what is the best LED tail light brand and style

[limitout]

im looking at getting LED tail lights but I see there are so many different styles and patterns of lights out there from 12 smaller sized LEDs to as few as 6 or 7 large sized LEDs and I see different styles from being shaped in a circle pattern for the square lights or the rectangle ones have an "X" or staggered row patterns and I wanted to ask for your help in finding which ones are the better choices and hopefully at a reasonable price point. IMO not everything needs to be the most expensive to be the best choice.

with your experience with them I would like to know your opinions on the ones to avoid and the ones that give the best and brightest visual as well as any reliability issues you might have had with them. I want to avoid the ones with cheap flimsy lenses or those that aren't sealed well or just don't have enough lights or the lights are not grouped well to present a good visual

so lets please make this a trailer LED tail light review thread if it were

what do you consider to be the top 3 LED tail lights out there and what is your first, 2nd, & 3rd choice and the reason you feel that way about it. lets not think about the marker lights and wires for now and just talk about the tail lights.

please give me your opinions on the lights you have tried and the ones you are using now, would you buy them again or something different next time?

 

[roscoe]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

Had some Optronics, went bad, lost several led's the first summer. One was bad from the start.

Have some Peterson/Blazer lights, they are ok, pretty bright.

Have these wesbar lights on 2 trailers now.
They are expensive, but are the best quality led's I have seen. Super bright.
LED Over 80 Low Profile Trailer Tail Light Kit - Wesbar 407540 - iboats

 

[etracer68]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

I have to agree on Wesbar, they have been making trailer and truck light setups for longer then I remember, and have always had a great reputation.

 

[SWD]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

Harbor Freight submersible set......3 years still going strong.

 

[alldodge]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

For boat trailers I look for ones which a sealed without using screws to hold the two halves together. Wesbar

 

[H20Rat]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

Harbor Freight submersible set......3 years still going strong.

I've got a couple HF sets on various trailers, and the only ones I've lost are from a rock getting picked up from a tire and chucked into the tail light.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

LED's at Walmart........Blazer they are bright and submersible

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

what brand are those harbor freight lights you guys mentioned? no one said what they were

anyone else have optronics lights issues?

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

Harbor freight's light's don't get very good reviews on their site.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

they are their own house brand.... They are the only lights I use on trailers.... cheap reliable bright and I don't cry when some retard backs into my trailer and breaks one while I'm on the lake.... I've had that happen 3 times but never had one fail otherwise

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

they are their own house brand.... They are the only lights I use on trailers.... cheap reliable bright and I don't cry when some retard backs into my trailer and breaks one while I'm on the lake.... I've had that happen 3 times but never had one fail otherwise

ok, thanks

so far I don't see there is anyone saying there is a brand that stands out as one to avoid buying except one bad reported experience with the optronics brand but that might be a fluke as all brands have a few bad ones that fail.

please continue with your reviews

 

[alldodge]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

Inexpensive verses well made will only show up when salt water enters the mix. So long as fresh water is used, even if the light leaks, no big deal

 

[jayhanig]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

By far, these are my favorite trailer lights. I used them to add another section of PVC at the top to make my guide posts taller and easier to see when I backed the trailer down the ramp. When somebody steps on their brakes with these lights on their trailer, you really see it jump out at you.

Since I'm a belt and suspender kind of guy, I have conventional submersible tail lights mounted low on the trailer along with a pair of these topping off the guide posts: .

 

[tanuki]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

Harbor Freight submersible set......3 years still going strong.

Ditto for me, also 3 years, all salt water. Probably just jinxed mine with this post.....

 

[fishrdan]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

I had a set of HF LED lights go bad on me, LED's dropping out. When I opened the light the circuit board was corroded, this was in fresh water. I'm guessing the lights were 2 years old when I took them off. The replacement set I put on was from Bass Pro and had the board encapsulated in epoxy.... They have been going strong for the last few years.

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

I had a set of HF LED lights go bad on me, ....

The replacement set I put on was from Bass Pro and had the board encapsulated in epoxy.... They have been going strong for the last few years.

do you remember the brand name you got from BP?

something like which brand has encapsulated circuit boards is good info for people to know about

 

[alldodge]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

By far, these are my favorite trailer lights. View attachment 219509

This style are well built, I have similar type installed on my dump truck and tag-a-log trailer. Only issue is they have external plug in connections which truckers usually use grease on the terminals before the pig tail is installed to keep moisture out. They were never designed to be submerged.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

do you remember the brand name you got from BP?

I think they were Blazer brand, but not sure as the package is long gone.

With the way things are made (in China) now a days, I wouldn't count on the same quality from year to year, even from the same manufacturer. I was surprised to see that the circuit board was encapsulated, but I don't remember that being advertised on their packaging. A person wouldn't normally see that the board is encapsulated (or non-encapsulated), unless they took the lens off the light, which I did to seal it up with silicone...

 

[jayhanig]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

This style are well built, I have similar type installed on my dump truck and tag-a-log trailer. Only issue is they have external plug in connections which truckers usually use grease on the terminals before the pig tail is installed to keep moisture out. They were never designed to be submerged.

Mine don't get submerged. I have PVC guide post, then the post light section, then another section of PVC capped by another small LED cap. The water never reaches the height of the first joint. I have the wiring bundle stuffed on the high side of the post. In any case, I've been using this in salt water to launch my boat for the last couple of years without problems.

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the best LED tail light brand and style

Mine don't get submerged. I have PVC guide post, then the post light section, then another section of PVC capped by another small LED cap. The water never reaches the height of the first joint. I have the wiring bundle stuffed on the high side of the post. In any case, I've been using this in salt water to launch my boat for the last couple of years without problems. View attachment 219541

I did something similar with regular square box lights on top of the extended side bunk brackets to keep them out of the water, they lasted 10 years that way