LED Trailer Light Upgrades

I got a notice from Harborfreight that the tailights on my trailer had been recalled and they were sending me new ones. Once they arrived I had the old ones to play with. I figured I'd upgrade them to LED like the new ones I got, only better.....

I pulled everything out of the shells and picked some leds to use.

I toyed with the idea of 3W luxeon chips but instead I went for 10W chips for the Brake Lights. Ring Led's for the Parking Lights.

And some 10MM superbright leds for the marker lights.

I made a small bracket that matches the spacing of the rear bolt holes.

I used a chunk of aluminum to heatsink the 10W chip

then I then 3D printed a housing to hold the ring led up even with the face of the 10W led.

I pressed the original bolts into the new mount with the help of a small socket and arbor press.

for the little marker lights I decided on 2 leds each so I 3D printed a small square holder for them. I didn't go with constant current drivers for the 10W chips. I cheaped out and used a simple dropping resistor. I wrapped the resistor in insulation left over from a 3D printer nozzle rebuild. That way it wont melt its way through the case.

The parking and marker lights draw about 180ma total and the brake lights add another 1.5A

Side by side with my new lights they seem to be brighter but that may just be pride....

These are going on my tow dolly since I smashed one of its lights towing a VW bus a while ago....