LED tail lights
- Thread starter jpnhgpl
- Start date
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No one that I know of makes stock replacement LED tail light housings. What you can do is replace the bulbs with LED bulbs, or fab up a custom tail light using a LED trailer light.
I have them on my cruiser. I think they were left over from some of my old Mercedes wagon parts. Just the LED bulbs, direct replacement, same brightness, but instant "on/off". If that millisecond helps some driver avoid plowing into me, i figured it was worth it. I believe they just came from Autozone, and I don't recall them being very expensive. Good luck. 
LED Brake lights
Check the RV places or Truck Stops as well - they tend to have the bayonet style bulbs fairly regularly. Only one caveat as far as I know - if you change the turn signal bulbs, you may have to get a different turn signal relay for the fuse block - since the LED ones draw so little current, some of the turn signal relays won't activate correctly.
But for 1/10 of the power usage, you gotta expect *some* things to not be perfect.
Glenn in Tucson
Check the RV places or Truck Stops as well - they tend to have the bayonet style bulbs fairly regularly. Only one caveat as far as I know - if you change the turn signal bulbs, you may have to get a different turn signal relay for the fuse block - since the LED ones draw so little current, some of the turn signal relays won't activate correctly.
But for 1/10 of the power usage, you gotta expect *some* things to not be perfect.
Glenn in Tucson
For taillights and blinkers I would recommend sticking with the incandescent bulbs since those are what the housings are designed for. LED tech is getting better, but I still wouldn't use an LED replacement in a housing that's not designed for that type of light output.
No business affiliation, but talk to Dan Stern at Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply about using LEDs in taillight and blinker housings. He's an automotive lighting guru and can fill you in on all the details. He's the one who talked me out of going LED in my tail lights.
No business affiliation, but talk to Dan Stern at Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply about using LEDs in taillight and blinker housings. He's an automotive lighting guru and can fill you in on all the details. He's the one who talked me out of going LED in my tail lights.
pulling up an old thread. I wanted to discuss this a bit. The reason I don't think I would use LED rear tail lights is that they don't produce any heat relative to the incandescent bulbs which is useful for burning off snow in snowy driving conditions. I have come up on some semis at night with LED lights that were totally dark because of the snow covering their lights.
-Max
-Max
I have LED's all the way around on my cruiser (both actually). The only non-LED's are turn signals (didn't want to do a resistor, or have seizures from fast blinkers).
I tried the new 5w LED's with the "new" 84... do not fit (currently). It's close and I will eventually "adjust" them to fit i think. Just some delicate dremel work and i think it will fit. If not - no worries. Doing me no good on my garage bench!
I'm kinda a LED geek. I like the lower draw and longevity. The LED's i have on the 87 are brighter than most regular bulbs, but not super bright like the new 5w ones i want to make work.
As for heat and snow - it's a vertical surface and shouldn't block easily. Unless you get tons of snow... and easy to brush them off while clearing windows anyway. Not that i need to do that frequently w/ a whopping couple inches every other winter...
HTH!
I tried the new 5w LED's with the "new" 84... do not fit (currently). It's close and I will eventually "adjust" them to fit i think. Just some delicate dremel work and i think it will fit. If not - no worries. Doing me no good on my garage bench!
I'm kinda a LED geek. I like the lower draw and longevity. The LED's i have on the 87 are brighter than most regular bulbs, but not super bright like the new 5w ones i want to make work.
As for heat and snow - it's a vertical surface and shouldn't block easily. Unless you get tons of snow... and easy to brush them off while clearing windows anyway. Not that i need to do that frequently w/ a whopping couple inches every other winter...
HTH!
I have LED's all the way around on my cruiser (both actually). The only non-LED's are turn signals (didn't want to do a resistor, or have seizures from fast blinkers).
I tried the new 5w LED's with the "new" 84... do not fit (currently). It's close and I will eventually "adjust" them to fit i think. Just some delicate dremel work and i think it will fit. If not - no worries. Doing me no good on my garage bench!
I'm kinda a LED geek. I like the lower draw and longevity. The LED's i have on the 87 are brighter than most regular bulbs, but not super bright like the new 5w ones i want to make work.
As for heat and snow - it's a vertical surface and shouldn't block easily. Unless you get tons of snow... and easy to brush them off while clearing windows anyway. Not that i need to do that frequently w/ a whopping couple inches every other winter...
HTH!
Did you get your 5W ones from SuperbrightLEDs? If you get 'em to work, I'm curious to see comparison shots between the 5W and the incandescents.
BTW, should hopefully be able to meet up after getting back on the 10th from the cruise so I an pick up the carpet from you.
yep - the 5w ones from superbrightleds.com. I'll make sure and do a compare shot for ya.
Cool - still sitting and waiting to hook up w/ you. No rush - carpet is just hanging out in the garage. Sorry we weren't able to connect last time you were in town. give me a ring as it gets closer.
