I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named VLO.

I have contacted Wings and Wheels as well as Cobra Trailer. The lens is no longer manufactured. Does anyone have one or know of someone who may have a no longer in use trailer of that vintage?

David

On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com wrote:
> I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named VLO.
>
> I have contacted Wings and Wheels as well as Cobra Trailer. The lens is no longer manufactured. Does anyone have one or know of someone who may have a no longer in use trailer of that vintage?
>
> David
Just swap put the taillight assemblies for modern LED units. It is a big improvement in visibility. The originals were a metric dimension but very close to a standard (NA) replacement unit. I had to do a wee (and I do mean very little) bit of filing to widen the holes to get the new ones in.

On Wed, 29 Jun 2022 05:05:40 -0700 (PDT), stephen.s...@gmail.com wrote:

> On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com
> wrote:
>> I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old,
>> round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the
>> center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named
>> VLO.
>>
>> I have contacted Wings and Wheels as well as Cobra Trailer. The lens is
>> no longer manufactured. Does anyone have one or know of someone who may
>> have a no longer in use trailer of that vintage?
>>
>> David
> Just swap put the taillight assemblies for modern LED units. It is a big
> improvement in visibility. The originals were a metric dimension but
> very close to a standard (NA) replacement unit. I had to do a wee (and I
> do mean very little) bit of filing to widen the holes to get the new
> ones in.

Seconded. However, do check that the LED lighting you intend to fit is
compatible with your tow vehicle. I've just had my trailer's (remarkably
flimsy, old and unreliable) incandescent tail lights replaced with LEDs,
which are working well.

The outfit that did the rewiring and reinstallation started by point out
that some modern car's lighting systems are incompatible with LED trailer
lighting. It seems to be something to do with the LED resistance/voltage
drop differing from the equivalent values for incandescent bulbs, which
can cause the car to think the trailer taillights aren't working.

So, if you do the work yourself, plug the LED tail lights into the car's
socket and check that they work correctly BEFORE installing them on the
trailer.

FWIW the people who replaced my tail-lights did exactly that.

--

Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 8:48:57 AM UTC-4, Martin Gregorie wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Jun 2022 05:05:40 -0700 (PDT), stephen.s...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com
> > wrote:
> >> I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old,
> >> round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the
> >> center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named
> >> VLO.
> >>
> >> I have contacted Wings and Wheels as well as Cobra Trailer. The lens is
> >> no longer manufactured. Does anyone have one or know of someone who may
> >> have a no longer in use trailer of that vintage?
> >>
> >> David
> > Just swap put the taillight assemblies for modern LED units. It is a big
> > improvement in visibility. The originals were a metric dimension but
> > very close to a standard (NA) replacement unit. I had to do a wee (and I
> > do mean very little) bit of filing to widen the holes to get the new
> > ones in.
> Seconded. However, do check that the LED lighting you intend to fit is
> compatible with your tow vehicle. I've just had my trailer's (remarkably
> flimsy, old and unreliable) incandescent tail lights replaced with LEDs,
> which are working well.
>
> The outfit that did the rewiring and reinstallation started by point out
> that some modern car's lighting systems are incompatible with LED trailer
> lighting. It seems to be something to do with the LED resistance/voltage
> drop differing from the equivalent values for incandescent bulbs, which
> can cause the car to think the trailer taillights aren't working.
>
> So, if you do the work yourself, plug the LED tail lights into the car's
> socket and check that they work correctly BEFORE installing them on the
> trailer.
>
> FWIW the people who replaced my tail-lights did exactly that.
>
>
> --
>
> Martin | martin at
> Gregorie | gregorie dot org

The fix is to add a resister to the blinker circuit. This also cures "LED fast blink". There is info on this all over, Diode Dynamics has a page on this.
Common issue listed on car forums.

On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com wrote:
> I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named VLO.
>
> I have contacted Wings and Wheels as well as Cobra Trailer. The lens is no longer manufactured. Does anyone have one or know of someone who may have a no longer in use trailer of that vintage?
>
> David

Lots of economical solutions available from E-Trailer. I would not waste time trying to save old crap.
UH

On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 10:54:28 AM UTC-4, Hank Nixon wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com wrote:
> > I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named VLO.

I was able to use the lens out go the one below for a lens missing on my 1985 Cobra trailer. $6.54 delivered to the house, and it was a 30 second job instead of all the rewiring. Also, if it does not fit, when free return if you are Amazon Prime member. I still have the remaining parts if something goes wrong in the future.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LXHUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Kevin
92

I love it! If the car can't recognize the low voltage drop of the LED,
insert a resistor in series. That way the power that was converted to
heat in the incandescent bulb is now converted to heat in a resistor!

Another win for green power!

Yeah, I know about older and newer cars. It was a joke. Deal with it.

Dan
5J

On 6/29/22 09:06, kevin anderson wrote:
> On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 10:54:28 AM UTC-4, Hank Nixon wrote:
>> On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com wrote:
>>> I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company named VLO.
>
>
> I was able to use the lens out go the one below for a lens missing on my 1985 Cobra trailer. $6.54 delivered to the house, and it was a 30 second job instead of all the rewiring. Also, if it does not fit, when free return if you are Amazon Prime member. I still have the remaining parts if something goes wrong in the future.
>
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LXHUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
>
> Kevin
> 92

Joke OK. But it's also sad. One of the advantages of LED tail lights
on a long trailer is that the lower current means less voltage drop in
the long wires, thus nice bright lights. If you have to add those
resistors (in parallel, not series) put them up front, not back in the
light fixtures.

Glider trailers tend to last longer than cars, thus, even if the LED
lights will work OK with your current car, they may not with a future
car. That's not a reason to avoid convert the lights. But set it up so
that you can add those resistors later. Hopefully future cars will be
more accommodating of LED lights than the current ones.

The trend though seems to be towards microchips in every corner of a
car, and the LED lights in most new cars seem to be controlled in a way
that makes them blink at high speed. (I don't mean the turn-signal
blink, I mean a very rapid blink, say 30 times per second, that you can
see if you swing your head, or if a car crosses in front of you from one
side to the other.) How those circuits interact with trailers I don't
have a clue. If the car manufacturer offers an add-on trailer adapter
ask whether it'll work with LED lights in the trailer.

On 6/29/2022 11:25 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
> I love it!  If the car can't recognize the low voltage drop of the LED,
> insert a resistor in series.  That way the power that was converted to
> heat in the incandescent bulb is now converted to heat in a resistor!
>
> Another win for green power!
>
> Yeah, I know about older and newer cars.  It was a joke.  Deal with it.
>
> Dan
> 5J
>
> On 6/29/22 09:06, kevin anderson wrote:
>> On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 10:54:28 AM UTC-4, Hank Nixon wrote:
>>> On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>>> I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the
>>>> old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in
>>>> the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company
>>>> named VLO.
>>
>>
>> I was able to use the lens out go the one below  for a lens missing on
>> my 1985 Cobra trailer.    $6.54 delivered to the house, and it was a
>> 30 second job instead of all the rewiring.  Also, if it does not fit,
>> when free return if you are Amazon Prime member.  I still have the
>> remaining parts if something goes wrong in the future.
>>
>> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LXHUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
>>
>>
>> Kevin
>> 92

On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 5:28:17 PM UTC-6, Moshe Braner wrote:
> Joke OK. But it's also sad. One of the advantages of LED tail lights
> on a long trailer is that the lower current means less voltage drop in
> the long wires, thus nice bright lights. If you have to add those
> resistors (in parallel, not series) put them up front, not back in the
> light fixtures.
>
> Glider trailers tend to last longer than cars, thus, even if the LED
> lights will work OK with your current car, they may not with a future
> car. That's not a reason to avoid convert the lights. But set it up so
> that you can add those resistors later. Hopefully future cars will be
> more accommodating of LED lights than the current ones.
>
> The trend though seems to be towards microchips in every corner of a
> car, and the LED lights in most new cars seem to be controlled in a way
> that makes them blink at high speed. (I don't mean the turn-signal
> blink, I mean a very rapid blink, say 30 times per second, that you can
> see if you swing your head, or if a car crosses in front of you from one
> side to the other.) How those circuits interact with trailers I don't
> have a clue. If the car manufacturer offers an add-on trailer adapter
> ask whether it'll work with LED lights in the trailer.
> On 6/29/2022 11:25 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
> > I love it! If the car can't recognize the low voltage drop of the LED,
> > insert a resistor in series. That way the power that was converted to
> > heat in the incandescent bulb is now converted to heat in a resistor!
> >
> > Another win for green power!
> >
> > Yeah, I know about older and newer cars. It was a joke. Deal with it.
> >
> > Dan
> > 5J
> >
> > On 6/29/22 09:06, kevin anderson wrote:
> >> On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 10:54:28 AM UTC-4, Hank Nixon wrote:
> >>> On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com
> >>> wrote:
> >>>> I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the
> >>>> old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle in
> >>>> the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a company
> >>>> named VLO.
> >>
> >>
> >> I was able to use the lens out go the one below for a lens missing on
> >> my 1985 Cobra trailer. $6.54 delivered to the house, and it was a
> >> 30 second job instead of all the rewiring. Also, if it does not fit,
> >> when free return if you are Amazon Prime member. I still have the
> >> remaining parts if something goes wrong in the future.
> >>
> >> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LXHUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
> >>
> >>
> >> Kevin
> >> 92

I put LED tails lights in my 1980 Cobra
Cheap and they look great
No voltage/ wiring problems
E Trailer
Nick
T

I converted my trailer to LED bulbs from http://superbrightleds.com replacing the incandescent ones. Have not had to use the dreaded resistor on a 2013 Jeep and a 2016 Nissan.

Info can be found at http://aviation.derosaweb.net/presentations/#trailer

Enjoy, John (OHM)

Seriously, I think LEDs are great. That was just too good to pass up.
We're seeing that quick blinking in traffic signals, not by eye, but
when recorded and played back. Something about sampling rate.

Dan
5J

On 6/29/22 17:28, Moshe Braner wrote:
> Joke OK.  But it's also sad.  One of the advantages of LED tail lights
> on a long trailer is that the lower current means less voltage drop in
> the long wires, thus nice bright lights.  If you have to add those
> resistors (in parallel, not series) put them up front, not back in the
> light fixtures.
>
> Glider trailers tend to last longer than cars, thus, even if the LED
> lights will work OK with your current car, they may not with a future
> car.  That's not a reason to avoid convert the lights.  But set it up so
> that you can add those resistors later.  Hopefully future cars will be
> more accommodating of LED lights than the current ones.
>
> The trend though seems to be towards microchips in every corner of a
> car, and the LED lights in most new cars seem to be controlled in a way
> that makes them blink at high speed.  (I don't mean the turn-signal
> blink, I mean a very rapid blink, say 30 times per second, that you can
> see if you swing your head, or if a car crosses in front of you from one
> side to the other.)  How those circuits interact with trailers I don't
> have a clue.  If the car manufacturer offers an add-on trailer adapter
> ask whether it'll work with LED lights in the trailer.
>
>
>
> On 6/29/2022 11:25 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
>> I love it!  If the car can't recognize the low voltage drop of the
>> LED, insert a resistor in series.  That way the power that was
>> converted to heat in the incandescent bulb is now converted to heat in
>> a resistor!
>>
>> Another win for green power!
>>
>> Yeah, I know about older and newer cars.  It was a joke.  Deal with it.
>>
>> Dan
>> 5J
>>
>> On 6/29/22 09:06, kevin anderson wrote:
>>> On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 10:54:28 AM UTC-4, Hank Nixon wrote:
>>>> On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 2:12:05 PM UTC-4, david.s....@gmail.com
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> I have a Cobra trailer that was manufactured in 1981. It has the
>>>>> old, round tailights that have a red lens with an amber rectangle
>>>>> in the center. The tailight was originally manufactured by a
>>>>> company named VLO.
>>>
>>>
>>> I was able to use the lens out go the one below  for a lens missing
>>> on my 1985 Cobra trailer.    $6.54 delivered to the house, and it was
>>> a 30 second job instead of all the rewiring.  Also, if it does not
>>> fit, when free return if you are Amazon Prime member.  I still have
>>> the remaining parts if something goes wrong in the future.
>>>
>>> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LXHUA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
>>>
>>>
>>> Kevin
>>> 92
>