Add a Strobing Flashing LED Center Brake Light to Your Vehicle Trailer Hitch for $20 (DIY)
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- Опубликовано: 7 окт 2024
- I added an LED center brake light to my truck and mounted it to the trailer hitch receiver tube. The only hitch cover lights I could buy were steady-on whenever the brakes were pressed so I modified the light with a strobe module so it flashes whenever you step on the brakes. The total cost of the two parts was $20. I cleaned up all the wiring and waterproofed the unit. Now, anyone who is looking at their phone or the radio while they're following me will see a strobe brake light flashing near the bottom of their windshield to get their attention even when they're looking down.
These are the parts I used:
www.amazon.com...
www.amazon.com...
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. You're not the first to be concerned that it might be illegal in their state. I live in wild-west Arizona and It is no problem here. Hopefully you can find a module that blinks in just the sequence/duration that you need. I just bought the cheapest one since I was working on the concept.
thank u so much for the video. I purchased the light, not knowing to make it flashes until i saw your video. thanks a bunch, it looks soooooooooo much better with the strobing function.
Thanks for the detailed instructions. Very helpful. The latest version of this hitch light (8/23) has a 4 wire flat plug and a running light feature (brown wire). Your mods worked perfectly (kept the brown wire intact and didn't run it through the strobe) and I used a UK version of the strobe that flashes 4 times and then remains solid. Again thank you for this - works great.
Best How To video EVER in RUclips.! Dude you are spot on explaining and demonstrating this clear and detailed. THANK YOU.
Nice mod, I think I'll do it to my Jeep, It's only a 4 flat. You should swap your halogen blinkers for LED to complete the look.
Question - Does the trailer hitch light up when a turn signal is applied? You connected the green and yellow wires together before going into the circuit board. Please let me know. Thanks! You need a great job on the video.
The reason why white LEDs aren't used behind a red lens is that it creates pink. Same general rule of thumb is used for LED bulb replacements as well. LED color should match the lens if you want deep, rich color (unless it's clear, obviously).
For the wiring of the strobe unit into the housing, I would've opted to desolder the original LED's wires from the board and feed just enough of the strobe unit's wires into the board and solder them directly to the board - this would eliminate the need to splice wires, resulting in a cleaner install with less potential failure points. The two solder pads on the board could be tied together easily with one blob of solder, same as joining the yellow and green wires together.
Also, just a word of caution - that strobe unit isn't legal in most jurisdictions (California being one that I know of for sure) as it continues to flash as long as there's power to it. The legal limit is 4 flashes in most places to avoid confusion of it being an emergency vehicle. There is at least one other unit available (Amazon) that strobes 4 times and then remains solid on like a regular brake light until the power is removed. Upon the next application of power (brake pedal pressed again) it flashes and then goes solid again. Rinse, repeat. I believe there is also a built-in delay period where quick successive brake pedal applications (such as those during stop and go traffic) don't trigger the flash. I believe it's something like 2 or 3 seconds. Outside of that delay period though, it resets to flashing first. There are a couple different models available, each with different capabilities (programmable strobe rate, delay, etc.) - S1, M1, and G1 I think. I believe the 'S1' model is the regular 4 flash then solid, but I may be mistaken. It looks like a white opaque plastic box, and is also quite a bit smaller than the unit you used here.
Good video though. Cheers from Canada! :)
Also worth noting: Careful about tying the two turn signal wires together on the vehicle side of the strobe unit. This shorts the left and right turn signal circuits in the car together. Some cars can deal with this since they have already have circuitry that isolates the two (as would seem to be the case for your Honda), but on many vehicles doing so will cause both turn signals to flash (like hazards) when only one turn signal is operated. The way to prevent this is by using diodes to prevent backfeeding current into the car. One diode on each the yellow and green wires, then tie both diodes together after that for a common positive feed into your circuit. Easy peasy.
I did pretty much as you did. It works great. The only issue I get is that when I put the car into reverse, I now get a fault message for the reversing sensors. I connected straight into the trailer plug (in Australia we have a standard 7 pin plug) connecting to the brake and earth hitch pins only. I would have thought this should have not have impacted of the reversing sensors.
Just had an driver rear end my Tacoma. Not bad but just enough to brake my hitch light. Obviously these are not "FOOL" proof. Mine was a Harbor Freight item - two wires - just for brakes. I did the exact same thing with the wire so as to not have that tacky mess showing. Real clean set up. HF does not carry these simple ones anymore - so now in my Amazon cart(CZ Auto -a bit cheaper) Your post is GREAT with adding the flasher (I installed one of those on my G37 system - flashes three times fast and then steady) Just like me -you do it right! Great job! Thanks for sharing.
BTW - I heard you say Arizona - I'm in Fountain Hills.
Thanks Dave. I'm grateful for your critique. Sorry about your accident and I'm glad it wasn't worse.
Well made video. Found this in my search for a hitch brake light that flashes one time prior to being steady on, with each press of the brake pedal. I have seen them on vehicles but have yet to find one. Very interesting.
Thanks a lot. It's working great. Whenever I watch my back-up camera, I see it strobing behind me when I brake.
Great video! Will be doing this week. Thanks
Thanks! It's been working perfectly for months now and I'm convinced it makes me more noticeable in traffic.
When I made it, I did not know of any. I was primarily concerned about the brightness in the Arizona sun so I probably would have bought the brightest on the market and modified it anyway.
Hi! Great Video! Looks like this new flashing light set-up is still legal in California. I'm reading where our law wants the strobe light to only blink 3 or 4 times then go solid red. Since your cool set-up actually turns off after the blink sequence, I feel this would still count as okay to use. My flashing light project plan is to see if i can replace the top 3rd light on my 2004 Dodge Dakota Truck with a similar flashing set-up, but still hold a steady red after the rapid succession blink.
I love this video. I ordered the parts you used but the light that I received only had a green and white wire. Can I still use this light or should I locate another one?
I want this but I want it to only strobe 5 times then stop and hopefully wait until >10mph before resetting (so it doesn't continue to strobe through stop & go traffic or at lights)
I purchased a similar hitch LED cover which also has the white reverse light. It has the 4 wire plug plus an extra white wire. The light did not come with instructions on what to do with the white wire. I would like plug it in from the bottom not the outlet on the bumper (I don't like the plugged from the back) and would like to make it strobe light as well when brake pedal is press. Can you guide me?
GENIUS!!!!
I'm glad you like it. It's working great after 15 months and people seem to be more aware when I'm about to back out of a parking space, too.
The in or out strobe? I think you put the wrong way?
What model you put in the light
Any idea why this light might not work with my adapter?
Great job thanks for the video
well done
Good job
Strobing? You mean flashing. Look up what a "strobe" light is. They were all the rage in the 80s.
How’d you install the female connector under the truck?
Well, I'm not as proud of that part. I found a wiring diagram for the Honda wires (they are not the standard colors for a similar hitch plug on other vehicles!), then I used wire taps, like stereo shops use, to tap into the middle of each wire and connect it to the 4-flat connector. The ground wire on the stock hitch plug is thicker gage than the other wires (signals, brakes, etc.) so I used a file to make the gap in the wire tap blade a little wider before I used that one so it wouldn't break any of the strands in the copper ground wire. When I was done, I wrapped the connections with electrical tape. I do not like using wiretaps because they breakthrough the insulation. The reason I chose to do so in this case is because it allowed me to add the four flat connector inside the frame in a very short and tidy installation.
Do you know of any trailer hitch covers that come with the strobe like this by default?