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L.E.D. Brake Bulbs

NYCBlueZ71 said:
Anyone have them/seen them/want them? :eek:
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I have not installed rotating LED taillights, but I have installed solid LED taillights. Unfortunately, the model I purchased was not made for red taillights, similar to these ones. (Note their warning.) They looked really nice, and they appeared bright enough when looking at reflections. A friend following me home from work one day though told me that he could hardly see their glow when lit, and even when applying the brakes, they were only slightly more visible and that if wasn't actually looking for them, he might now have seen them.

The LED taillights I purchased used 12 LEDs, similar to these rotating ones. I have been eyeing up some taillights using 24 LEDs and a friend is making LED taillights with even more LEDs than that. He has offered to give me a set if they work out. I will try to report on them if I have time in the coming weeks, with Christmas and New Years.
 
Hmmm, I'm glad i didnt order them. I agree with you they would be dim. These lights with white instead of red would probably work better.

Maybe 4" or 6" neon stix would be better! :0:

-rob
 
Can never go wrong with red neon. >:D

Although in this case, I think the stock bulbs are sufficient. :)

David
 
I used to work for 2 different LED manufacturers. We didn't make the fixtures, but the discreet LEDs. There are two reasons why they say that these LED brake lights are made for clear lenses. The most obvious reason is because the color pigment in a lens will only block light being emitted. And the second reason is that LED's have a built in reflector cup and all light is emitted at a specific directivity depending on the application. Most red lenses will redirect the light even more reducing the intensity you will see at any given angle. I think these lenses are also made specifically to extract light from the large reflector. This reflector is not used with an LED. All light is emitted straight out.

Just a little bit of info. Merry Christmas!!
 
Ok, I think that the rotating bulbs may be out of the question.

How about using LEDs for reverse lamps? Would these be superior to reg hyperwhite 3157s? I dont know which companies are good and which are garbage. :rolleyes:

I'm new to the LED automotive stuff so any info is really appreciated.

-Rob
 
For reverse lighting I went with the APC I believe it's called super white or bright white, they look blue when off and nice bright white when in reverse.
 
So what you are saying (MikesTNF) these
would probably work good, but just not to use the red ones :rolleyes:?
I almost bought a set of these last week when I was looking for red reflective tape. I seen them at Pep Boys for around $10.
 
Yes, Carriles. LEDs have a lot of advantages......they won't burn out, are very durable, and turn on and off instantly. But since the LEDs already emit red light, a colored lens will only reduce the amount of light that can escape, and will also scatter what little light does make it through. If you were able to find white LED to put behind a red lens it would work better because the whites have a higher intensity than red. But then are normally more expensive due to the technology to produce them. Red is the simplest and cheapest form of LEDs.
 
If I remember correctly some of the members have had problems with their LED's causing the cruise control to not work. Do a search and you should find more info. :B:
 
AVid said:
If I remember correctly some of the members have had problems with their LED's causing the cruise control to not work. Do a search and you should find more info. ?:B:
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This is easily fixed using a $5.00 inline dummy load.
 
Another item to keep in mind that was lightly touched on is that LEDs are directional. Look at an LED directly and you're blind for a few moments. Look at them from the side, and there is almost no light. The inside of the light enclosures are reflective, made to gather _all_ of the light that a standard bulb emits and direct it rearwards. A standard LED, since it is only emitting in one direction, only fires backwards. (Or in the case of the 24-LED model I was looking at, outwards as well, spiraling around the circumference of the base.) Given the immense size of the taillight housing in the Avalanche, it will be interesting to see what even the 24-LED model can do; that is a lot of space to light up, and unless one can make a model with LED's aiming back towards the reflector, it still might not work very well. Even then, another problem arises because LED light does not scatter very well. This has been a problem with the Maglight modifications and aftermarket kits that use LEDs. Even with fancy lenses on the front, the light is still fairly 'beam-like.' Otherwise, it scatters to the point that there is almost no light emitted from the end of the flashlight.

It will definitely take experimenting to get this to work, but it would be nice to find a large LED cluster that will sufficiently and safely light the enclosures of the Avalanche.
 
I have one word... "Cadillac"..


(OK Here's more words). The rear light and brake lights of a Cadillac DTS (for example) are LED. If someone could figure out how there are assembled/manufacturered then maybe.....

The Caddy lenses are about 5/8 -to- 3/4 the size of the Avy's. The Caddy's are very bright and very noticible and again... another GM product.

So who knows.....

"D-man" (LED's would look REAL cool)
 
Boar-Ral,

You are exactly right. I sold LEDs to a few companies that made Mag Light LED replacement bulbs. Because of the directivity of the LED, the use of the beam focuser was completely lost.

In the case of Cadillac, if I remember correctly, they used an LED with a 30/70 degree viewing. 30 degrees vertical and 70 degrees horizontal.

The housing is pretty large to light up the whole thing, but most LED brake lights I've seen weren't made to light up the whole housing. For example, the lights on buses. But personally I don't think they look very good. I think the best thing would be a custom housing and LED bulb to match it. But I would like to see how just an LED replacement bulb would look. Maybe I'll be surprised.
 
i was told by a guy who works at a truck accessory place that the LED's won't affect cruise if you use the correct one, i.e. "Chevy bulb". he says that they do not all have the same impedance, i.e. 3057, 3157, and so on. so if you get the one listed for your truck you will not have a problem. this should take care of having to use that inline dummy load some one mentioned earlier. :B:
 
When I was at Auto-Zone I saw they did have an LED bulb that was specifically for Chevy/GMC Pickups.

Unfortunately they were sold out. They do have a built in resistor to make them appear electrically identical to the 3157.

SJP
 
found the 3157's last night at Pep Boys. they were $8.99 each. decided to wait until today to check out Circuit City. i recall them adding a bunch of after market bulbs, exhaust, and what not's there. just want to see what bulbs they carry. Pep Boys carries the APC brand.
if the bulb appears to be clear in the box, what color does it light when installed? ???
 
02-Z66 said:
if the bulb appears to be clear in the box, what color does it light when installed?
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Most LEDs appear white when not powered. I would guess that they are red, and the box should verify that, though I have also seen automobile LED bulbs in white and amber as well. (The amber being used for turn indicators.)

It might be possible to verify this through the web page of the bulb manufacturer.
 
02-Z66 said:
if the bulb appears to be clear in the box, what color does it light when installed? ???
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If the plastic case and lens of the LED is clear, the emitted light could be any color. Without applying power there is no way to tell just by looking at it. Red is the most common color, but you would have to look at the packaging to be sure.

The most common LED colors are red, green, yellow, blue, and white. Other colors like orange and multi-color (red/green/yellow) LEDs are also available, but less common. However, for the automotive market, it's pretty much the red, yellow, and white that are the most applicable.

-- SS
 
From my experiences with LED brake lights - they will not be as bright as a stock incandescent setup, if there are good reflectors being used.

I bought some LED's for my last truck, along with those altezza tail lights. I never used the LED's. ?They looked fairly bright from a certain angle or vantage point, but were dimmer from all other views. ?The stock bulbs were MUCH MUCH brighter, and looked 100 times better.

BUT... on one of my old motorcycles, the stock bulbs did not make use of any decent kind of reflector behind the bulbs, and LED's improved visibility a lot.
 
marc_w said:
Caddy tail lights seem to be chock full of LED's... there's probably a coulple hundred in each. ????
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And it looks like they are right at the outer surface. Kind of like a flat panel. They do not appear to be clustered behind a reflector.

On one that I saw, I liked the way that the whole panel lit up for brakes, but just the outer inch blinked for turn signals. It is an interesting effect.

-- SS
 
I'm revisiting this thread because I'm interested to know if anyone has successfully used L.E.D.S. for their rear brake and/or turn signal lights.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
bb
 
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