Replace tail light with LED?

[Spaceace]

I have a broken tail light on my 2014 Rookwood 1640ltd pop up. I am going to replace the unit and was thinking about upgrading to LED.

I've read on etrailer that they recommend replacing all trailer lights to LED, and not just the tail lights. I was only replacing both tail light units. But it seems like people have done just that without issues.

Any thoughts on this? Also, this is my first wiring project on this camper. Any tips with the small project?

Thanks!

[Pure Luck]

You could always just change the bulbs to LED in your other lights if you don't feel like replacing them too. There are LED replacements for almost all incandescent bulb designs. Also, you can use the same wires, just cut them and get weatherproof splices, or solder and heat shrink them.

[A32Deuce]

You can mix and match later.

[Brastic]

I see no reason why you could not mix and match. I would replace them in pairs. Mainly because once I get the tools and time to replace a bulb, might as well do both. Plus, they will be the same brightness also.

Please make sure to use LEDs with the color or your lens. LEDs produce a small spectrum of light so using white LEDs would be very very dim through a lens.

[pkmkaz]

Originally Posted by A32Deuce

You can mix and match later.

Agreed, any aftermarket company, such as etrailer, will want to sell you the store, all he needs to do is buy 2 taillights, which will put out equal light on each side.

[EdnKat]

In snow country the incandescent bulbs keep the snow, slush melted off the lens, LEDs make no heat, so your brake, tail, turn signal lights will be blocked out.

[Stovebolt]

Originally Posted by EdnKat

In snow country the incandescent bulbs keep the snow, slush melted off the lens, LEDs make no heat, so your brake, tail, turn signal lights will be blocked out.

I don't have to worry about that, when the snow falls I'm done for the year.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by pkmkaz

Agreed, any aftermarket company, such as etrailer, will want to sell you the store, all he needs to do is buy 2 taillights, which will put out equal light on each side.

YESSS a thousand times Yes

Besides, they are usually sold in pairs anyway. Left and right are different. The left one incorporates a license Plate mount and a light to illuminate the plate.

[PenJoe]

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

YESSS a thousand times Yes

Besides, they are usually sold in pairs anyway. Left and right are different. The left one incorporates a license Plate mount and a light to illuminate the plate.

Also make sure that the new tail light assemblies have replaceable bulbs as opposed to changing the entire assembly. Most are made that way, but some of the oval style (used on cargo trailers are not).

[Pure Luck]

Do a little research on the LED trailer lights that you buy, I've had 2 catch on fire on my boat trailer. The 2nd to burn was about 3 weeks ago, I thought the trailer brakes were hanging and smoking. I went back to check it out, and it was the LED light. It's not horrible when they burn on a boat trailer since they aren't going to set the trailer on fire, on a camper, different story. Don't go cheap!

[Spaceace]

Thanks all for the help. I ended up not going with LED mainly due to cost and wanted to make sure I could figure out how to change them. I used the incandescent version and it actually worked!

One thing I noticed is for the white ground wire, there are two wires connected to the white ground wire on the light. However, on the drivers side, one was out of the connector and just hanging there. Could this have caused an issue with some of the lights not working at times? I've been troubleshooting that problem in the past.

Thanks!

[Eddie2002]

A loose common ground wire will cause problems with any lights downstream of the poor connection. Had that problem with a boat trailer I was rewiring and installing new tail lights on.

[Spaceace]

Thanks!

I was hoping this would be the case as I've had issues with the downstream light. I had been cleaning the ground connected to the trailer but never thought to investigate connections in the other light.