Front 2-wire LED Running Light/Turn Signal Wiring

[JeepWheelin02]

Picked up this idea from another forum. But it works very well. I just finished wiring my front turn signal LED's.

Every front LED turn signal I have found so far is a 2-wire setup (positive and ground). Yet the Wrangler's run on a 3-wire (1 running light, 1 turn signal, and 1 ground). So in order to keep the front LED as a running light and a turn signal I picked up a trailer taillight converter. I got mine from Layton Truck, it's made by Tow Ready (part #119175). I mounted mine on the passenger inner fender well. I cut off the trailer wiring harness off at the very end. I also cut off the "Tail Light" wires at the box on both sides. Next wire up the right and left turn signals (from the factory wiring harness of the vehicle) to their respective right and left turn signals on the "tow vehicle" side of the converter. Wire up the running light (from the factory wiring harness of the vehicle) to the "Stop" wire on the "tow vehicle" side of the converter. Then I moved on to the trailer side of the converter. The "right turn signal/stop" wire goes to the right LED and the "left turn signal/stop" goes to the left turn signal. Ground on both sides of the box just ground to the chassis. You also need to make sure to ground your LED's to the chassis. Remember when wiring this that on most LED's the white wire is ground and the black wire is positive.

See the picture below for a better understanding of how the wires on the converter go. Note that the cutoff wires in the picture are the ones for "tail light".



I am still working on a flasher that will work when running rear LED turn/stop lights and the front LED turn/running lights. The EP26 flasher will not blow when you turn on the hazards (which do flask at normal speed) however the turn signals still flash fast. The stock flasher flashes fast when the turn signal is on and blows when you hit the hazards (no more turn signal after that). Once I get that figured out I will post up the info on this thread.


Hope this helps out someone else. Oh yeah and in case anyone was wondering. I am running 3/4" Amber LED's in the front. Got them from GenRight and they fit into the hole that is cut in most aftermarket tube fenders.

[JeepWheelin02]

One other note. Use the smaller of the turn signal lights on your stock harness. The big bulb is three wires and the small bulb is two wires. You only need the two wire one. I routed the bigger bulb up into the engine compartment for more under hood light when needed. Also on the running lights you only need to wire one side into the converter. Cap the other side.

[al24]

I guess I should go untape mine and see how I wired them. I didn't use any adapters, just wired them into the harness. They work fine for the running and turn lights.
Do you know if the flasher mod will work in your year Jp?

[JeepWheelin02]

I guess I should go untape mine and see how I wired them. I didn't use any adapters, just wired them into the harness. They work fine for the running and turn lights.

And they are 2-wire LED's or did you find some 3-wire somewhere?

Do you know if the flasher mod will work in your year Jp?

Didn't feel like breaking out the soldering iron to modify mine to test that out.

[BalloonKnot]

This is good info. I have 4 of those LED penny lights up front. 2 in front and 2 on side. I get blinking and flashers on all.. No parking lights on them and when I turn my lights on I loose my side blinkers. Now I just need to unwrap it all and take a look. Someday.

[al24]

And they are 2-wire LED's or did you find some 3-wire somewhere?



Didn't feel like breaking out the soldering iron to modify mine to test that out.

2 wire round led marker lights.

[JeepWheelin02]

2 wire round led marker lights.

I am very curious to know how you got them to work as running lights and a turn signal then. Post up and let us know.

[MIKE n IKE]

I brought the side fender light harness to the grill for my front turn signal/running lights because its two-wire, then use a resistor across the regular front marker lights on the turn signal circuit. All works good, but there has to be a better way. Oh, and no 4-ways either.

[MIKE n IKE]

I'm gonna try the trailer harness thing out soon, I'm curious now. The first time I messed with the front LED's was in the winter and I didn't have much patience.

[al24]

I am very curious to know how you got them to work as running lights and a turn signal then. Post up and let us know.

Damn, too much pressure.

I'll check the wiring soon.

[jeeplvr79]

Damn, too much pressure.

I'll check the wiring soon.

yeah cause I wanna know too

[JeepWheelin02]

I'm gonna try the trailer harness thing out soon, I'm curious now. The first time I messed with the front LED's was in the winter and I didn't have much patience.

You are welcome to stop by and see my setup if you want.

[al24]

Tj green to light plug black.
Tj white to light plug white.

That's on a 97.

[teamextreme]

He's not using the running light circuit, there's no way to do it without the trailer adapter (or some diodes). One thing to note for everyone considering this, your "running" or "parking" lights are the extra bright LED's, the same light intensity as your turn signals (because they're the same light obviously). A standard lighting setup has a much dimmer parking light and a brighter turn signal. If it were me, I'd just ditch the running lights and use turn signals only, or find a second set of less bright LED's to use as running lights.

[al24]

Well thank you for your expert analysis.
My running lights work just fine and the turn signals flash.

[Oscar]

[teamextreme]

With the pic shown you've only got one light function there, either turn or parking, not two like the OP asked about. So if everything "works fine" you need to give more info, otherwise all you did was replace your turn signals with with LED's, which was not what was asked.

[al24]

With the pic shown you've only got one light function there, either turn or parking, not two like the OP asked about. So if everything "works fine" you need to give more info, otherwise all you did was replace your turn signals with with LED's, which was not what was asked.

Well it's nice to know you've seen my Jp. The turn signals blink and the running lights light up .
So you wanna put say a $100 on it that I'm wrong?
What more info could you want. When the running lights are on they're on. When I turn the turn signal switch on the steering column they flash.
When the running lights are on and I turn the signal switch the light flashes . Easy enough for ya?

But of course, that's not possible.

[MIKE n IKE]

Actually it works with just 2 wires. Thats how mine are, park & turn running off of the 2-wire fender flare marker light harness. Problem is, LED hasn't enuf resistance, but a big resistor on the park light circuit(on 2 of the three wires, can't remember which ones without looking) will suffice. Yet again, there has to be a better way. I'll be dissecting and experimenting on Saturday or Sunday so I'll post up with what I find.

[LS1JKLOVER]

i got 100 on al

[JeepWheelin02]

With the pic shown you've only got one light function there, either turn or parking, not two like the OP asked about. So if everything "works fine" you need to give more info, otherwise all you did was replace your turn signals with with LED's, which was not what was asked.

UMMM. Actually I did not ask a question at all. I was just posting up info on one way to wire up the lights.

Actually it works with just 2 wires. Thats how mine are, park & turn running off of the 2-wire fender flare marker light harness. Problem is, LED hasn't enuf resistance, but a big resistor on the park light circuit(on 2 of the three wires, can't remember which ones without looking) will suffice. Yet again, there has to be a better way. I'll be dissecting and experimenting on Saturday or Sunday so I'll post up with what I find.

I'm gonna try that out this weekend, see if mine will work that way as well. As far as your problem have you tried modding your Flasher or putting in an EP26 Flasher?

[teamextreme]

Well it's nice to know you've seen my Jp. The turn signals blink and the running lights light up .
So you wanna put say a $100 on it that I'm wrong?
What more info could you want. When the running lights are on they're on. When I turn the turn signal switch on the steering column they flash.
When the running lights are on and I turn the signal switch the light flashes . Easy enough for ya?

But of course, that's not possible.

Geez that explains it all, crystal clear. I never said they didn't work. It was asked by numerous people (yourself included JeepWheelin, in post #7, so yes you did indeed ask a question) HOW you made it work. A very legitimate question in fact, that many of us have. How exactly are you making a single circuit lamp operate properly from 2 separate circuits without using a trailer adaptor. Al has still failed to show us how, other than by posting a snapshot of a single circuit LED connected to two wires and arrogantly thinking this is an explanation. Then upon further questioning, he resorts to smart ass comments and attempts to paint me as some sort of idiot for not understanding. No it's not easy enough for me Al, why don't you and your gigantic brain explain it for me. Please school me on this, cause I'd seriously like to know. As of yet you haven't explained anything. Your picture shows a single circuit wiring harness connected to a single circuit LED. How does the second circuit come in?

Mike n Ike mentioned using a resistor across two of the circuit wires. Do you mean you put a resistor in series with the LED's to give them the resistance needed to operate the flasher? If so, how are the park and turn circuits combined to provide a single output to the LED?

[MIKE n IKE]

I got the flasher that says "for LED" on the top. Activating the flashers would either blow the flasher or the fuse under the hood. I didn't actually use a resistor, but it was recommended. I used another normal bulb light tucked up under the fenders(temporary fix). But the little lights on your fender flares do both park and turn functions and it is a 2 wire hookup. That is the harness I used. I will try to make a diagram and post it.

[teamextreme]

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. If I understand what you're saying, the stock TJ wiring harness for the side marker lights already performs both parking light and turn signal functions using just two wires, which is common for side marker lights to work this way, especially in american cars (I didn't think TJ's did this though). Which is why you guys are getting a single light to perform both functions using only two wires, because it's factory wired to do so. Now....if this is the case, why the hell would you go to the trouble of installing the trailer adapter on the wires for the turn signal lights, instead of just using the side marker light wiring harness? It wouldn't be needed if this is the case.

[MIKE n IKE]

I guess it just takes some trial and error to figure out.......and the wires keep getting shorter, and shorter, and.............

[Sound_Man]

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. If I understand what you're saying, the stock TJ wiring harness for the side marker lights already performs both parking light and turn signal functions using just two wires, which is common for side marker lights to work this way, especially in american cars (I didn't think TJ's did this though). Which is why you guys are getting a single light to perform both functions using only two wires, because it's factory wired to do so. Now....if this is the case, why the hell would you go to the trouble of installing the trailer adapter on the wires for the turn signal lights, instead of just using the side marker light wiring harness? It wouldn't be needed if this is the case.

Winner!!

Do like someone else I know did and zip tie the original front marker lights under the hood.