White LED Daytime Running Light DRL
05-02-2018, 10:10 PM
#1
White LED Daytime Running Light DRL I haven't seen anyone post this since I had been searching how to do it. What I wanted was the front turn to be a white DRL, white parking light, and amber turn. Camaros use a dual filament bulb with the high brightness filament being for DRL and turn. The signals are combined for signal and turn by the DRL module. I found the wiring for this and was figuring out how to do this when I found an off the shelf solution. The only place that sells these is VLEDs, they are not a sponsor that I know of, but nobody else sells these. The only negative is they are expensive.
The bulb they sell is a switchback (white/amber) with what they call an HDRL controller. Bottom line, it works exactly how I want. During the day it is a very bright white DRL. At night it is a white park lamp. When the signal comes on the white goes out and it blinks amber. I did switch the turn signal relay so as not to fast flash, no need for a load resistor.
The bulb they sell is a switchback (white/amber) with what they call an HDRL controller. Bottom line, it works exactly how I want. During the day it is a very bright white DRL. At night it is a white park lamp. When the signal comes on the white goes out and it blinks amber. I did switch the turn signal relay so as not to fast flash, no need for a load resistor.
05-03-2018, 12:41 PM
#5
I did the same thing, but just used a high powered amber LED in the housing and then added another to the side, so I get a wrap around effect. I actually like the amber DRLs much better than white. I use the fog lights as white DRLs 
Don't mind the pic in the signature.. that's stock... and how it looked years ago. Now it's quite different
Don't mind the pic in the signature.. that's stock... and how it looked years ago. Now it's quite different
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05-26-2018, 10:14 PM
#9
I'm using these as strictly amber and they work really well. They also sell a switchback option or reds for the tailights...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0742R3GLT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_mjIcBbMJK38E2
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0742R3GLT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_mjIcBbMJK38E2
05-26-2018, 10:19 PM
#10
Originally Posted by EnergyCC
I'm using these as strictly amber and they work really well. They also sell a switchback option or reds for the tailights...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0742R3GLT..._mjIcBbMJK38E2
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0742R3GLT..._mjIcBbMJK38E2
05-26-2018, 10:49 PM
#11
Im trying to accomplish what op is looking to do. I want a white running light both in the day and at night that has a amber turn signal at all times. With the standard amber/white switchbacks the DRL is amber along with the turn signal, but as soon as the headlights are on it becomes a white running light with an amber turn signal.
I never have taken any pictures because I was messing with the front side marker... I've decided to go with a very dim amber for the side marker. I tried white and it was way to bright, well and that isn't legal.
Brian
05-26-2018, 10:57 PM
#12
Originally Posted by 00PewterSS
The VLED switchback has the option of using another controller they call it HDRL. This box allows what I wanted and you want. White for day and night and amber for turn only. If you connect it so the white is dim at night and bright during the day if you choose. I went the VLED because they had this easy solution to what I wanted to do but they are $$. The HDRL takes the signal for turn signal and DRL and seperates them. If you don't use this controller then it would be a real pain to try to accomplish this.
I never have taken any pictures because I was messing with the front side marker... I've decided to go with a very dim amber for the side marker. I tried white and it was way to bright, well and that isn't legal.
Brian
I never have taken any pictures because I was messing with the front side marker... I've decided to go with a very dim amber for the side marker. I tried white and it was way to bright, well and that isn't legal.
Brian
Last edited by GtoProject; 05-27-2018 at 07:16 AM.
05-27-2018, 07:17 AM
#13
I found that vled's sell the individual HDRL controllers pretty cheap, depending on how they pick up the factory wiring it may be possible to just buy the controllers and use them with conventional switchbacks in the same way. It looks like there are 2 wires in and out of the controller itself and a second wire coming out of the switchback bulbs themselves. I'd assume the wires in/out of the controller are the standard wires to the stock turn signal. But where exactly does that second wire from the switchback go?
05-29-2018, 10:12 PM
#14
I found that vled's sell the individual HDRL controllers pretty cheap, depending on how they pick up the factory wiring it may be possible to just buy the controllers and use them with conventional switchbacks in the same way. It looks like there are 2 wires in and out of the controller itself and a second wire coming out of the switchback bulbs themselves. I'd assume the wires in/out of the controller are the standard wires to the stock turn signal. But where exactly does that second wire from the switchback go?
Make sense?
05-30-2018, 06:05 AM
#15
Originally Posted by 00PewterSS
Their switchback has two "wires" coming out of them. The little wire can be connected to the parking lights so that it dims at night. It dims by like 10X. Since these are pretty bright, I thought dimming was pretty important. The big wire has three wires inside it, amber, white and ground. The HDRL has three wires in and out... --IN-- would be bright filament / dim filament / ground --OUT-- amber / white / ground. I imagine that HDRL could be used for with any switchback pretty easily. If I had known this I may not have paid for their bulbs and just bought the HDRL controller. They put effort into making their stuff look high-end and high quality and the heat sinks are robust. FYI one of the bulbs failed after 1 day, but they quickly shipped a replacement to me.
Make sense?
Make sense?
05-30-2018, 11:12 AM
#16
This is exactly what I'm looking for but you're right, they are super pricey. I might just have to run a standard switchback for a while and wait until I have some money burning a hole in my pocket lol. I'm sure there's a way to bypass/modify the drl module, but the plug and play/reversible nature of the vled kit is tempting. I'm going with a white side marker as we'll, hopefully they aren't too bright, but as cheap as those bulbs are replacement won't be an issue. It is a legality thing to not have the orange side markers but I just think they're super ugly. I'll see how long I can drive around without issues running the white ones
05-30-2018, 11:15 AM
#17
Originally Posted by ss55539
its really easy to bypass the drl module. just splicing a couple wires behind the radio. theres a write up on it somewhere.
05-30-2018, 09:29 PM
#19
Mine are VLED. They work well as advertised. One failed on day one, but with electronics if they are to fail it usually is pretty quick. No idea on the life, but they look high quality and the heat sink is large.
The problem isn't bypassing the DRL. The problem is splitting the signal for turn and DRL. It would require running a wire from an input to the DRL module to the lamp and using a diode or something so the voltage doesn't backfeed... and if you want dimmer for park it is more complicated AND if that signal power isn't enough it would require a relay. It is doable, but isn't particularly simple. I thought about doing this, but found the simple solution that just cost money
The problem isn't bypassing the DRL. The problem is splitting the signal for turn and DRL. It would require running a wire from an input to the DRL module to the lamp and using a diode or something so the voltage doesn't backfeed... and if you want dimmer for park it is more complicated AND if that signal power isn't enough it would require a relay. It is doable, but isn't particularly simple. I thought about doing this, but found the simple solution that just cost money