LED switchback turn signals

JeepJeep75

New member
Let me share my adventure with all of you who might be interested in adding these to your ride. I'm sure a lot of people have seen or heard of LED switchbacks. It's an LED replacement bulb for the front turn signals that act as daytime running lights. So, I swapped my shitty stock headlights for some Trucklites. I LOVE them!! They work great and look even better. So, I figured why not swap the fogs to match? I eBay'ed up some fogs. They look great, but don't really "work" as fog lights anymore. Okay, fine. They look good though. So I figured why not complete the look on the front with some LED switchbacks, and get cool looking daytime running lights all in one package? Well, not so fast.... First, these switchback LEDs are all made in China, (duh!), and as all cheap LED crap from China, it's very hit-and-miss. Mostly miss. I ordered my switchbacks for $30 for the pair. Then I ordered some load resistors. The load resistors come with those shitty crimp-on piggy-back connectors. Those will never go on any vehicle of mine so I soldered them into the wire harnesses going to each turn signal near the headlight.
ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1438534737.679206.jpg ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1438532810.163051.jpg
Then I secured the load resistor to the metal bracket for the fender with a hose clamp. Cool, right? Well... I got everything buttoned up and confirmed all systems working. Then I noticed how HOT the LED bulbs get. Too hot to touch. Hmm... After literally 2 (yes, two) hours of operation, one of the LEDs stopped working. Swapped it to the other side to confirm bulb and not socket. The LED had indeed shit the bed. So I got a free replacement from the seller. Before I even got the replacement, the other one took a shit. The amber turn signal parts worked, just not the white running light. Then I noticed how hot the load resistors get when the turn signal is on. Now, I get that resistors turn current into heat. But damn, these get HOT!!!! To hot to touch in less than a minute. So, I figure why not add in an external resistor to just the daytime running lead. No-go. The lowered voltage was interfering with the chip in the LED that actives the amber portion. So now I have regular amber LEDs that still need these stupid load resistors that get so hot I'm sure they would start a fire if I were to say use the turn signal or hazards for more than a minute. So, totally defeated, I ripped all the LED shit out, and went back to the stock incandescent bulbs. FYI, if one of the LEDs quit, your screwed. You can't just throw in a regular build with the load resistor. The fuse will blow because, duh, it's twice the load. I like the idea of the Switchback turn sigs. But having to put bandaids on to get them to work is stupid. I have seen the ones that say "error-free" and "built-in load resistors". It's all marketing shit that gets served up to people like me that are willing to try them out. Do they work? Yea. Do they last? Hell no! Do they (sellers) care? Not really. Did it work for them? Well, they have my $30. What's my point? This mod is not worth the risk of burning down my jeep.
#totallydefeated
#tailbetweenlegs
 

dagdag

New member
That's unfortunate. Delta sells some decent LED products for less than some of the competition. I love my Delta LED halo headlights. They were hundreds cheaper than others.
 

Yeep

New member
I've had switchback turn signals (Ddm) and resistors (some I found at autozone) for over 6 months with no issues.

Resistors get hot, that's just what they do.. I extended the leads and mounted them down a little lower away from anything that could melt..
And I've had my hazard lights on for more than 30 minutes before without a fire....
 

JeepJeep75

New member
You planning on using that winch cable? I'm in the market for a new one ;)

Yea.. I want to keep it for a while. Eventually I'll get tired of moving it around my micro-garage. It came with the Powerplant HD. I wanted a synthetic line but it wasn't an option.
 
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