires isolated, either diode isolate them, or use a double pole relay and apply +12V separately.

Task lights on while in gear. The task lights could be quite useful, but not the way they are designed from the factory. They would be very useful for maneuvering in tight quarters at night. for this mod I want to apply it as part of another mod. I've got 2 sets of fog lights on my truck. the stock ones and a set of aftermarket. right now they are connected together. one set is cool white (Stock) which look good for fair weather use, my added set are amber beams which are much better for poor weather/wet roads. I'd like they to be separately switchable to activate one set alone or both at once. to do this I want to actually take control of the factory task lights button to use it for my poor weather fog lights. because seriously...why are the nearly useless task lights controlled but a button integrated into the trucks MAIN VEHICLE LIGHTING SYSTEM CONTROL KNOB while the stock fog lights (also a primary vehicle lighting system) is located somewhere else entirely? Some GM designer must have had a bad nights sleep ?
So if I use that button for another purpose, I would then add my own switch or use an upfitter switch to control the task lights by applying +12V to the blue wires (I don't care about the left only/right only feature that is available stock, I don't see that being very useful). and certainly I would make them work while out of park. stock you can't even use them in neutral with the parking brake set! the trick here is it may require some logic to work for every case. I think I might want to set it so that they would automatically turn off once the truck reaches 10 or 15mph, so I can use them for parking but can't forget to turn them off before driving. they also need to be able to be used with the ignition off so they can continue to serve their task lights functionality, but if the ignition is off they need to timeout after a while to prevent draining the battery (I'd make it more like 30 minutes instead of the stock 10) so certainly possible, but I've got some thinking to do about how exactly I want to do this.

Any combination of the above should be possible.

I have not implemented any of this yet, working on my gauge pod first! Before I do any of this I will verify everything with a multimeter. if you beat me to it be sure to test and verify the information above before you modify anything! Please report back if you implement any of these mods. and as always please post here if you see/find any errors in those descriptions, I don't' want someone working on wrong information because of a typo or if I read a schematic incorrectly ?
Happy modding!

Appreciate the info! Ill be checking into this for sure. I really like the idea of on with puddle lights. Just wish mine came with the puddle lights option lol. 

kodiakdenali Enthusiast

kodiakdenali

Posted
Posted
29 minutes ago, Juddmann said:

Appreciate the info! Ill be checking into this for sure. I really like the idea of on with puddle lights. Just wish mine came with the puddle lights option lol. 

I wonder if the puddle lights BCM output is active even if you don't have the RPO for the lights? depending on the feature sometimes the BCM needs programming to enable the outputs, but I don't know if that's always the case. you could try probing the pin with a meter and see if its active, if so you'd just have to insert a contact into the connector. or your truck might even have the wire there just not hooked up to anything. that would make it even easier! might be worth a look.

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