So I thought I might post a brief "How To" for anyone out there who was interested in retrofitting their truck with LED running lights.
When buying new lens assemblies during my rebuild, I decided for aesthetic reasons to go with all clear lenses (side marker, turn and brake). However in doing so this necessitated the use of either coloured bulbs or LED's.
Well I obviously chose the latter (thus being able to write this article). And I couldn’t be happier. The LED’s are much brighter, they use less power and they almost never burn out. And, come on, they just look cool……….
However there are some downsides. First they are quite a bit more expensive, they are hard to find. And of course you would need to convert your lenses to clear. (however I have recently found white LED’s for use in coloured lenses).
The other retrofit you will need to do is your flasher. Because LED’s consume so little power, they typically won’t have the voltage necessary to trip the flasher unit. Thusly, you will end up with a steady unflashing light. (So not cool).
The flasher you want is a zero current one, and will run you about $25. The one I bought even has a screw adjuster for the flashing speed. Kinda neat.
I purchased my lights at Lordco for around $20 a piece, however I have since found them, and the flasher unit at KMS tools (custom car shop) on Lougheed in Coquitlam. They were $13 each there.
And while your at it, I suggest checking out all the other schwag they have. Yes I know it’s mostly for hot rodders, but I have found lots of really cool things there.
So,
Step one:
Convert lights
Step two:
Convert flasher unit
Huh, seemed a lot more complicated than that when I did it, Oh well.
