How To: LED Turn Signals in Towing Mirrors

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Kubs

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Posts
30
Reaction score
0
Location
Akron, OH
I recently installed LEDs in the towing mirrors on my 2000 Yukon 2500. I also added LED puddle lights under them. I figured I would do a write up since I have not seen this done much.

Since my Yukon is a 2000 it did not have factory turn signal mirrors, so this process is how to add them to the vehicle as well as the mirrors. I wanted something that would come on with the parking lights at a dimmer setting, and then flash brighter when the turn signal came on.

Here is a list of parts that I used. I wired up my own LEDs since the cost is significantly cheaper when you do it yourself.

4 White LEDs (Link) These I did not make they were given to me.
10 amber color LEDs (Link)
10 black 5mm LED housings (Link)
2 560 OHM resistors
2 150 OHM resistors
2 1N4001 Diodes
2 Male Pin/Socket Connectors (Link)
2 Female Pin/Socket Connectors (Link)
4 Male crimp pins (Link)
4 Female crimp sockets (Link)
22 gauge wire
Heat shrink tubing

Before I did anything to the mirror, I glued the Amber LEDs into the housings and then sealed them with black RTV so they could handle outdoor conditions.

First, I had to decide the amount of resistance to use to get the brightness I wanted. Since LEDs work in a very small range of voltage (1.8 - 2.1v for the amber ones) you will need to use a resistor when plugging them into a 12-14v vehicle system. To determine the proper value I plugged the LEDs into a breadborad and used a power supply to simulate the environment they will be in. With the 5 LEDs wired in series, I decided on the 560 Ohm resistors for the parking lights (the higher the resistance the less current/voltage gets to the LEDs and the dimmer they are) and 150 Ohm resistors for the turn signals (allowing the same set of LEDs to flash brighter). If you use a different color be sure to look up the operating voltage range and pick your resistors accordingly.

There are some things you should remove from the mirror before drilling and wiring can begin. Extend them out fully and remove the plastic around the top arm and the middle section as shown below. This will allow you to run the wires back through the mirror to the existing plug.

IMG_20140507_174646711_zps9180abb5.jpg

Next, remove the top glass from the housing. You can see in the next picture there are a bunch of small tabs holding the mirror to the housing. Put a small amount of pressure on the mirror pushing outward, and with a small flat screwdriver pry up on the tabs one by on until the mirror glass comes out. If you have heated mirrors unplug the heating element. (this is for power/heated mirrors. Manual mirrors may differ)

IMG_20140507_174713523_zpsd38fb066.jpg

Now you are ready to mark the outside of the mirror for your lights and drill the holes. This is the orientation I decided on. 5 vertical LEDs on each mirror, and 2 of the white LEDs on the bottom for the courtesy/puddle lights.

IMG_20140507_182315169_HDR_zps2c12c8e9.jpg

Once the holes are drilled you can insert the LEDs and wire them up. Like I mentioned earlier, the turn signals are wired in series, and the puddle lights are in parallel since they have their own resistors. All of them share the same ground, but have two separate power sources.

IMG_20140507_201416009_zpscd0b6c63.jpg

IMG_20140507_201424115_zpsc53240e6.jpg

IMG_20140507_201451384_zps30e69c98.jpg

The factory mirrors (which I removed to add the towing mirrors) already had a puddle light in them so I was able to wire the power source for the new puddle lights into pin F (white wire) on the existing mirror plug, and picked up the factory ground for the defrost from pin H (black wire).

The pin/socket connectors mention in the parts list are used to bring the parking light and turn signal power sources to the Amber LEDs. Here is the connector for the mirror. The 150 Ohm resistor is soldered to the light blue wire, and the 560 Ohm resistor is soldered to the yellow wire. I also have on of the 1N4001 diodes in with the blue wire, to prevent the parking light power source from flowing back into the turn signal circuit. You only need one diode because the electricity will follow the path of least resistance and the LEDs offer less resistance than the 560 Ohm resistor. After the resistors, the two wires are tied together to one red wire to power the LEDs in the mirror.

IMG_20140509_204057539_zps43f15f05.jpg

Here is the wiring inside the door panel following the factory harness.

IMG_20140509_195459387_zps1d748866.jpg

The wires were then fished through the door and into the driver compartment. Under the steering column is the BCM (Body Control Module) where we will pick up the power source for the parking lights and left and right turn signals. The bezel around the gauges and radio must be removed (pull out gently around all the edges) and then the lower panel under the steering column is removed. This is held in by two screws along the bottom with a 7mm hex.

Here is a picture of the BCM. The wires used for the turn signals are the light blue and dark blue wire right next to each other in the left brown color plug. The light blue wire is the left turn signal, and the dark blue is the right. The parking lights are powered by the brown wire in the middle light blue plug. I used the pink crimp style connectors on these because I could not get my soldering iron under the dash. You can see one in place already on the left turn signal wire.

IMG_20140509_195524854marked_zpsdd2a1225.jpg

The finished pictures are the greatest but you can see how bring the puddle lights are:

IMG_20140507_210610436_zpsa7aa4417.jpg

And the turn signals are much much easier to tell in person, but the second picture with the turn signal you can see the background is darker so you know the LEDs are putting out more light. I can try and get better ones or a video if someone would like.

Parking Lights:
IMG_20140512_194627329_zps933d292a.jpg

Turn Signal:
IMG_20140512_194642466_zpsafd7133f.jpg

I hope someone else finds this useful. Let me know if you have questions about the project!
 

NathanJax

Vacation Nathan
Staff member
Administrator
Supporting Member
Joined
May 9, 2009
Posts
49,124
Reaction score
943,577,131
Location
Jax, Fl
different!

I like it
 

Warrior14

Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Posts
74
Reaction score
0
Location
Grand Ole Arkansas
That looks good man. Not having puddle lights has been one if not the only thing keeping me from getting tow mirrors. Not anymore!! Did you get some specifically for 2000-2002? I've got an 01 and they're hard to find for me.
 
OP
OP
Kubs

Kubs

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Posts
30
Reaction score
0
Location
Akron, OH
Top