Back in 2011 when I was designing the fiberglass trailer tub that became the Dinoot kit, a very nice pair of Savvy LED tail lights was generously donated to the project:
A few years later I sold that prototype trailer but I kept those tail lights and moved them to my larger Jeep-tub camper trailer:
The trailer has a MORryde tailgate reinforcement and I posted a thread showing how to use the Savvy tail lights with the reinforcement: https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...rcement-savvy-tail-lights.62543/#post-1128699
I'm posting today because after almost 15 years of use, the Savvy tail lights are failing. Many of the LEDs have stopped functioning:
They're still sort of working and I could keep running them, but lately I've been towing the trailer behind my Grenadier and the Grenadier's OCD electronics keep reporting a tail light error so it's time to replace them. They're very nice lights and include side markers which most low-profile LED lights don't. I've searched and I don't think they're available anymore; I could buy similar ones from Metalcloak for about $100, but I decided on a less expensive solution. Maybe this solution will help other people with Savvy lights who are experiencing the same burnout problem.
I bought some inexpensive LEDs on eBay (<$20) with a plan to fit them into the Savvy housings because the housings have side marker lights and low profile ones that are available on eBay don't have side markers.
I had to make a few small modifications to the housings to fit the new LEDS. A modified housing is on the left, I move the mounting holes down (yellow circles) because the studs on the back of the new LEDs were in a different position than the holes in the Savvy housings. I also used a 1 5/16 hole saw to make the large hole in the middle (orange circle) because where the wires exit the new LED assembly there's a bulge that needs to be accommodated. Notice that the unmodifed Savvy housing has an oval hole on the left that the modified one doesn't have, it came from Savvy that way and I don't know why that is but it isn't a problem, the oval is where one of the stud holes needs to go anyway.
These LEDs have several additional functions that I wont be using on the trailer, including backup lights and a strobe mode. If you were installing these in a Jeep you would definitely use the backup lights and you could connect the strobe function to a switch on the dash or an output of an Auxbeam switch panel if you wanted to use that mode.
The strobe mode:
Next step was to add plugs on the ends of the wires; when I built my trailer I used 3-pin SAE plugs for the tail lights so I added SAE plugs to the ends of the wires.
The Savvyb LEDs secure into the housing with screws at the four corners just like the factory tail light lenses, but the LEDs I got don't have those holes so I used 3m mounting tape and some EPDM foam to hold them in place. Mostly the tape/foam keeps the LED and the housing in proper relation to each other, once the whole assembly is bolted to the tub the tension of the nuts on the studs will keep the LED housing secure.
Installing them in on the trailer, there was one small complication - the position of the mounting studs on the back of the LEDs that I mentioned earlier. Since the studs were in a different position on these new lights I had to drill new holes in the tub so the light housing could clear the hinge MORryde reinforcement. Not a big deal.
These LEDs don't fit perfectly inside the Savvy housings like the Savvy LEDs did, but they're still fairly low profile and I think they look pretty good. And I've got working side markers. All in, I think it's a good refurb for a little more than $20.
A few years later I sold that prototype trailer but I kept those tail lights and moved them to my larger Jeep-tub camper trailer:
The trailer has a MORryde tailgate reinforcement and I posted a thread showing how to use the Savvy tail lights with the reinforcement: https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...rcement-savvy-tail-lights.62543/#post-1128699
I'm posting today because after almost 15 years of use, the Savvy tail lights are failing. Many of the LEDs have stopped functioning:
They're still sort of working and I could keep running them, but lately I've been towing the trailer behind my Grenadier and the Grenadier's OCD electronics keep reporting a tail light error so it's time to replace them. They're very nice lights and include side markers which most low-profile LED lights don't. I've searched and I don't think they're available anymore; I could buy similar ones from Metalcloak for about $100, but I decided on a less expensive solution. Maybe this solution will help other people with Savvy lights who are experiencing the same burnout problem.
I bought some inexpensive LEDs on eBay (<$20) with a plan to fit them into the Savvy housings because the housings have side marker lights and low profile ones that are available on eBay don't have side markers.
I had to make a few small modifications to the housings to fit the new LEDS. A modified housing is on the left, I move the mounting holes down (yellow circles) because the studs on the back of the new LEDs were in a different position than the holes in the Savvy housings. I also used a 1 5/16 hole saw to make the large hole in the middle (orange circle) because where the wires exit the new LED assembly there's a bulge that needs to be accommodated. Notice that the unmodifed Savvy housing has an oval hole on the left that the modified one doesn't have, it came from Savvy that way and I don't know why that is but it isn't a problem, the oval is where one of the stud holes needs to go anyway.
These LEDs have several additional functions that I wont be using on the trailer, including backup lights and a strobe mode. If you were installing these in a Jeep you would definitely use the backup lights and you could connect the strobe function to a switch on the dash or an output of an Auxbeam switch panel if you wanted to use that mode.
The strobe mode:
Next step was to add plugs on the ends of the wires; when I built my trailer I used 3-pin SAE plugs for the tail lights so I added SAE plugs to the ends of the wires.
The Savvyb LEDs secure into the housing with screws at the four corners just like the factory tail light lenses, but the LEDs I got don't have those holes so I used 3m mounting tape and some EPDM foam to hold them in place. Mostly the tape/foam keeps the LED and the housing in proper relation to each other, once the whole assembly is bolted to the tub the tension of the nuts on the studs will keep the LED housing secure.
Installing them in on the trailer, there was one small complication - the position of the mounting studs on the back of the LEDs that I mentioned earlier. Since the studs were in a different position on these new lights I had to drill new holes in the tub so the light housing could clear the hinge MORryde reinforcement. Not a big deal.
These LEDs don't fit perfectly inside the Savvy housings like the Savvy LEDs did, but they're still fairly low profile and I think they look pretty good. And I've got working side markers. All in, I think it's a good refurb for a little more than $20.
