halogen taillights?

[dotcentral]

Anyone tried these? Worth the money or just a gimmick?

[Toyz]

Good way to melt your lense IMO! Why not LEDs?
Paul

[dotcentral]

Do the halogen taillights get that hot?

I have tried the LED replacement bulbs and those look dimmer than standard 1157 bulbs, unless you in the one perfectly straight on spot - which doesn't happen too often in the real word. I know LMC has a replacement LED panel, but too pricey for me.

[Toyz]

If you can find halogens to match the original wattage, all is fine. The problem is mainly on applications such as substituting 50w halogens for the original backup lamps. LEDs are certainly directional but are widely used on vehicles including over-the-road trucks. They are highly efficient with low current draw and can be found in various plug-in configurations and outputs.
Paul

[Hunter's 64]

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo ... pider/818/

Have you tried one like this ?

Danny

[dotcentral]

I bought a set of what the doofus at Autozone said were halogen bulbs, 1157 ST. Now that I got them home, I am not so sure. They have a blue color to the bulb, at least in the package. Not so sure a blue bulb will do well in a red tail light housing. I will try one of these on one side and keep using the cheapie gas station bulb in the other tail light.

There are some little pictograph diagrams on the back, showing not to touch with bare hands, might be also saying it burns hot, hard to tell. Front side of package claims up to 40% brighter, 20% more depth to light field, 25% wider light field. We'll see I guess.

I want something that will shine bright with out burning or melting something. I don't need some idiot rear ending me because he couldn't see me.

[Toyz]

Sounds like they may be the Sylvania SilverStar bulbs. They are halogen and may make a noticable improvement although they tend to be somewhat hotter running.
Paul

[dotcentral]

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo ... pider/818/

Have you tried one like this ?

Danny

Looks like they open up to almost 3" wide. I think that is too wide, they would hit the sides of the taillight bucket.

Might give these a try: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo ... ower-/814/

[Von Dud]

Hi Dot - i'm running Super Brights and they seem ok - no troubles. Hard to say if they 'made a significant difference' in terms of brightness. The larger issue was the surface rust inside the bucket which really dulled any reflectivity. I cleaned that up and painted to try and help with brightness.

Re: the Halogen's pictogram, they are trying to say 'do not handle with bare hands' - the oils on our skin get's left on the glass and the high heat of halogens can shatter the glass because of the surface tension between the dirty and clean glass.

Good luck with your project -

[Toyz]

That's one thing with the LEDs; they are directional thus reflectivity becomes less a concern.
Paul

[Uncle Skip]

As you know, I'm building a set of LED's for Nadine and I'm happy with how bright they are.
I'm just waiting to paint the housings before I put them together because of the way I'm running the wires.
Yes, they are directional, but that's the reason there are diffusers molded inside your tail light lens.
And, I'm using 18 gauge wire because even with three LED's per unit, they only draw 300 ma.
Pictures in Projects and Builds.

[Fanatic]

I modified a set of these.....56 LEDs and can't miss the rear end

[dotcentral]

The other day I was browsing Harbor Freight's limited selection of LED trailer lights, looking to see if there was something I could modify, similar to Fanatic's idea. Probably ought to hit up a few other places if I go that route.

I did order two 1157 LED replacements from the Super Bright LED web site. I plan on returning the 1157 ST to Autozone. They might work just fine like Von Dud's are doing for him, but I don't want to chance my wiring.

I was at National PArts Depot today, returned some parts and bought a few other things. They now have LED replacements similar to the ones LMC advertises, didn't realize the price was for a pair or I would have got them. Anyone try these yet? http://www.npdlink.com/store/products/l ... 50759.html