Thread: FYI - LED replacements for indicators in ARB Bullbar

Great timing. I am looking to replace the lights in my ARB bar and couldnt choose between the different types on ebay. This has made up my mind.

Thanks for the info Derek! Out of curiosity do they make the trailer light on the dash flash?

Cheers,

Tim

Originally Posted by dmdigital

I bought a pair of these of eBay. There are a number of places selling these same units online. They arrived today and were easy to fit. They are a direct size replacement for the incandescent bulb units in an ARB bar.

Only catch is they wouldn't screw in as the screws supplied were too long. The holes and everything are the same spacing, but I didn't have anything shorter. Easily fixed by using Sikaflex instead

Can they be baught in black?

Allan

Didn't see black ones but they do come with an amber lens instead of the clear one.

Originally Posted by TimNZ

Thanks for the info Derek! Out of curiosity do they make the trailer light on the dash flash?

Cheers,

Tim

No they don't You just get the one flash of the trailer lamp as per normal. My Kamper is all LED and when it is connected it too doesn't trigger the trailer light either. The current draw of the LED's isn't sufficient to make the relay think there is a trailer attached.

i got a pair from brite lights in ftg melb
both indicator and running will post pic
this weekend
they stopped my trailer light on the dash coming on a suspect the use less power than originals
marty

LEDs use indeed less power than standard bulbs. So isn't the turn signal frequency of coming on and off much faster after you replaced the standard bulb by these LEDs?
I read earlier that one should also replace the turn signal relay by a different one to compensate for the overall lower wattage in order to keep the same on/off frequency.

Originally Posted by ericvv

LEDs use indeed less power than standard bulbs. So isn't the turn signal frequency of coming on and off much faster after you replaced the standard bulb by these LEDs?
I read earlier that one should also replace the turn signal relay by a different one to compensate for the overall lower wattage in order to keep the same on/off frequency.

The light in the bull bar is in addition to the standard indicator lights. That is why they will cause the trailer light on the dash to illuminate. Using low current draw LED lights for the additional indicators solves that problem.

Like BigJon said.

The relay/computer monitors the current flow through the indicator lights to determine the status: too little current and the relay/computer thinks that a bulb has blown (and warns you by doubling the flash rate of the indicators). Too much current and the relay/computer thinks that a trailer is attached (and indicates that by flashing the trailer light on the dash).

LEDs draw a lot less current than incandescent bulbs, so if you replace the standard incandescent indicator bulbs with LED bulbs then the relay/computer thinks that because less current than expected is being drawn that a bulb has blown. This can be fixed by adding "ballast".

By adding incandescent indicator lights to a bull bar you increase the current draw to the point where the computer thinks that (with so much current being drawn) a trailer must be attached. By replacing the incandescent bull bar lights with LED lights you bring the current draw back within the expected parameters so that the "trailer" light on the dash is not activated.

Looking at this thread I was tempted to get the LED lights, but at $71.80 I struggled to justify it since I'd already replaced the bulbs with LEDs. However I must admit that my indicators don't have that rich amber look that the incandescent bulbs (or dmdigital's solution) provides....