TJ LED front turn signals

machoheadgames said:
If they can't follow this diagram, then they probably shouldn't be touching their wiring at all, including adding rectifiers, and should probably stick to incandescent bulbs.

I don't see how a rectifier fixes the flasher relay issue. The LED is still very small load and the stock flasher wants to see the load of a normal bulb. If they have changed their tail lamps to LED already then yes, they are good to go, but for anyone just changing the front markers out they should need the LED flasher.

I understand how the rectifier works. As I said though, I like to use a bright LED so that it's bright for turn signals and not bright (dimmed via the resistor) as a running lamp. If you use the rectifier method, you are stuck at one level of brightness that is comfortable as a running light and not all that bright for turn signaling, or vice versa.

View attachment 313064
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A full wave rectifier chip is just 4 diodes in one package. The 2 extra diodes aren't really required in this application since we're working with DC power as input. But you can just wire in the resistor into the running light input to achieve the dimming of the running light.

Turn Signal Wiring.png
 
WestCoastDan said:
And with that much effort needed, the real question is "Why bother switching to LED bulbs in the turn signals anyway?"

BTW, I'm an Applications Engineer for an LED lighting manufacturer, and even I don't bother adding LEDs in turn signals except for on the Harley, and I bought plug & Play lights for that.
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X2 exactly. I have the technical know-how to convert my TJ bulbs to LED by using bridge rectifiers but I see no significant benefit to doing so.
 
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What does it matter? Some people want what they want. The info is out there, if people don’t want to do it, great. If they want to, fine. Doesn’t really matter if others think it’s worth it or not, the guy posted that he likes the LEDs he installed and wants to make them work.
 
machoheadgames said:
What does it matter? Some people want what they want. The info is out there, if people don’t want to do it, great. If they want to, fine. Doesn’t really matter if others think it’s worth it or not, the guy posted that he likes the LEDs he installed and wants to make them work.
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The problem is no one is telling people who want to install LEDs that they won't work unless they're prepared to modify the wiring and install things like bridge rectifiers which will cause most to develop a blank stare.

The fix is not easy and not many owners are up to it. You go right ahead and claim it's easy, I'll go right ahead saying it's not as easy for most people as you claim it is. Not to mention you'll end up doing extra unplanned work to just exchange one kind of a bulb for another kind of a bulb.
 
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I've tried allot of stuff on mine, spent way more time than is rational. Just run normal bulbs in the front facing fender bulbs and forget about all those diodes and bullshit. On mine they never worked and putting two standard bulbs back up front fixed everything even with the fancy LM4-whatever relay. It is just not worth the hassle, the stock system requires the filament to work, it's that simple.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
The problem is no one is telling people who want to install LEDs that they won't work unless you're prepared to modify the wiring and install things like bridge rectifiers which will cause them to develop a blank stare.

The fix is not easy and not many owners are up to it. You go right ahead and claim it's easy, I'll go right ahead saying it's not as easy for most people as you make it out to be. Not to mention you'll end up doing extra unplanned work to just exchange one kind of a bulb for a different kind of a bulb... both illuminate as they're supposed to.
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Every person I see ask about LEDs, I tell them exactly what they need to do.

The fix is easy. If someone can’t handle butt splicing and heat shrink with a proper set of terminals and crimper, then this isn’t for them.

For the record, he didn’t ask how easy or hard it was, all he said was he’s having problems and would like to keep the LEDs if he can.
 
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pagrey said:
I've tried allot of stuff on mine, spent way more time than is rational. Just run normal bulbs in the front facing fender bulbs and forget about all those diodes and bullshit. On mine they never worked and putting two standard bulbs back up front fixed everything even with the fancy LM4-whatever relay. It is just not worth the hassle, the stock system requires the filament to work, it's that simple.
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You got something wrong because there are too many success stories to suggest it can’t work.
 
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pagrey said:
Do you have this bridge and resistor fully working on your Jeep?
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of course, but not using a bridge. I have done the blinker mod to my Jeep and previous truck and helped a few others do it to their TJs and YJs.

It is really quite simple. All you’re doing is running the side marker at an artificial lower brightness using the resistor and letting the turn signal override it at full brightness. The diodes keep the two circuits from back feeding each other.
 
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machoheadgames said:
of course, but not using a bridge. I have done the blinker mod to my Jeep and previous truck and helped a few others do it to their TJs and YJs.

It is really quite simple. All you’re doing is running the side marker at an artificial lower brightness using the resistor and letting the turn signal override it at full brightness. The diodes keep the two circuits from back feeding each other.
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Seems a bit like you haven't done it.
 
machoheadgames said:
of course, but not using a bridge. I have done the blinker mod to my Jeep and previous truck and helped a few others do it to their TJs and YJs.

It is really quite simple. All you’re doing is running the side marker at an artificial lower brightness using the resistor and letting the turn signal override it at full brightness. The diodes keep the two circuits from back feeding each other.
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Electrically speaking that's a terrible way off doing it. A bridge rectifier is the best way to do this. No big inefficient heat generating resistors are needed or even a good idea.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
Electrically speaking that's a terrible way off doing it. A bridge is the best way to do this. No big inefficient heat generating resistors needed or even a good idea.
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If you tried the resistors I use (tested for hours) they are room temp at the end of the test.

You might be confused on the types of resistors I am using.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
I spent way too many years working in the electrical/electronics industry to go along with your method involving resistors.
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You certainly have that choice. I will side with my personal experience because I KNOW for a fact it works. Using 2W resistors at 470 ohms, ZERO heat is generated after hours of use. It doesn’t get simpler than that.

Frankly this thread is ridiculous at this point. Like taking to a brick fucking wall. The guy asked for help and I gave 100% personal experience that has worked perfectly in different scenarios, vehicles, and for at least over a year and a half in one vehicle. Whether it’s personally worth it to you or not is one thing but refuting my suggestion when it for sure works is just nuts.
 
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