Led turn signal load resistor

I have looked....and looked....and looked all over these forums, and this is where I am stuck at. If I were to put load resistors in line with the REAR turn signals mounted to metal behind the tail lights (both sides) and put LED drl/turn signals bulbs in the front. I will not have hyper flash? 2015 with optional drl switch.

 

You needt wire the resistor in parallel with the 2 wires coming from the signal.
The resistor gets really hot because the bulb stays on as a drl.

I made a wiring harness by using some 3157 sockets I ordered from ebay, then had to shave and cut out the plastic of the socket to fit into the hole on the housing. Used a base from a old 3157 bulb to fit into the factory socket. This way i didn't have to cut any factory wiring.

Attached the resistor to a piece of sheet metal, then zip tied them to anything nearby, so I didn't have to drill into any metal on the truck.
This setup has worked fine for 2 years.

Also had to tape off 2 of the contacts on the led 3157 bulb. Look up CK 3157 bulb wiring. Grounds are on the same edge, so the normal led 3157 will pop a fuse.

 

Devil’s advocate ... is the splicing and cost of LED bulbs worth the trade off? A pair of long life regular bulbs cost less than $5, and I’m on my 2nd set over 12 years. That being said, I do have LED brake light bulbs, which dont require any splicing, and the brightness is more noticeable than among LED signal bulbs.

 

Ok, so here is the thing; the WHOLE POINT of LED bulbs is that they save energy. What the resistor does, is it creates a short so that the circuit carries the same load with the low power LEDs as it did with the original incandescent bulbs. The overall result is that the circuit consumes the SAME amount of energy now with the LEDs as it did before with incandescent bulbs -- therefore you've spent a bunch of money and accomplished ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

If you want to do LED bulbs, that's fine, BUT, if you're going to do it, do it RIGHT and fix the blinkers to properly handle the lower current drawn by the LED bulbs.

Here is what happens with the blinkers; they have a load detection circuit on them so that when a bulb fails, they can alert you with a "fast blink". LED bulbs consume less energy, so the load detection circuit thinks that the bulbs have failed and continuously produce the alert state. Now when you have the resistors in place, that fools the load detection circuit into detecting good bulbs, so the blink rate is normal... even if the LED bulb fails. You see the problem, right?

In addition, incandescent bulbs to have a valid use on vehicles. In particular, vehicles operated in COLD CLIMATES. Because they produce heat, they can actually melt ice off the lenses. LED bulbs won't do this, since they don't produce enough heat.

IMO, you're actually better off with incandescent bulbs. There is really nothing to gain with LEDs in this application.

 

Weirdly worded. What you're looking for is "in parallel with the LED".

 

Ok I’d like to chime in with what I just recently did with my headlight situation. Toyota replaced my OEM lights due to the DTRL bulbs burning the lense. Well after a few years the new housings faired worse that what originally came on the truck and they cracked internally. I bought yet another set of OEM housings and installed led DTRL and I live(and passed inspection) with the hyperflashing. Small price to pay for a much clearer and safer DTRL.
As far as the headlights themselves are concerned im sticking with halogen. My fogs I’ve replace with HID and if you only use them in bad weather and not all the time you won’t offend anyone. They are insanely bright and must be used responsibly. I treat them like high beams and only use when necessary.

 

What plug in flasher did you use ?, thanks

 

I installed led's in the rear only. Tried front leds too, but as bright as they were they still burned out in the closed space. Rear is what is important to get following drivers attention.
In the rear cavity behind the light assembly, I installed two bulb socket/bulb combinations to create the load resistor. Used the same bulbs as the backup lights (#921 (18 watts)). Just had to mount the socket to the frame to keep it steady. This way the 'load resistor' is replaceable. Maybe crazy option, but does the job.

 

I got it from eBay, not sure which one...
It’s been a while since I ordered it

 

Do the resistors only splice into positive? Or do I need to do two resistors spliced into each the positive and negative?

 

One end to the turn signal one to ground.

 

Just to note, those resistors and their housings can get HOT. Hot enough to melt through wiring insulation on nearby wires. Not so much an issue for the turn signals because they only come intermittently, but if you drive with your DRLs on, those things heat up quick.

Make sure you mount them somewhere where it can't touch any plastic components or other wires. Or go with the better option, IMO, get the diode dynamics relay.

 

If you look at post #31, you will note that the resistor is connected to the ground and stop/turn circuits ONLY.
The running light circuit is NOT running through the resistor, therefore, running with the taillights, parking lights or DRL's ON, will NOT heat the resistor.

 

I plan on doing this in the rear tail lights. I have resistors up front but now I have to have resistors in the back also for my LED aftermarket brake lights.

 

Edit: Delete post

 

I’m getting hyper flash. My aftermarket brake lights are LED. And my front turn signals are to. What do you mean dual fitament?

 

You have replaced your incandescent bulbs with LEDs. Your incandescent bulbs have either single or double filaments for function. If the single filament bulb doesn't flash, then the replacement LED will not flash and does not need a resistor (brake or tail function only) If your LED replaces a bulb with two filaments, and one of the filaments flashes (turn signal), the replacement LED will need a resistor on the flasher circuit (see post #31) If you have replaced a single filament incandescent bulb that flashes with an LED, you need a resistor for that circuit (turn signal only)

 

Don't the DRLs in the "high" position (i.e. 2nd position on stalk) draw current from the stop/turn circuit?

Mine was wired as shown in post #31 before I switched to the Diode Dynamics relay. That resistor got rid of the hyper flash, but it also certainly got hot enough to melt some of the surrounding insulation that the resistor happened to be touching.

 

Just the DRL/TURN circuit...

 

In that diagram, it's labeled "STOP/TURN LIGHTS" and "RUNNING LIGHTS". I don't see a "DRL/TURN". Which one are you referring to?