I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named VLO.Just swap put the taillight assemblies for modern LED units. It is a big improvement in visibility. The originals were a metric dimension but very close to a standard (NA) replacement unit. I had to do a wee (and I do mean very little) bit of filing to
I have contacted Wings and Wheels as well as Cobra Trailer. The lens is no longer manufactured. Does anyone have one or know of someone who may have a no longer in use trailer of that vintage?
David
On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com
wrote:
I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old,Just swap put the taillight assemblies for modern LED units. It is a big improvement in visibility. The originals were a metric dimension but
round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the
center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named
VLO.
I have contacted Wings and Wheels as well as Cobra Trailer. The lens is
no longer manufactured. Does anyone have one or know of someone who may
have a no longer in use trailer of that vintage?
David
very close to a standard (NA) replacement unit. I had to do a wee (and I
do mean very little) bit of filing to widen the holes to get the new
ones in.
On Wed, 29 Jun 2022 05:05:40 -0700 (PDT), stephen.s...@gmail.com wrote:
On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.comSeconded. However, do check that the LED lighting you intend to fit is compatible with your tow vehicle. I've just had my trailer's (remarkably flimsy, old and unreliable) incandescent tail lights replaced with LEDs, which are working well.
wrote:
I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old,Just swap put the taillight assemblies for modern LED units. It is a big improvement in visibility. The originals were a metric dimension but
round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the
center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named
VLO.
I have contacted Wings and Wheels as well as Cobra Trailer. The lens is
no longer manufactured. Does anyone have one or know of someone who may
have a no longer in use trailer of that vintage?
David
very close to a standard (NA) replacement unit. I had to do a wee (and I
do mean very little) bit of filing to widen the holes to get the new
ones in.
The outfit that did the rewiring and reinstallation started by point out
that some modern car's lighting systems are incompatible with LED trailer lighting. It seems to be something to do with the LED resistance/voltage
drop differing from the equivalent values for incandescent bulbs, which
can cause the car to think the trailer taillights aren't working.
So, if you do the work yourself, plug the LED tail lights into the car's socket and check that they work correctly BEFORE installing them on the trailer.
FWIW the people who replaced my tail-lights did exactly that.
--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org
On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com wrote:
I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named VLO.
I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named VLO.
I have contacted Wings and Wheels as well as Cobra Trailer. The lens is no longer manufactured. Does anyone have one or know of someone who may have a no longer in use trailer of that vintage?
David
On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 10:54:28 AM UTC-4, Hank Nixon wrote:
On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com wrote: >>> I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named VLO.
I was able to use the lens out go the one below for a lens missing on my 1985 Cobra trailer. $6.54 delivered to the house, and it was a 30 second job instead of all the rewiring. Also, if it does not fit, when free return if you are Amazon Primemember. I still have the remaining parts if something goes wrong in the future.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LXHUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Kevin
92
I love it! If the car can't recognize the low voltage drop of the LED, insert a resistor in series. That way the power that was converted to
heat in the incandescent bulb is now converted to heat in a resistor!
Another win for green power!
Yeah, I know about older and newer cars. It was a joke. Deal with it.
Dan
5J
On 6/29/22 09:06, kevin anderson wrote:
On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 10:54:28 AM UTC-4, Hank Nixon wrote:
On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com
wrote:
I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the
old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in
the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company
named VLO.
I was able to use the lens out go the one below for a lens missing on
my 1985 Cobra trailer. $6.54 delivered to the house, and it was a
30 second job instead of all the rewiring. Also, if it does not fit,
when free return if you are Amazon Prime member. I still have the
remaining parts if something goes wrong in the future.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LXHUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Kevin
92
Joke OK. But it's also sad. One of the advantages of LED tail lights
on a long trailer is that the lower current means less voltage drop in
the long wires, thus nice bright lights. If you have to add those
resistors (in parallel, not series) put them up front, not back in the
light fixtures.
Glider trailers tend to last longer than cars, thus, even if the LED
lights will work OK with your current car, they may not with a future
car. That's not a reason to avoid convert the lights. But set it up so
that you can add those resistors later. Hopefully future cars will be
more accommodating of LED lights than the current ones.
The trend though seems to be towards microchips in every corner of a
car, and the LED lights in most new cars seem to be controlled in a way
that makes them blink at high speed. (I don't mean the turn-signal
blink, I mean a very rapid blink, say 30 times per second, that you can
see if you swing your head, or if a car crosses in front of you from one
side to the other.) How those circuits interact with trailers I don't
have a clue. If the car manufacturer offers an add-on trailer adapter
ask whether it'll work with LED lights in the trailer.
On 6/29/2022 11:25 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
I love it! If the car can't recognize the low voltage drop of the LED, insert a resistor in series. That way the power that was converted to
heat in the incandescent bulb is now converted to heat in a resistor!
Another win for green power!
Yeah, I know about older and newer cars. It was a joke. Deal with it.
Dan
5J
On 6/29/22 09:06, kevin anderson wrote:
On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 10:54:28 AM UTC-4, Hank Nixon wrote:
On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com
wrote:
I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the
old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in >>>> the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company
named VLO.
I was able to use the lens out go the one below for a lens missing on
my 1985 Cobra trailer. $6.54 delivered to the house, and it was a
30 second job instead of all the rewiring. Also, if it does not fit,
when free return if you are Amazon Prime member. I still have the
remaining parts if something goes wrong in the future.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LXHUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Kevin
92
Joke OK. But it's also sad. One of the advantages of LED tail lights
on a long trailer is that the lower current means less voltage drop in
the long wires, thus nice bright lights. If you have to add those
resistors (in parallel, not series) put them up front, not back in the
light fixtures.
Glider trailers tend to last longer than cars, thus, even if the LED
lights will work OK with your current car, they may not with a future
car. That's not a reason to avoid convert the lights. But set it up so that you can add those resistors later. Hopefully future cars will be
more accommodating of LED lights than the current ones.
The trend though seems to be towards microchips in every corner of a
car, and the LED lights in most new cars seem to be controlled in a way
that makes them blink at high speed. (I don't mean the turn-signal
blink, I mean a very rapid blink, say 30 times per second, that you can
see if you swing your head, or if a car crosses in front of you from one
side to the other.) How those circuits interact with trailers I don't
have a clue. If the car manufacturer offers an add-on trailer adapter
ask whether it'll work with LED lights in the trailer.
On 6/29/2022 11:25 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
I love it! If the car can't recognize the low voltage drop of the
LED, insert a resistor in series. That way the power that was
converted to heat in the incandescent bulb is now converted to heat in
a resistor!
Another win for green power!
Yeah, I know about older and newer cars. It was a joke. Deal with it.
Dan
5J
On 6/29/22 09:06, kevin anderson wrote:
On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 10:54:28 AM UTC-4, Hank Nixon wrote:
On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com
wrote:
I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the
old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle
in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a
company named VLO.
I was able to use the lens out go the one below for a lens missing
on my 1985 Cobra trailer. $6.54 delivered to the house, and it was >>> a 30 second job instead of all the rewiring. Also, if it does not
fit, when free return if you are Amazon Prime member. I still have
the remaining parts if something goes wrong in the future.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LXHUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Kevin
92
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