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Lighted Sail Panel Screws

MooseAlanche said:
Brian, If you change your mind and want all three functions: Running/Directional/Stop Lights it would be easy because the hard part is already done. All the wiring takes place in your tail lights not in the trailer hitch.
Have your buddy see the attached photo and PDF.
I was having some difficulties gettin the directionals to stay on when the brakes were applied but I solved that problem by adding a 100 ohm resistor.
NOTE: THE ATTACHED PDF FILE CONTAINS A WIRING DIAGRAM FOR A 2005. YOU SHOULD USE A CIRCUIT TESTER LIGHT TO VERIFY THE WIRE COLORS FOR DIRECTIONALS, BRAKE, & STOP LIGHTS. IT APPEARS THAT CERTAIN YEAR MODELS USE DIFFRENT COLORED WIRES FOR THESE FUNCTIONS.

Ok, I am having a problem with this mod. Are there Diode's before all the Resistor's or are they just on the brake wire? Other thing is, do you push the led's all the way through before you install them into the panels, or do you push them in afterwords?
 
I just used diode for mine. Use the truck running light then use the trailer plug for turns and brake. Insert the diode in the line to the truck wiring so no trailer plug voltage runs back into the truck wiring.
 
On a 2010 Av. Do i need to splice the taillights?  I have a four pin plug i can just tap that um thinkung or better yet splice a plug in there.
 
moosc!  Welcome back!
Did you get a new Av?

Nevermind, I read that you do have a new Av.  (y)
 
Just ordered some LEDs and some 3mm bolts for this.  I am going to try to see if the bolts I ordered will work or not.  If not I only spent 9 bucks on 70 of them.  I will order the flush mount plastic ones if they dont work.  Another week till they arrive.  Once I get everything, its off to radioshack.
 
Got mine done finally.  I used some ebay LEDs and some LED crome holders.  Had to use hot glue to hold them in place.  The plastic holders took awhile for each one to find the right way to have them seat but I got them.  Currently only wired to running lights and when I get the resistors I will be wireing up the turn signals and brakes.
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Follow up: The only problem I had was the bolts inside the tool areas.  The one bolt below the latch I took off and it will not go back on now.  Almost like something broke off....any ideas to whats going on?
 
Try taking a small screwdriver and push it in the hole while moving the latch around to align it.
 
I really want to do this mod. I have read thru the entire thread and maybe I'm just over-thinking it now, but I still have got no clue as where to start.  :E: Is there a link anywhere that has a detailed "walk thru" start to finish for an 05, especially for electrical beginners?
 
I noticed that too, you have to skim through PAGES of info.  Its simple enough though, minus the tool box bolts though.  Get all the parts you need then start the project.  You can go with either the LED bolts or do like I did and get the LEDs with the 3mm holders.  Take the screws and holders off the sail panels and secure the leds into them.  Prop the sail panels open and fish the wires through both sets of holes.  Next I ran two lengths of wire from the top LED, power and ground, and ran those wires to the tail lights.  Tap the wires from the other LEDs into the new wire your running, I solder them in line then taped them up but you can shrink tube them as well.  You should take out the bolts in the bed that hold the side skirt in place (tie down points), the front (cab) bolts you can loosen and the rear ones take off, also either loosen or take off the bolt in the tool area (under the latch).  There is a picture in this thread some where that shows a good graphic on how to run the wires.  Then either tap into the wires you need and insert diodes and resistors or just tap into one wire for desired effect (brake or running lights, even turn signals).  You can also tap into the ground or find a ground point.  I found it easier to tap into the ground, the LEDs dont draw much so it should not effect anything by tapping into the ground. 
Thats about it, I hot glued my LEDs inside the holders then hot glued them again inside the plastic "nut".  It all depends on the method you use.  Eventually I will get back to radio shack and get the right diodes and resistors and wire in my brakes and turn signals.  As far as the diodes and such there is a write up on how to wire those up in a PDF attachment some where in this thread.
 
Where do you get the LEDs and holders from? Does radio shack have them or do you need to order them off the Internet? I have been wanting to do this for a long time but cannot find the LEDs anywhere. Thanks!
 
I just ordered mine from a link a few posts ago -Oznium.com. I went with 5mm red led's and same size plastic holders. I got 12 of each in case I would break a few lol..I think total was like $23...
 
red_johnny said:
I paid 29 for 100 LEDs and 70 holders.  Ebay is your Friend.
Definitely Hong Kong eBay products are the best value.  Sometimes the brightness varies from model to model, and you can't believe the descriptions.
 
So ran into some problems doing this mod today...got all the lights installed and ran with 1 red and 1 black wire to the taillight area, no problems. Used a 9 volt battery to test and both sides lit equally bright. Next, got the driver side tapped into the tail lights using Moose's schematic from post #657. I ran the ground below and tapped that into the trailer ground on the frame. With only the driver side done, I turned on the lights to test out. They all came on I thought great! Turned on the turn signal, and the sail panel leds stayed on but did not flash. The normal taillamp turn signal flashed as normal.  :E: Stepped on the brake, sail leds did nothing, normal tail brakes worked fine.  :E: Whats wrong?! So since it was getting dark, I figured I'd back the Av into the garage to go ahead and connect the passenger side. Went to start it and it hesitated twice then would not turn over!  :E: The DIC is saying service traction, service brakes, etc, so I disconnect the battery for awhile to reset the system. Then hook it back up and connect to a battery charger and jumped it. Pull it into the garage, disconnect the sail panel leds, reinstall the tails to get everything back to stock. Any ideas? Maybe my battery is just about to take a crap on me? Any ideas? Thanks Chad.

Here is a pic how I wired it.
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I would check to make sure you have the resitors set in the right direction.  For it to cause those faults I would think the power was back feeding into the system.  I dont know if the diodes are directional either but something to check as well.
 
I thought only the diodes were required to be in a correct position? This is what I thought-all diodes with the small colored rings should point toward the led's, and that it didn't matter what direction the resistors where? Is this not correct?
 
Chadmack said:
I thought only the diodes were required to be in a correct position? This is what I thought-all diodes with the small colored rings should point toward the led's, and that it didn't matter what direction the resistors where? Is this not correct?
Correct... The diodes are directional. Stripe towards LEDs. Resistor should work either way. I would suggest you double check that you tapped into the correct tail light wires. Some trucks seem to have different coloured wires than shown in the schematic. Make sure you have a good solid connection as well.
 
kwistofoo said:
Correct... The diodes are directional. Stripe towards LEDs. Resistor should work either way. I would suggest you double check that you tapped into the correct tail light wires. Some trucks seem to have different coloured wires than shown in the schematic. Make sure you have a good solid connection as well.

That's what I thought...how do I check which wires are for which function?
 
All you 05 Av guys, are the colored wires in the tail light assembly all the same for 05? Does each 05 match the pdf file from post #657? And one more ? about the pdf file, I'm not sure what the upper left hand corner means..the part with 2 crimp connectors(whatever those are) that have the arrow pointed down to the left sail panel side...is the way I wired in the pic a  couple posts up with the 3 diodes coming from 1 butt splice to the positive wire from the led's ok to do? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks everyone...
 
Trey said:
You've got a lot of exposed bare wire showing there.  Did it possibly short when you shoved it all together?

I'm not sure, it is very possible. I tried to be careful. Keep in mind I was just testing one side after install. I would never leave it like that permanently. I'm going to try again tonight. No butt splices, I will solder all connections then heat shrink it and then install. Hopefully that will fix it.
 
I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I'm new to the club and I'm interested in doing this mod to my Avy but can't decide on whether to purchase the 10mm LED bolts from superbrightleds.com or 5mm prewired LEDs and holders from oznium.com.  Any suggestions on which would be easier to install?  :help:
 
Marine4Life said:
I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I'm new to the club and I'm interested in doing this mod to my Avy but can't decide on whether to purchase the 10mm LED bolts from superbrightleds.com or 5mm prewired LEDs and holders from oznium.com.  Any suggestions on which would be easier to install?  :help:

I just did this mod last weekend, used the Oznium 5mm prewired and plastic holders. They fit great and are really bright IMO, no silicone needed or any other type sailpanel modification. Except for my wiring issues, these worked awesome..my 2 cents..
 
Marine4Life said:
I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I'm new to the club and I'm interested in doing this mod to my Avy but can't decide on whether to purchase the 10mm LED bolts from superbrightleds.com or 5mm prewired LEDs and holders from oznium.com.  Any suggestions on which would be easier to install?  :help:
I prefer the LED bolts, because they actually hold the two halves of the sail panel together like they were intended to be held together.
 
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