LED Tail Lights
 

Has anyone tried out some of the new style LED tail lights? I was pursuing eBay and looking at all the different styles that are now available. I defiantly think the ones with the side LED's would be the way to go so they emit broader light and not so direct as the ones just on the end of the bulb, and hopefully light up the tail light better. I'm always worried about getting hit in the rear by another car because the old style bulbs just aren't bright enough. The bulbs are cheap enough now that maybe I'll try a few different ones. Was even thinking about trying them in my vintage snowmobiles so the headlights don't dim when you hit the brakes.

I haven't tried them yet, but I'm looking here:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/l...-1060--441630/

I have used LED off-road lights on my golf cart and I love how they are super bright and don't dim like the standard ones did when accelerating.

It also looks like they have LED's for just about every light on the car, kind of expensive, but figure that they will probably last a lifetime in a average use car, and maybe more than that for a seldom used classic.

I put LED lights on my bus and love them.
I replaced the rear tail/stop/signal lights and all of the marker lights with LED's. This was easy on the bus because I replaced the complete light assembly.

The LED replacement BULBS that I tried for my truck several years ago didn't really have the brightness I wanted so I went back to the regular bulbs.


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I have put RED LED globes in the tail lights of my '66 Grand Prix. Lots of small LED's surrounding the globe and nice and bright but not too "glarey". They work really well with a deep rich red colour when looked at from the rear.

HOWEVER, I thought they were so good that I bought some to put into the tail lights and rear turn indicators on my 2000 Holden Caprice. NOT GOOD. Because they draw so little power, the car thinks it has multiple globes out. I believe you can fit resistors to eliminate that problem but I just figured I'd stay with the standard globes

Ian :ausflag::ausflag::ausflag:

I don't think that would be a problem in a 70 GTO as far as sensing a bulb out. You put the red LED in a red lens? I was going to try the bright white.

I ordered a pair of the 60 SMD bulbs, WTH they were only $7 shipped! I'll give it a try.

I am going to convert my 71 Firebird into full LED's, but if you want improved lighting on the rear of your car:
1) clean the inside and outside of the lenses.
2) Clean and repaint the inside of the lamp housings- Bright white of silver.
3) Convert from 1157 to 2057 bulbs- I found these accidentally. I noticed my 88 T/A was way brighter than my 76... different bulbs. I now use these on all my old cars.
4) Grounds- clean 'em, add extras, etc. GOTTA have good grounds!!

When I thought I'd try the LED globes, the guy selling them asked me for what car? He told me that the white globes would possibly create a white "spot" when the light was on because the LED globes are so much brighter than standard globes. He suggested using the RED ones. So I did.

One other thing I did was toss out the lousy GM bulb holders and replaced them with some out of an early 60's Ford Falcon. All solid brass and beautifully made. Fit perfectly.

I do have a pair of White ones to fit into the back up lights but I just haven't gotten round to that yet:rolleyes:

Ian:ausflag::ausflag::ausflag:

Here is my LED tail lights in the paint booth. I took the picture using the flash on the camera and you can still see the lights. The brake and turn part of the light is much brighter than the tail light. After Keith's car was rear-ended, I decided to make the back end of my modified car very bright. I used the 1157 LED replacement. I cut them off of the normal base and put them on a breadboard circuit board from Radio Shack. I have 5 bulbs in each taillight. All 5 taillights are on. If not using the turn signals all 5 brake lights light. If using the turn signal, the 2 bulbs on the outside blink, the 3 inside bulbs are still brake lights. One thing with the LED lights. You must get a low load flasher for the turn signal to work.

DON'T paint the reflectors (inside of taillight housing) silver. Been there, done that. White makes the light spread out more evenly, silver makes it much more directional so you get a bright spot where the bulb is but rather dim around it. White reflectors spread more light on the red lens.

personally ....I HATE LED's......I want to get out and beat someone when I pull up behind them at night and have to shade my eyes to protect my retinas from burning out.........

I thought bright lights were for the front of the car......

Spaghetti Engineering LEDs and an LED third brake light.

This +1

Bought new lenses, switched to the 2057 bulb and painted the housing bright white and it was a HUGE difference. I would try doing this and if you're still not happy look into changing the bulbs.

Yep. Had two different friends go through the trouble of painting one side silver and the other white to test the difference. White was the clear winner. They didn't mention anything about bright spots, but both said that the white painted reflector produced the brightest light to the rear.

I like the idea of usin LED's. I am for sure going to try. It out

I would like to try L.E.D. bulbs in the tail lights of my GT-37. The bulb housings were never a shiny chrome reflector and appear to be just a silver paint. Maybe just spraying some plastic chrome on the housings will make them brighter.:)

Be careful on which ones you buy.
I got a set of LED bulbs from a seller who apparently got them from China or was based out of China, they looked good, but you couldnt tell the difference between when the running/parking lights were on and to when the brakes/turn signal was on.

I tried to send them back and they told me nope

When I have replaced filament bulbs with one of the LEDs where there are a number of LED elements on a flat panel behind the lens I have liked hem. But when I replaced a 1034 or 1157 filament bulb with one of the red LED replacements behind a red lens I thought they were dim and went back to the filament. Of course most of the sockets for the filament bulbs are old and suspect now anyway.

I was told to NOT use RED lights for this exact reason. The red led is filtered by the red lense. Use white LEDs in tails.

Thank you.

...when there's no traffic in front.

What's with the boneheads that need four headlights...IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, IN TOWN?

I get mad at those cars with the wicked bright tail/brake lights too. Now I are one. LOL
I'll defend it. For 20 years I worried about getting rear-ended in my 1968 Firebird because the original tail lights are so narrow and dim. As new cars kept getting brighter and brighter tail lights, the possibility of some (probably young) driver slamming into my car increased. The dim tails just don't register as brake lights anymore. It's selfish maybe, but now I know people can see my car at night.

If someone finds a replacement 1157 LED Bulb that is TOO BRIGHT, please let me know the exact brand/model/source for such bulbs. If they are too bright I will find a way to dim them if needed.

I have read a lot of reviews on Amazon etc. and found very few reviews that indicate the LEDs are brighter.

If you have used 1157 LED replacement bulbs that you are happy with, please provide brand/model/source info.

Yup!! I am sort of guilty of this too- came up on a Toyota w/ a non-functioning RH-side brake light. When the guy hit the brakes, his old, crusty LH brake and HMTBL barely made a difference vs. running lights. A lot of new cars are using LED's... they work well! Come up on a new Charger when it brakes, you'll NOTICE his lights.

the bulbs i used in the TA to help increase some brightness were the silverstar ultras i think they were called
they aren't led, but they are a little brighter that the standard type bulbs i replaced, however i think they may have stopped making them, i have a few spares on hand
i changed all my bulbs interior/exterior and much better, the 194's i know are hard to find

i myself don't care to much for the LEDs, or dealing with additional wiring to make them work, etc.., plus i'm kindda stuck in the time theme with the car anyway
if i want modern stuff, i'll just drive the Accord

but on the other hand.... safety is paramount as well

Not true. I have RED led's in my 67 Tempest Wagon and they are great! Bright, but not too bright to make people behind me ticked off.

You need amber for amber and red for red. That said, I use the DIGITAL flasher. Dont waste your money on load resistors or the special flasher. Get the one with 3 prongs. Install the flasher correctly on the original two prongs and then add a ground. Never have an issue and you can keep OE wiring.

You WILL get a white spot with white led's. I will try to take a night picture of the car but it is covered in 3 feet of snow right now.



That said, look at the interior LED's that I put in and you will switch!

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...ps6e5c52eb.jpg


Here is the difference between a bulb and the LED. The LED looks dimmer in the picture, but I can assure you that it is not.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...psa36aa597.jpg

I do sort of agree with you, but when those bright LED tail lights hit the brakes, you know there on the brakes. I'm worried that the stock tail lights just are not bright enough, I would rather have someone a 1/2 a mile away know I'm on the brakes than get hit. I think the stock tail lights are ok at night but during the day not so much. That and the tail lights are kind of low compared to the newer cars. There are way to many distractions for all the knuckle heads out there these days, I want there attention when I'm braking.

I like the idea of painting the inside area white.

I'm familiar with the 2057 bulbs, but was under the impression that they generated a lot of heat and might damage the lens.


I'm also going to switch the interior lights to LED in the rear arm rests, the convertible arm rests have that little cover that discolors from the heat of the bulb, putting an LED in there might work perfect.

Thanks, for the input guys.

Do you have a picture of the bulbs you used in the dash? I wasnt aware they made LEDs that fit in there. Where did you get them?

I got the ones for the dash at http://www.superbrightleds.com/ . The bulbs I used are not cheap but they DO make a difference. The ones I used for the gauges are cheaper.

Dash LED's
http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...9-led-tower/9/

Gauge LED's
http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...-wide-angle/3/

Thanks 1967 Tempest.:) Did you use yellow or clear? Did you ever get the photo of the wagon with the brake lights lit up? I would like to see those. I think it would add a measure of safety to alert people of your presence that dont seem to be paying attention on the road.

I went with the clear or white.

I dug the car out this weekend and drove it around to get the rest of the snow off of him. I will take a video/picture tonight

Are the gauge LED's able to be dimmed? I checked the link but couldn't find any reference either way.

Tail lights
 

Darn light sockets!!!!! I will fix you soon!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zstx...ature=youtu.be

Nice and bright 1967 Tempest. I replaced my original socket some years ago myself. make sure they have a good ground against the sides. What brand L.E.D did you use? was it from the same place as the dash lights? Did they fit in the housing like stock 1157 bulbs? Thanks again.:)

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The site given for the superbrightleds had a note somewhere that said they were dimmable. Came under a additional info tab or someplace like that.

Yup dash lights ARE dim able. The taillight a are from the same place. Yup fit into 1157 socket. The tail lights aren't cheap though. I paid 20 a piece!

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...ed-tower-/814/


Tail lights I have

Well I did a little test on my 76 Mercury Twister snowmobile. I bought some LED lights off ebay, they were not very bright, didn't look at the brightness rating when I bought them , but they were only $6. I painted the inside of the tail light housing white as suggested by one other poster, this was a big improvement even with the 1157, the original housing was black. The best set up I had for the parts I have was a 2057 bulb with the inside of the housing painted white behind the red lens. Nice bright red tail light, looks great. I will have to try this on the car when it comes out of it's frozen sleep later this year.

Pictures of my tail lights
 

Two pictures, one using the flash on the camera, the other with no flash. These are the tail lights only. The brake/turn signal lights are much brighter.

Those are nice and bright, but that's a custom set up correct? Did you try any purchase type bulbs? They do make some other LED bulbs but I will have to do a little more research to make sure I get a brighter bulb. But the white paint and the 2057 bulb made a huge difference. Thanks for the pics.

Yes, it is a custom setup. I used 5 of the LED bulbs in each tail light. All 5 are tail light, the outside 2 are turn signal/brake light, and the inside 3 are always brake light. I used a dremal tool and took the bulbs off of their base, then made a circuit board to hold them inside the lights.
The bulb that I used is from Jamstrait, their 1157 replacement is a 1157R.

Want to bump this thread up. A 3496 bulb is interchangeable and the brightest bulb I have seen for those who don't want to have LED's.

3496 bulbs on the left and 2057 bulbs on the right.