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Fixing up the lights on my boat trailer. I have seen the LED ones, and wonder if they are worth the extra cash [about twice the ammont of normal ones!]
LED lights. Are they worth it??
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Thats the thing. I TSC has them for just a tick under $30 each... but for that I can buy two of the normal ones!!!If you got the money and are gonna use the trailor alot ,yes.The one big advantage is they are brighter in the day time and more visible.I just bought a utility trailor and was gonna put them on but they are $40 for one
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One great advantage is how long they last. You probably will never have to replace a bulb. If you plan on keeping the vehicle or trailer for a long time this would pay for the difference in the price. Current draw is also much less.
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My experience is that regular bulbs don't last as long on a trailer due to trailer bouncing a lot more than on a car, especially a small, light one like mine. If I replace my lights I'll get LED's next time. They do last a very long time. I worked for years in emergency services, and we swapped out all the strobes and halogen flashers for LED's simply to save money in the long run...
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758 Posts
I have them on my gooseneck trailer, along with lasting forever and being blindingly bright day or night they also draw next to nothing for power. My trailer is 26 feet long with 6 side marker lights, four 4" tail lights and a set of three reds due to width. Even with all these burning, it's less than the power used with any two of the old style lights. My tail lamps have 40 LED's in each one of them, and all would have to burn-out for the lamp to fail. Cheap, no, but worth it? YES!
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2,765 Posts
Paul,
Not sure of stateside, but here I just wait for our local guy store (Princessauto) to put stuff like that on sale which happens 3 or 4 times a year and then even LED lights are reasonable. I think but could be wrong Harborfreight is kinda like PA. I would if I were redoing a trailer get the LEDs even with the $$ due to all the reasons given above. My new 18ft car hauler has LEDs and all I got to say is wow they sure make the trailer stand out.
Good luck with whatever way you go as I am sure you will do an awesome job with it..
Not sure of stateside, but here I just wait for our local guy store (Princessauto) to put stuff like that on sale which happens 3 or 4 times a year and then even LED lights are reasonable. I think but could be wrong Harborfreight is kinda like PA. I would if I were redoing a trailer get the LEDs even with the $$ due to all the reasons given above. My new 18ft car hauler has LEDs and all I got to say is wow they sure make the trailer stand out.
Good luck with whatever way you go as I am sure you will do an awesome job with it..
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821 Posts
LEDs not only are brighter and last a lot longer, but they have another benefit and that is they don't tax your electrical system to it's max. If you pull a trailer with a lot of lights, it can throw an undue strain on the trucks electrical system. My pickups light switch would actually get hot, so hot that it eventually melted the plastic internals. Naturally it went bad and I had to replace it. Now with the LEDs on the trailer, it doesn't even get warm.
I realize they are expensive for the good ones. Watch out if you find them very cheap, those only have half, or less, the candle power as the good, more expensive ones. Crazy as it might sound, I got the best price and they only sell the good ones, at a truck stop. PJ
I realize they are expensive for the good ones. Watch out if you find them very cheap, those only have half, or less, the candle power as the good, more expensive ones. Crazy as it might sound, I got the best price and they only sell the good ones, at a truck stop. PJ
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There is a great gut on E-bay that has great prices and is great to work with his store is R and P Carriages
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95 Posts
They are definitely worth it . Have them on my 3 trailers but there are cheap ones out there and they do go bad . Best one to get are truck light , grote .
I've had them just go out for no reason but they hand me a new one after testing the old one . Go to your local big rig truck suppler . The ones I've noticed at truck stops are usually cheap knockoffs . The down fall is you usually have to buy the mounting bracket ( semi truck for reference ) for them and rubber grommets plus wiring pigtails . Or you can make holes to mount them . The finished product does look better plus stronger and easier for lamp changes .
Chris .
I've had them just go out for no reason but they hand me a new one after testing the old one . Go to your local big rig truck suppler . The ones I've noticed at truck stops are usually cheap knockoffs . The down fall is you usually have to buy the mounting bracket ( semi truck for reference ) for them and rubber grommets plus wiring pigtails . Or you can make holes to mount them . The finished product does look better plus stronger and easier for lamp changes .
Chris .
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3,954 Posts
this is more cheaper
http://superbrightleds.com/led_prods.htm
it worth I am plan order for all my vehicles so everybody would see my light.
http://superbrightleds.com/led_prods.htm
it worth I am plan order for all my vehicles so everybody would see my light.
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1,048 Posts
Yes superbrightleds is a great place to buy from also
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Recently, we had a tri-axle equipment float built to our specs that included LED lamps everywhere. We found that we had to use a newer type of electric brake controller as a direct result of the LED's.
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821 Posts
I agree Caseguy, Fortunally I already had the late style pc board controler on my truck. I guess this could add another $100.00 to $150.00 to the conversion on some tow vehicles.
What was the issue?
We have LED's on all of the newer semi trailers in our fleet, and the oldest ones with LED's (2006) have never had a light failure, at least not one I have hooked on to. However... the sealed beams that have been around since the 80's have a real good lifespan too, but you don't get the low current draw advantage!
Everything is an improvement from the old 1157 days! Man did we have light trouble back then! You could not hook onto a trailer and have all of the lights work!
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2,223 Posts
check out this e-bay item 320404564458 He has other lights available and bulk discounts with free shipping. I think they are worth it. Believe it or not they come on noticably faster, when you hit the brakes they come on quicker than the old ones did. In theory it could be the diference between being rearended or not. Ed
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I was told leds are water prof and on a boat trailer you don't have to unplug or shut of lights when in water but i never tryed it. Anyway leds have won me over from flash lights to 18 wheelers. definatly make you wonder about the price but look at all the trucks that are plastered with "chicken lights" as called by highway drivers. Years ago turning a truck into a christmas tree often involved adding or upgrading to a bigger altanator and hd wireing but not with todays leds.
p.s thanks for pointing out super brite Milwaukee
p.s thanks for pointing out super brite Milwaukee
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