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Topic: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades (Read 922 times) previous topic - next topic

Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Well I finally got all my driving lights [mostly] straightened out. After tracing just about every wire and cleaning up all the connections, I got the low-voltage problems sorted out. I had to tear out the circuits in the tail Light assemblies and rewire all of it because they were all corroded beyond repair.

I also converted everything to led. Makes a huge difference, especially the headlights. I put these suckers in upfront and it is an incredible difference over the stock 4x6 headlamps.  Amazon.com: BICYACO 4 PCS DOT 60W 4x6 Inch LED Headlights Rectangular...

I also have some fancy amber hazard/stobe lights I'm going to wire into the back of the Jeep that I can switch on when we're slowly climbing hills and I'm going to add a couple side turn signals on the coach so folks can see them when they're next to me and I need to change lanes. Also some ultra bright fog lights are on their way. I'll
Mostly point those towards the ditch for when the high beams are on. I attached some side-by-side pictures of the new and old headlights so you can see the difference.

New windshields going in early next week, new tires last week, rebuilt leveling jacks installed...almost ready to hit the road for the summer.

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1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #1 –
Those make a huge difference!
1993 U300 40ft GV SE
Build # 4344

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #2 –
Our model has poor turn signal lighting . I added a front side turn light. Just in front of the tires. .
  Your bus is looking great .

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Elliott –
I'm going to add a couple side turn signals on the coach so folks can see them when they're next to me and I need to change lanes.
Quote from: Protech Racing –
Our model has poor turn signal lighting . I added a front side turn light. Just in front of the tires.
Our '93 U280 came from the factory with a combo turn signal repeater/running light mounted above the front wheel well.  The OEM unit is a Peterson PM 343A with an incandescent bulb and replaceable lens.  When I went through the process of upgrading to LED exterior lights, I originally planned to replace the old light with a new LED unit.  However, after ordering a couple different LED lights which I didn't like (and returned), I finally decided to replace the incandescent bulb in the original unit with a LED bulb.  For me, that turned out to be the best solution.  See post linked below:

Replacing GV Clearance Lights With LEDs

Incandescent Turn Signal/ Side Marker, Oblong, 5.50"X 2.25", amber, poly bag...

As a side note, I (later) added another turn signal repeater to our coach.  I put the lights on the front wheel well trim.  I did this mostly just for fun, but it actually works pretty well!  At night, the combination of the two turn signals lower down near the front wheel is very eye catching.  See thread linked below for more lighting ideas:

LED replacement for side signal lights



1993 U280 SE 40' WTBI, Build: 4359
C8.3 300hp, 6-Speed, Exhaust Brake
960 watts on the roof (6 x 160)
Sorento (or BOLT) on a Kar Kaddy SS
"Nature abhors a vacuum"

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #4 –
Remember the old Chevelle taillights in the back bumper?Difficult to see because they were so low and barely visible in bad weather.
Well, I considered that when I installed additional LED bar taillights on our '89 so I mounted them up high so they would be very visible when towing or not towing our Vue. This way, even if the Vue hookup were to quit working the high LED light bars would be easy to see from a distance. Barely above the bumper pretty much defeats their purpose when towing  vehicle or having a wide vehicle following you.
Nitehawk,  Demolition Lady, & our NEW master, Zippy the speeding BB cat.
1989 Grand Villa 36' ORED
Oshkosh chassis, 8.2 DD V8
2006 Saturn Vue AWD

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #5 –
Quote from: nitehawk –
Remember the old Chevelle taillights in the back bumper?Difficult to see because they were so low and barely visible in bad weather.
Well, I considered that when I installed additional LED bar taillights on our '89 so I mounted them up high so they would be very visible when towing or not towing our Vue. This way, even if the Vue hookup were to quit working the high LED light bars would be easy to see from a distance. Barely above the bumper pretty much defeats their purpose when towing  vehicle or having a wide vehicle following you.
Yep, those extra tail lights you see just above My bumper are from when I was in a pinch last year without tail lights and needed to get to Vegas without my towed. I decided to just leave them there.

The reasons you mentioned are why I am putting my extra hazards on the toad instead of my coach.
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #6 –
Right
I tow something most of the time. 
Added high mounted led strips up near the roof .

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #7 –

These fog lights are ridiculous. I'm glad they're tied into the high beams because you'd blind people from a mile away if you forgot they were on. If you want actual fog lights these are too bright but for extra directional when the highs are on they are great.

New EXZEIT 6 Inch Led Work Light for Truck, 80W 6800Lumens Flood Light Off...

The side turn signals kind of suck though. I definitely got what I paid for at $8/ pair and will likely find something better and remove these.

As an Amazon Associate Foretravel Owners' Forum earns from qualifying purchases.
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #8 –
That's weird. Our '89 coach has amber turn signals on the bottom of the mirror arms. I did switch the bulbs to LEDs.
Nitehawk,  Demolition Lady, & our NEW master, Zippy the speeding BB cat.
1989 Grand Villa 36' ORED
Oshkosh chassis, 8.2 DD V8
2006 Saturn Vue AWD

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #9 –
Hazard strobes almost done.

After a fair bit of noodling I realized all the challenges I foresaw adding them to the coach (wire runs, holes in fiberglass, angled mounting surface) all carried over to the Jeep to so I fabbed up a flat mount with some angle aluminum and put it up on the solar rack. I just need to run the wires to a switch on the dash and she's ready to rock and roll.

They are super bright and flash/strobe in unison...so yes probably not legal in all states but I will only put them on for short spurts when I need them, like pulling out into traffic, stuck on the side of the road, etc...
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #10 –
Quote from: Elliott –
They are super bright and flash/strobe in unison...so yes probably not legal in all states but I will only put them on for short spurts when I need them, like pulling out into traffic, stuck on the side of the road, etc...
Nice work.  It would have to be a pretty grumpy LEO to ticket you for using them.
Dave and Kelli
1997 U295 40' Build #5188 CSGI
1995 U240 36' Build #4621 SBID-SOLD
2006 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #11 –
Quote from: Dave Larsen –
Nice work.  It would have to be a pretty grumpy LEO to ticket you for using them.
Thanks and I agree, if they want to hassle an old RV for trying to safely indicate there's an issue to other drivers then I'll take the ticket and move on
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #12 –
Elliott, is that a V3 Dishy? How do you like it?
1993 U300 40ft GV SE
Build # 4344

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #13 –
Quote from: Jeff & Sandy –
Elliott, is that a V3 Dishy? How do you like it?
No, it's the HP dish and it kicks a lot of ass. I've had it side by side with gen 2 standard dishes and it smokes them without having to orientate itself. I wanted something I could easily pop between my coach and jeep roofs and that would perform better under tree cover. At least those are the reasons I used to justify the ridiculous purchase price.. it's probably overkill
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #15 –
Quote from: Elliott –
Hazard strobes almost done.

After a fair bit of noodling I realized all the challenges I foresaw adding them to the coach (wire runs, holes in fiberglass, angled mounting surface) all carried over to the Jeep to so I fabbed up a flat mount with some angle aluminum and put it up on the solar rack. I just need to run the wires to a switch on the dash and she's ready to rock and roll.

They are super bright and flash/strobe in unison...so yes probably not legal in all states but I will only put them on for short spurts when I need them, like pulling out into traffic, stuck on the side of the road, etc...

Got pulled over a very long time ago at very late night in deep winter in Colorado. UFO call
"Riding and rejoicing"
Bob
1997 U320 40' Mid entry, build 5132,  wtbi ce27, 4th owner
2007 Solara convertible
2 prodeco tech outlaw ss electric bikes

1095 watts solar
08 Ls 460 and a sc430
2000 Ford F-250 superduty 4x4

Re: Elliott’s Grand Villa Exterior Light upgrades

Reply #16 –
C. That was when lighting was way more traditional I'm guessing.    Now you might see all kinds of combos. 

  Elliot. Love the pics.  Some cool upgrades to the Villa.  But... could you have run the wire for the front cam down behind the bumper if enough wire.
Robert and Susan
 1995 36' 280 WTBI 8.3 3060r
 1200 watts on the roof, 720 Ah of lithium's
 Build # 4637. Motorcade # 17599
        FMCA  # 451505
        18  Wrangler JLUR