[JUDGE3]

Anyone tried the 1157 tailight RED led replacement bulb?

thinking the red led might look pretty good. but wonder if they still look bright enough. curious before pulling the 10 buck a bulb trigger.

the clear led bulb i'm sure is very bright. using led everywhere I can.

[jerry455]

I put in Red LED bulbs in my 1976 Firebird. I was told to use the same color as the light you want. A clear bulb, I was told, would make the light look pink. I like the red in my taillights. They are brighter and light up quicker. I ended up using LED bulbs everywhere except headlights so far. The headlights are a lot more expensive. I also used yellow for my front turn signals and markers. I got all of mine from Rock Auto. I think they were the Philips brand.

[JUDGE3]

never thought about the bright clear being so bright it pinks out the lens. glad i asked.

sounds like red is the way to go. any particular shape? I see a bunch of different 1157 style red leds with multiple different led configurations.

[bluebandit]

The way the leds are positioned also make a difference. Make sure you get one that has some facing rearward and to the sides so they shine off the reflectors and show brighter as the brake is applied.

[Jeff Hamlin]

Been using them for over a year now and the small lights on my '66 need all the help they can get. These did the trick.
I will add that I painted the inner housing in High Temp Flat White, This is far superior to sliver for increasing output.
The images don't do justice, They are RED as RED can be.

[Jeff Hamlin]

Now I'm debating whether I will change out the Amber bulbs,
but love the factory look of the painted bulbs and clear lens.
They are more than bright enough as is.

[pfilean]

Red behind a red lense is supposed to be the way to go. The red lense will only pass red light so it is brighter if red is the only color the bulb makes. With white bulb the other colors of the rainbow that are a part of white light are filtered out.

But look closely at your lamp base on the car. There are a lot which are only a flat base behind the bulb with the bulb aiming straight out from the car. Those do little to reflect light way from the car. Some LEDs are made with the diodes only around the sides of the bulb. Those do not reflect the light away from the car with that type of lamp base. That is the problem I had with the taillights on my 61. If you have a lamp base that is somewhat parabolic (think the reflective surface on the sealed beam headlights) the LEDs with the diodes only around the periphery will reflect light away from the car. For the flat lamp based you need the bulbs with some diodes facing straight out. Of course, there are also some lamp bases where the bulb is 90 degrees to the axis of the car and then LEDs with diodes only around the periphery should be OK.

[Trevor78]

The white vs silver lens myth is for those who don't know the difference between brightness and reflective strength. In the end, whatever makes you feel happy.

[Jeff Hamlin]

Your 2 cents has been deposited.
Thank you.

[Trevor78]

Just a few pics for interest.
I did this comparison a couple of times with different cars using either white or frosted silver inner lenses. Both were fresh paint rather than new vs old. This appears to be the only one I took pics of.

Highly technical and superb clarity from the early days of phone cameras! But that has also possibly helped by highlighting the brighter flare coming off the RH side of both.

Firebird brake lights White LH Silver RH 1 by Ben, on Flickr
Firebird brake lights White LH Silver RH 2 by Ben, on Flickr

[PDC]

I originally tried the Holley Retrobright 1157 bulbs based on the Name. They were a big disappointment. The plastic bulbs literally shattered under the light pressure of pushing and twisting them into the sockets - where the OG glass bulbs could be easily installed and removed. Also, the pins on the bases of the Holley’s were just pressed ‘dimples’ where there are actual rigid ‘pins’ in the bases of std bulbs. After a couple of attempts to get the Holley’s in, the dimpled pins were pressed practically smooth and the bulb would not stay in the socket.

So, I ended up going with Sylvania ZEVOs - red in the tail lights and blinkers and little rear side markers, white for the reverse lights.

My issue was with the front blinkers - apparently, the LED replacement front blinkers and front side markers do not provide sufficient resistance to alternately ground each other out to perform the ‘blinker’ function. - so with LEDs in place up front, the bulbs were very dim and both R & L sides blinked with either turn signal activated.

I found a deep dive thread on a Jeep forum explaining how to wire resistors in place so the bulbs will correctly ground each other to blink. But I ended up just using stock front blinkers and side amber markers and all is good. My main concern was having tail lights that’s were bright enough to be seen during the day.

I also swapped in Holley Retrobright Headlights - which were night and day better quality than their 1157 bulbs. By comparison, my old Halogen headlights were like holding a bic lighter out the window. The LED headlights are surprisingly bright with a very wide field of view.

[Formulajones]

I switched to LED colored bulbs that match the lenses being used a couple years ago. Red LED's behind red lenses, and Yellow LED's behind yellow lenses and so forth. Way better than using white LED's behind colored lenses.

I've been using this style in several of the cars for a couple years and no complaints. Not always this particular brand, but this style of LED with the large projection lens. I found these make the most difference on blinker lights like 1157's where you need to see a difference between dim and bright. Never an issue with these blinking front and back as long as I switch over to an electronic style flasher.

https://www.amazon.com/iBrightstar-N...s%2C131&sr=8-6