LED tail lights?

[F14CRAZY]

Howdy. Is there a kit to replace the tail lights/brake lights with a light emitting diode setup on a 1st gen? I like how Cadillacs have them these days. A nice, crisp blink instead of the lazy blinking. Thanks. I searched but didn't turn up any good info.

 

[F14CRAZY]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33713&item=7921741719&rd=1

This is exactly what I'm looking for! Wicked.

Moderator: delete if you wish

 

[celly]

I touched base with an eBay seller who sells similar bulbs. He admitted that they're not nearly as bright as incandescent bulbs. I'm also hearing that many of these LED bulbs don't reflect very well in stock housings, and if you're using them in a signal application, you've got to be careful as well and get one of those regulator things to make them flash properly. I decided against LED once I did the research. After all, the guy who sold them talked me out of them and into cheaper "conventional" bulbs when all was said and done.

 

[thewishkah]

they are horrible i bought them and put them in (very careful to open package) but they dont light up the whole tail light just the spot where the led's are and it looked stupid so i carefully put them back in the pack and said i bought the wrong thing can i exchange them lol worked like a charm

 

[Hartman]

Yeah they don't light up the housing at all, all you can see is the dot of LEDs in the housing. There are LED bulbs just like that except they have LEDs pointing in all directions so they light up the housings, only problem is, they're like $60 a piece.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Hmmm. I shoulda waited before getting some off ebay. I'll let you guys know how it goes, but it doesn't sound like it'll be good. But yeah, if they're bad, I'll send them back.

 

[Greddy X-Plorer]

LED's are good for Christmas Trees and Decorations, not for Tailights

 

[CarFreak146]

I have those same LEDs, but in amber color, in my front turn signals.... they aren't very bright at all.

 

[Greddy X-Plorer]

Like I said, leave those bulbs for the Holidays

 

[barneyrubble318]

I purchased a pair of replacement bulbs. They are very dim. The break light is dimmer than the original tail light. Not safe, and I can't believe they would be legal.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Howdy. I ordered a bnuch as I said in an earlier post. I'm waiting for the rest but I have two of them for the middle brake light. They seem as bright or pretty close to the old plain o bulbs. I had one bulb and one LED side by side. I do agree that the LED doesnt spread the light in all directions, but it's fine for the middle brake light at least.

I'll report when I get the others. Maybe thes came from the better Taiwan factory

 

[F14CRAZY]

Again, thanks for the replies. I got them in the mail last week. I need the resistor kit for my turn signals because they stay on with the LEDs.

However, I do have them installed in my 3rd brake light and reverse lights. I got white/transparent LEDs. They seem to be as bright as regular bulbs, if not pretty close. I like the looks of the pure whiteness of the reverse lights, and when you're behind the truck, they seem a LOT brighter than normal bulbs. I haven't tested on whether they provide more light to see where you're reversing, but typical reverse lights don't help anway . When I get them all in, I'll do a more complete write up, with photos.

 

[superedge88]

Hello, I just found this forum doing a search for projector headlight mods, oh well no luck there. But I did find it odd that no one here has seen the 25 led turn signal bulbs that are on ebay and online. There are I think about 2 sellers on ebay that sell them in a couple of different types. They have 19 leds that face forward and 6 that face back towards the reflector housing, so you the light does fill the whole reflector. I love mine, but I can list the downsides.
-The six leds that face the reflector housing are smaller leds and less bright than the 19 that are forward facing.
-When using the dual filament bulbs (like the 3157 that we have on our explorers and mountaineers) The differences between the parking light brightness and turn signal brightness isn't great enough, so you don't notice the turn signal very whell when you have your parking lights on.

Those are the only problems that I have found. I remedied the problem on my front turn signals by cutting off the parking light wire and simply jumping over a wire from the turn signal + to the parking light +. Now I don't have parking lights (oh well) but I have bright, low energy draw turn signals.

I can post pics of my front turn signals if anyone is interested.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Howdy again. I got ALL my LEDs installed earlier. I do see how they're not as bright during the day and the light doesn't completely fill the housing, but they're good to me otherwise. I like the unique look of them. The "circle of light" effect is weird, but oh well. I promise, tomorrow, I'll get out my digital camera and get you guys a quick little movie of them in action. When I get my Limited back, I'll put them side by side so you can see the differences, good and bad.

Thanks.

 

[huskyfan23]

I say stick with normal bulbs. I've seen those eBay LED brake bulbs used and they aren't much different than the stock actual bulbs. You don't get a much different look at all and less of a light output, especially in daylight. I'd like to see your pictures though, Superedge.

 

[F14CRAZY]

I say stick with normal bulbs. I've seen those eBay LED brake bulbs used and they aren't much different than the stock actual bulbs. You don't get a much different look at all and less of a light output, especially in daylight. I'd like to see your pictures though, Superedge.

I respectfully disagree. There is les light output during the day, which can't be denied.

I love the look of them in operation. With turn signals and hazards, they're either on or off. There's no in between. Regular bulbs are lazy, going up and down. They're like a slushbox.:thumbdwn:

A manual transmission Explorer deserves better

To me, they make a lot of sense in reverse lights, because they're pretty bright.

 

[huskyfan23]

I see. I never thought about when the turn signals are used. Good call!

 

[F14CRAZY]

Tomorrow for you guys, I'll shoot and post a vid on the parking, brake, turn signal/hazard, and reverse lights in use during the day and night so we can finally settle this

 

[huskyfan23]

Good idea. Have you seen the PIAA 3157 bulbs in action? Wonder how hot they get?

 

[F14CRAZY]

The night vids!

Folks, here ya go. These are the LED bulbs in action during a night time setting. They're all in AVI format, and less than one meg each...

http://members.aol.com/f14crazy/1.avi
http://members.aol.com/f14crazy/2.avi
http://members.aol.com/f14crazy/3.avi
http://members.aol.com/f14crazy/4.avi
http://members.aol.com/f14crazy/5.avi
http://members.aol.com/f14crazy/6.avi