february2022 - 39

He said while lighting has been seen as an afterthought
and only addressed when a light goes out,
fleets can be more proactive and realize a better
total cost of ownership.
" There's a lot less maintenance with the LEDs
just because we do have lifetime warranties, "
O'Dell said. " And you're using surface-mount
components now on the LED, so you're not having
breakage and failure issues
like we see on incandescent. "
Along with less amperage
draw, savings can be found
by switching to thinner gauge
wire, which use less copper.
The raw material which
increased 34% in price from
2020 to 2021, according to the
International Monetary Fund.
LEDs are really easy to
install, though the modules
are about quadruple the price
of incandescents, Coyle noted.
One tip Coyle offered was
to not overtighten the rivets,
as that will cause them
to sit and spin the fiberglass
mounting. They would have
to be removed and replaced
with an oversized rivet and
washer, which could make
future work on the component
more difficult. Using a
hand tool, not a power tool,
is strongly advised to limit
your torque.
" Always be cognizant of
that, because what I've always
tried to teach my guys is if
you're working on this truck
once, you're probably going to
work on it again, " Coyle said.
" Don't make it a pain in the
butt the second time around
because you just did something
silly. "
LEDs also require a bit of
computer work as well.
" If the tractor was spec'd
with an incandescent light, the
control module is programmed
that way, " Miller said. " So, you
just don't pop in the LED, you
have to go in and reprogram
the light control module or you
get a fault code. "
Reprogramming is done
with the truck maker's proprietary
software and a laptop.
The installer also will want
to make sure the headlight is
at the right height and angle,
crucial to help road visibility
in dark conditions.
" For LED headlamp systems,
as well as all of the LED
signal lighting, there's a positive
locking feature on the
connection, " Sniegocki said.
" One of the reasons that you'll
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February 2022 | FleetMaintenance.com
39
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see flickering of lights [on a vehicle with LEDs]
is that connection is not intact, as it's vibrating
down the road. The positive locking connector
can seal from the environment and secure the
connection in place, to eliminate that as a failure
mode. "
Shops also need to carry a headlamp aiming
system to verify proper alignment of headlights
according to National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration requirements.
Diagnosing
LED headlights themselves have a significant
level of protection built into the circuits and
lamp architecture, along with self-diagnostic
ORIGINAL
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february2022

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