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Diode Dynamics Video: How to Install 2018 Jeep JL Wrangler Backup/Reverse Light LEDs

WranglerMan

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Great question! We'll offer warning-canceller modules with any bulbs that might require it. Tail light/backup LED bulbs should not trigger any issues on the JL. You may need resistors if switching to LED turn signals, though.

Jake H.
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If say one of us has a programmer like a Tazer :like: and enable the LED option thru the EVIC can buying resistors be passed on, I thought I had read awhile back that a member just turned on the LED option and did not use resistors and all worked as designed with no hyperbkink
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If say one of us has a programmer like a Tazer :like: and enable the LED option thru the EVIC can buying resistors be passed on, I thought I had read awhile back that a member just turned on the LED option and did not use resistors and all worked as designed with no hyperbkink
Prior to the JL and this CANBUS nonsense, to put LED bulbs in a vehicle only required that the bulb manufacturer make it work with 12VDC since that was the standard car electrical voltage. The actual LEDs themselves only require around 3.3-3.5V as a forward voltage on a per element basis. To make them work on 12VDC, you might have 3 of them in series and then a current limiting resistor to ensure that you don't overdrive them. To get more light, you might have multiple groups of those 3 in parallel. The larger wattage LED packages can expect different voltage because they are wired in series and in parallel on the board. I've seen 3W COB packages that expected 12V and others that expected 18V. Often there is nothing on the COB that tells you the voltage that it is expecting, so you need to make a note of it when you order and receive it so you don't use a lower rated COB with a higher voltage. Things were a lot simpler with incandescent bulbs since all of them expected 12V if they were for a modern car. Yeah, there were some 6V ones that were for some of the cars back in the early '60s, but you don't come across them these days, you need to special order them.
 

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Why do two LED tail light bulbs for the JL cost $90?
 

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Why do two LED tail light bulbs for the JL cost $90?
Probably the damn kiddie engineers at Jeep getting fancy with their useless gimmicks again. Jeep probably made things proprietary so that they could be the sole supplier for quite awhile and could rake in even more profit.

From a practical standpoint, I doubt that they should cost more than around $10 or so if you are talking about a base replacement bulb without a housing. I've seen the H13 headlamp bulbs going for less than $10 each on eBay.

I'm not in the market for a replacement bulb since I don't drive long distances at night that much, but I might be tempted to try out one of those eBay bulbs though just to see what they look like. If they aren't acceptable, I could rig it up as a spotlight in my yard instead of the mercury vapor light. The mercury vapor light in my backyard is at least 15 years old and does not need replacement, but I could probably convince myself to replace it with a light that turns on instantly instead of needing time to warm up. When the dog is barking and I need to investigate something outside to see if it needs killin', I prefer a light that instantly turns on. :)
 
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That's a great question. I double-checked with our engineering team, and the answer I got was that the JL with the LED package still sends 12 volts to the LEDs, and controls everything with specific integrated drivers.

Hope this helps!

Jake H.
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Diode Dynamics

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Why do two LED tail light bulbs for the JL cost $90?
Hey there!

There are a number of things that factor into the cost of our brightest tail light bulb for the JL Wrangler, the XP80 (the HP11 and HP48 are also great options at $60/pair and $40/pair). We design every bulb we offer with the best possible components, and back everything with a 3-year worry-free warranty. Also, we verify the actual output of each bulb in our laboratory in St. Louis, instead of simply providing a rough estimate (common practice with generic LED bulbs).

So, while our XP80 certainly isn't the least expensive option, we promise it won't disappoint!

Thanks!

Jake H.
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That's a great question. I double-checked with our engineering team, and the answer I got was that the JL with the LED package still sends 12 volts to the LEDs, and controls everything with specific integrated drivers.

Hope this helps!

Jake H.
Diode Dynamics
So, instead of the bulb itself having a resistor or other type of driver on it to limit the current, the vehicle has it's own driver located somewhere else to do it. Seems like that method would limit you to only being able to use LEDs that conformed to the original factory specification if you bought the vehicle with the LED option and not be able to swap them out for higher powered LEDs at a later date. Probably not an issue for someone driving on the road, but if you were building an off-road only vehicle, the capability to replace the factory LEDs with higher power ones might be nice to have.
 

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Probably the damn kiddie engineers at Jeep getting fancy with their useless gimmicks again. Jeep probably made things proprietary so that they could be the sole supplier for quite awhile and could rake in even more profit.

From a practical standpoint, I doubt that they should cost more than around $10 or so if you are talking about a base replacement bulb without a housing. I've seen the H13 headlamp bulbs going for less than $10 each on eBay.
Manufactures have to manage supply chains, and stock parts for replacements for x number of years, they cant buy sale of the week components that are unavailable in a week. Parts from a managed supply chain always look silly priced (3x is common), the good news it means 3rd party vendors can build a much better part for cheaper cost for us, and improve it as they see fit.

Usually putting bulbs of the wrong voltage work, they just confuse the diagnostics to think the bulb is dead and set off warnings, flashing, etc
 

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No one ever answered yes or no to the question ... does setting the signal lights to LED with a Tazer or Flascal eliminate the need for resistors? :lipssealed:
 

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Usually putting bulbs of the wrong voltage work, they just confuse the diagnostics to think the bulb is dead and set off warnings, flashing, etc
It's going to depend upon the design of the system and whether the manufacturer did it right. I wouldn't be betting on it with the kiddie engineers that I've seen these days. They don't want to design robust system that are easy to maintain and modify. They want you to be only buying products that they sell. With LEDs, it's not just the voltage, but the current. For example, let's say that you have an LED module that is expecting 12V and needs a certain current value. You *could* design it so that the module would step down any higher voltage while limiting the current to the needed value. Or, you *could* design it so that it takes whatever is fed to it and hand off the responsibility of supplying the correct voltage and current to the vehicle's computer / light controller. The first design is more robust in that it allows more flexibility in future aftermarket replacements. The second design might be a bit cheaper since the controller portion of the system does not need to be replace if the bulb ever needs replacing. Which one did Jeep use? My gut feeling is that they used the one that would give them the potential future profit and the idea of having a robust system that could be easily modified and maintained did not even come into the discussion.

Change, just for the sake of change is never a good idea. Putting the lights on the CANBUS system was not necessary.
 

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It's going to depend upon the design of the system and whether the manufacturer did it right. I wouldn't be betting on it with the kiddie engineers that I've seen these days. They don't want to design robust system that are easy to maintain and modify. They want you to be only buying products that they sell.
No, that kinda talk is silly. Engineering managers on product lines of relatively expensive product lines are not sitting around trying to make a profit off of light bulbs. They will certainly push them to young engineers to use existing common components shared across product lines, both to save development time and costs, and to get bonuses for doing so. And the engineer makes zero for selling and additional light bulbs...

Young Engineers these days are actually pretty good, rising complexity of systems is being thrust upon them with alot of good and bad.
 

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Does anyone know the color of turn signal wire in the tail light to connect the resistors to?
 

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If you have a Rubicon with Factory LED don't waste your time.The tail lights are sealed and you can not install these lights.Ugh I need a brighter reverse light that doesn't hang below the bumper
 

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If you have a Rubicon with Factory LED don't waste your time.The tail lights are sealed and you can not install these lights.Ugh I need a brighter reverse light that doesn't hang below the bumper
If you dig around enough, you will find a thread where someone installed a single cube light above the camera. Seems functional enough.
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