Stock Clear '06 Tail Lights On My '03 Mountaineer

[BWilliams]

webbikeworld.com has reviews on lots of these LEDs, but their main conclusion is that no LED is as bright as an incandescent.

The reason for this is that in an LED, all the light is projected forward through the top of the diode, so bulbs that only have LEDs along the top end don't throw light like a regular bulb, instead only throwing it ~30* from the top of the bulb, and the numeric calculations for brightness favor the incandescent bulb that throws light in all directions.

One of those sites you mentions has a 24-LED bulb that has LEDs in all directions, to fill the entire reflector, which will be brighter then a standard bulb while giving a similar effect.

 

[BonesDT]

You're talking about the "Tower" LEDs. I've tried to find reviews/pictures of them. I just don't want to fork up over $50 for a pair of them before I know what they look like. I'm afraid it will look like a super bright dot in the center and kind of fade off towards the outside, but I don't know.

I was driving behind the new Mercury Sable on the way home. The tail lights are nice. It glows like a slice of pineapple and is actually dark in the center. Couldn't tell if they were LEDs or not.

On a side note, I saw one of those new Sables with a faux convertible top. Really really cool. Must of been some concept because I couldn't find a thing about it online and, no offense, but I doubt someone buying a brand new Sable would go out of their way to customize it.

 

[Testdr]

Same effect as the 06 stock mountaineer LED

The reason for this is that in an LED, all the light is projected forward through the top of the diode, so bulbs that only have LEDs along the top end don't throw light like a regular bulb, instead only throwing it ~30* from the top of the bulb, and the numeric calculations for brightness favor the incandescent bulb that throws light in all directions.

One of those sites you mentions has a 24-LED bulb that has LEDs in all directions, to fill the entire reflector, which will be brighter then a standard bulb while giving a similar effect.

Just the way the Led is setup on the 06 & up monty's, The Led is circular (looks like a minnie chrome engine cap) & setup to project against the housing prizims to reflect the light outwards, pretty cool setup.

I actually want to put another stock monty LED to use as my second brake light (aka turn signal on monty clears) but are close to impossible to find here in Mexico (No Mountaineers)

 

[BonesDT]

I hit up the parts depo. Apparantly, both the '06 Mountaineers and '08 Sables use LEDs for the brakes. The Sable's are $100 a pop and the Mounty's are $60. I don't see any reason why they would be different.

From the pictures, they look like they are wide "cluster" LEDs like these:
http://www.radiantz.com/cart/index1.html?c34.html&1

These large cluster bulbs wouldn't fit in the standard 3157 bulb sockets. The widest diameter for my '99 Ex's brake bulb socket is like 1.125" or 1.25" (I already forget which one it was).

Shag, I'm curious because you say that you had to drill out the holes on the '06 clear lenses to fit your '03 bulb sockets. I'm assuming your '03 sockets housed normal 3157 bulbs. You would think the '06 holes would be much bigger than your '03 sockets because they were made to house those large cluster LEDs.

At first I thought it was insane the factory price of the LEDs, but $120 for a pair of them might not be too far out. Considering aftermarket LEDs are >$25 a pop and it is unanimous that they are never brighter than any kind of stock bulbs. I just want to know what kind of modifications (drilling out a bigger hole) I have to make, because I still have the APC all clear lenses and I know these are almost impossible to find anymore.

 

[avonfromjan]

well after a week or so of trial & error i got these to fit right in and i was able to use the original wiring & sockets. so did i waste my time or what?

what say you?

Could you repost those pictures again as I am not able to see them.
Thanks!