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running lights

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2016 6:56 am
by russedgar
How do you replace the bulbs in the clearance/running lights? The fixture is held on with two rivets and appears to be non replaceable without tearing something up. I have one that needs to have new bulbs.

Best regards,

Russ

Re: running lights

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2016 9:37 am
by Razorback
Hi, Russ.

I think your Avion has the same style clearance/running lights that ours has, if they are the originals. They are made by Truck-Lite, items 26310R (red) and 26310Y (yellow).

Here are some links to some new ones if you need them (you can also order just the lens):
http://www.drivetrainamerica.com/truck- ... r-housing/
http://www.drivetrainamerica.com/truck- ... r-housing/

And a link to the red one on the Truck-Lite site (this one took forever to display on my laptop, but it eventually shows a really nice picture and information about the light):
http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/st ... reId=10001

The lights are riveted to the body of the trailer, have a metal base to provide a ground, and have a single wire for the 12VDC source. The metal base is surrounded by a rubber grommet (for lack of a better term). The lens is fitted into that grommet. The rubber should be pliable enough that you can use a screwdriver blade to reach around the outer edge of the lens and pull the grommet away from the lens. Once you get it started, it will come out pretty easily. I would suggest using a screwdriver or something similar rather than grabbing the lens and forcing it out. That will keep you from possibly cracking the lens or maybe even loosening the rivets enough to create an intermittent ground.

When I went through the lights on our trailer, I was able to clean up and save all but two of them. All had corrosion on the bulb bases that needed to be cleaned off. I used whatever tool I had handy to reach whatever needed to be cleaned (mostly used a small-bladed pocket knife to scrape the surfaces) and also used some electrical contact cleaner, making sure I didn't get it on the skin of the trailer. Once I got the pieces clean, I installed new bulbs (bulb style 1895) and coated the bases with bulb grease, hoping to keep them corrosion-free for a long time.

For the few that needed to be completely replaced, they were easy to install: drill out the rivets, pull the light away from the trailer, clip the wire and prep the trailer-end of that wire for a new crimp-on connection. Crimp a splice to connect the new light to that wire, stuff that wire back under the skin of the trailer. I used ParBond to coat the back of the new light, especially around the three holes on the trailer (you don't want to have any leaks..... and you just might fix the source of a previous leak). Then, I riveted the new light on to the body of the trailer. Seems like I remember testing the light after I had installed just one rivet, just to make sure there was a good ground to make the light work properly. Then, I installed the 2nd rivet.

Sorry for the long response, but hopefully it contains all of the information needed for anything you might run in to.

Re: running lights

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2016 8:42 pm
by Rostam
The running lights on our Avion were in bad shape and I replaced them with LED lights, front (Amber) and rear (Red). They were around $4 each when I bought them a few months ago.
Here is the Walmart link: https://www.walmart.com/ip/19853232

Re: running lights

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2016 8:54 pm
by russedgar
Hey nralifer,

A long response was exactly what I wanted. Thank you very much for the information.

I have one lens with a chip out at the bottom and one that is not lighting

I will use your information to fix the two.

Best regards,

Russ

Re: running lights

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2016 9:11 pm
by russedgar
Hey Rostam,

Thanks for the reply. I would like to replace all the bulbs with LEDs but did not know enough about how the fixtures were attached.

Best regards,

Russ

Re: running lights

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 3:44 pm
by Illinoisdad
I just replaced all mine with new LED fixtures. If you need a lens or two I might still have a few around.

Tim