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On a recent trip I was told there was a remarkable difference between my truck's brake lights (good) and my trailer's brake lights (bad). Today I swapped the trailer's tail lights with Optronics part # RVSTLB61 (w/license plate holder) and RVSTLB60 (passenger side). They are exactly the same size as the original lights--even the screw holes line up.
This is not exactly an original mod (lots of other threads on multiple sites) but I do have a couple of notes that may help if you choose to do this mod, too.
1) A plastic trim (automobile) removal tool makes a great sealant scraper. A few times around and then a good scrubbing with 91% rubbing alcohol prepared the surface for the new sealant.
2) Make sure and dig into the hole in the camper to pull out ALL of the wires. They might be tucked back inside out of view. Do this so you can attach the original trailer wires to the new LEDs, not the old light's wires. (In other words the trailer side of the crimped wires.) Also, I found it easy to do a one-for-one swap of the wires. For example, whatever trailer wire(s) were connected to the green wire on the old light (regardless of their color coming out of the trailer) were attached to the green wire on the new LED light. I did the same for the LED's black and white wires. In other words, ignore the colors on the trailer side--if they were connected to the (black, white or green) wire on the old light then connect the same wire(s) to the (black, white or green) wire on the new LED light.
3) I resealed the base of the lights to the camper using Geocel GC28100 Pro Flex Rv Flexible Clear. As recommended by Rob (known here as moderator Cate&Rob) I sealed the screws before reinserting them. (On a side note some of the screws exhibited signs of rust on the screw threads!)
4) Nothing special about connecting the wires--I used weatherproof crimped butt splices and overlayed each connection with another layer of heat shrink.
Here's a shot with only side completed--can you tell which one is the LED and which one is the OEM? (This is with the brakes applied. Sorry about the vertical pole in the middle of the picture--that's an umbrella--it's HOT outside.)
One more note--I'm sorry to report that I had a bad experience with etrailer.com and these lights. Their shipping department tossed them all in a box with no protection. One was broken and they had to send a replacement. Others had scratches on the lenses. etrailer is well aware of my dissatisfaction and they know I am posting this experience here on this forum. They've been great in the past so I will order from them again--but if you order lights from them insist on proper packaging with the order agent (call--don't order online).
-Howard
P.S. I had to send back the marker lights--I got the wrong color base! I need black, not white. (Oops.) I'll post about replacing the marker lights in the future.
HOWSON - do you happen to know how the units you got compare to the Bargeman units that others have installed.? I know that all LED brightness is not the same. Great write up too - Thanks
2018 Reflection 150 Series 220RK 5th whee, Star White 2022 F350 King Ranch CC Long bed (HAL) (CCC 4062lbs), B&W 25K OEM Companion,. SteadyFast system, Trailer reverse lights, rear receiver spare tire holder, storage tube, sumo springs, Victron MultiPlus 12/120/3000, Solar, Custom 6K axles upgrade, and other modifications.
HOWSON - do you happen to know how the units you got compare to the Bargeman units that others have installed.? I know that all LED brightness is not the same. Great write up too - Thanks
I have no idea. All I know is the LEDs I installed are much brighter than the incandescents they replaced (as the picture shows). When I add the second pair of brake lights (above the rear window) I'll have four LEDs blazing red when I hit the brakes. If they don't see that...nothing is going to help. (I recently saw a post where a Momentum on it's maiden voyage got plowed into from the rear. How do you miss a Momentum? You don't--it's got to be because the other driver was looking at their phone or other gadget instead of driving.)
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
I have no idea. All I know is the LEDs I installed are much brighter than the incandescents they replaced (as the picture shows). When I add the second pair of brake lights (above the rear window) I'll have four LEDs blazing red when I hit the brakes. If they don't see that...nothing is going to help. (I recently saw a post where a Momentum on it's maiden voyage got plowed into from the rear. How do you miss a Momentum? You don't--it's got to be because the other driver was looking at their phone or other gadget instead of driving.)
Appreciate the help - Thanks
On edit - I emailed Etrailer about the brightness of the Bergman 84 series and these. Hopefully they will respond back
2018 Reflection 150 Series 220RK 5th whee, Star White 2022 F350 King Ranch CC Long bed (HAL) (CCC 4062lbs), B&W 25K OEM Companion,. SteadyFast system, Trailer reverse lights, rear receiver spare tire holder, storage tube, sumo springs, Victron MultiPlus 12/120/3000, Solar, Custom 6K axles upgrade, and other modifications.
do you happen to know how the units you got compare to the Bargeman units that others have installed.? I know that all LED brightness is not the same. Great write up too - Thanks
I tried LED bulbs in my OE brake/tail lights and they actually produced less light than the original incandescent bulbs. But . . . this could have been partly because my OE lights were wired backwards so that the turn/brake signal was lighting the marker LEDs and vice versa. The Bargman lights have a huge array of LEDs for braking and a much smaller array for tail lighting. The Bargman lights are many times brighter for braking and somewhat brighter for tail lights.
Lumen is the measurement of the quantity of light emitted per second. For LEDs this would be the cumulative of all the LEDs. The color temperature is the color of the LED in Kelvin. We typically look for that bright white/blue color temperature in the 5000K to 7000K range.
The Bargman lights would be hard to beat. I installed tail lights similar to these on my boat trailer and the light that's emitted is very bright. For a simple upgrade there are some amazing CREE LEDs that can also emit a high level of light, but most likely not as high as your array of LEDs.
After Rob's input about how the lights worked I ordered a second tail light. I messed around in Photoshop today--this is how I *hope* they look when I'm done with the installation. I'll post notes and real pictures when I'm done. (Second tail light should arrive today.)
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
I found running the wires is going to be more of a project than I'm willing to do right now, so the extra set of tail lights project is on "hold" until later in the fall/early winter.
Howard
Is it possible to have GD weigh in here, In looking at my wiring it appears to come up from the bottom and run in the wall to the lights. and possibly up to the clearance lights on both sides. Could you tell from what you found behind the lights you replaced? Does anyone know if there is a built in interior void in the wall the wires run in? I like you idea of the second pair up high or a third one centered, but how to get the wires there is the question. With my rear kitchen I do have cabinets along the back wall with a valance so I might take a look if I can figure a way to do so with out breaking things.
Thoughts?
Thanks Keith
2018 Reflection 150 Series 220RK 5th whee, Star White 2022 F350 King Ranch CC Long bed (HAL) (CCC 4062lbs), B&W 25K OEM Companion,. SteadyFast system, Trailer reverse lights, rear receiver spare tire holder, storage tube, sumo springs, Victron MultiPlus 12/120/3000, Solar, Custom 6K axles upgrade, and other modifications.
I ordered the same tail lights that you used on your project. Looking into the add on LED bulbs, the Philips T-10 bulbs for the markers work well and I am using them, but other add on LED bulbs (bulb only) are just too sketchy since they are not DOT approved. Liking the same mounting hole pattern on your lights as well.
I ordered the same tail lights that you used on your project. Looking into the add on LED bulbs, the Philips T-10 bulbs for the markers work well and I am using them, but other add on LED bulbs (bulb only) are just too sketchy since they are not DOT approved. Liking the same mounting hole pattern on your lights as well.
Thanks for sharing,
Jim
I put the optronics on two weeks ago - much improved over the incandescent. About a 15 minute project per light. Of course my son showed up so this is minus the conversation with him, and his opinions on how I should do it.
June 2020!
Some may note that this thread is quite old--started in July '19. What is shown in post 23 in this thread is a mockup in Photoshop. Below is now a reality and it works exactly as planned.Quite a project--took 2.5 days to figure it all out, get the supplies, etc.
Country Campers (Brian) -- your suggestion (from post 12) was perfect. A note of thanks to Cate&Rob, too, for the heads up on how the lights work (I was going to go with one brake light centered in the middle of the camper but that would have been a mistake).
If I was to do it all over again I'd probably go with the Bargmans (see Cate&Rob's pic in post 20) but I'm very pleased with the result.
For those new to this thread, I wanted the extra lights because when I put a bike rack on the back the OEM brake lights, while not completely blocked, are much less visible.
How I got the wires to the brake lights is up through the interior cabinets and then out through the upper cabinet. A lot of work to get it "just right". I could not install the lights any lower than what you see or the wires going into the interior would not have gone into the cabinet. Measure, measure and then measure again. To say I was nervous drilling that first hole in the outside of the camper would be a huge understatement.
Here's some pics that (hopefully) make some sense along with the final result.
After demolition--this is the OEM config on the curb side (the street side is almost exactly the same except for a few different wires, but nothing cosmic). Note the hole in the floor where the wires come up (where the light is)--yet another path for critters and the outside environment. (I sealed it up.)
I ran new wiring up from the bottom cabinet, along the interior wall, up through the cabinet above the couch and then out through the back wall.
All the wiring is protected by loom and zip tied in place (including the upper cabinet, but not shown).
The trim is a piece of cove painted "sand" and installed backwards to create a space gap for the wires. It's held in place with Command Strip velcro down both edges. (I used Command Strips and velcro hoping that if I need to remove the trim I can do so without destroying the wall. Time will tell...) A very small amount of brown caulk in the upper joint due to the way the cabinet trim intersects the cove trim (so you can't see even a hint of wires).
Howard
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
The trim is a piece of cove painted "sand" and installed backwards to create a space gap for the wires. It's held in place with Command Strip velcro down both edges.
Related thread: Replacing LED taillights with brighter.
Since the topic here focuses on replacing incandescents, I decided to create a new thread with my experience replacing the 310GK stock LED taillights with 36 LED Bargman lights, to make it easier to find.
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