LED turn front & rear bulbs any luck

rvt1000 · 23rd August 2012, 17:44

I'm looking to buy a pair for the front and rear, hate the yellow yolk and dont want the Silverstone bulbs (silver coated), so looking to go LED with both front and back. I beleive front is 3157, rear is 1156, see so many on ebay but not sure are they worth to bite on. Any one have any luck or any vendor they recommend. I use to get them from Cal @ Jlewi but now it is SV concepts and they have nothing on their website anymore.

SidekickChuck · 23rd August 2012, 17:53

If you dont like the yolk look now, it will be worse if you use plug and play LED bulbs. It might look great when they are off, but when blinking, you wont get much diffused light and it will be this little circle of light flashing inside the turn signal partition of the housing. I for one would love to spend the time to make an LED array for the turn signals, but I dont have the time.

rvt1000 · 23rd August 2012, 19:03

not sure I had a set from Jlewi that worked great proper light output etc, but I twisted one the wrong way whle removing it and broke it so need a set, was thinking of getting rear also. Lets see.

dolemite · 23rd August 2012, 21:42

I am using a full set of LED amber bulbs from DDM Tuning but I've heard autolumination.com is a good source as well. You're correct - it's 3157 (front) 194 (side) and 1156 (back turn). Spend the money and get the brightest ones they offer - light output is measured in lumens, the more the better. I found that the difference in light output from low (running lights) and high (turn signal) on the 3157 was negligible and worried that it would not be enough to really notice so I ended up disconnecting the low wire and only use the fronts for turn signals. LEDs will blink fast unless you buy and install resistors at each bulb but I actually prefer the fast blink because I think it gets the attention of other drivers better. The lamp module has not pitched a fit since install about a month ago. I did get the obligatory check license plate warning the other day when I replaced the incandescent bulbs with two 39mm 6x5050 LED festoon bulbs....just need to install the resistors I bought.

Quicksilv3r · 24th August 2012, 04:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by SidekickChuck

If you dont like the yolk look now, it will be worse if you use plug and play LED bulbs. It might look great when they are off, but when blinking, you wont get much diffused light and it will be this little circle of light flashing inside the turn signal partition of the housing. I for one would love to spend the time to make an LED array for the turn signals, but I dont have the time.

This. I've seen LED bulbs in our housings before and to be honest, it's a safety concern above all else. You absolutely cannot see them, day or night, in any condition. It won't get any recommendations from me.

dolemite · 30th August 2012, 20:24

Automotive LED bulbs have come a long way in the last few years and now match or exceed the light output of your average incandescent bulb. There are CANBUS (no resistor needed to eliminate fast-blink/LCM error codes) options out there that are plug-n-play for our cars. I compared the output before I was convinced on my own car and the LED bulbs I purchased are significantly brighter while maintaining an even illumination throughout the lens area. I am not intentionally plugging DDMTuning, but they list light output and wattage unlike many other vendors. These values are for white bulbs and amber output is typically half.

SB60 - 420 lumens/4.2w/360deg vs incandescent 400 lumens/25w on average. The LEDs on the assembly are fashioned so that the entire turn signal housing area is illuminated with a bright amber light.
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/1156-7506LED

60x3528 420 lumens (basically the same as above), 360deg
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/3156-3157LED

By comparison, the Silverstar is 402 lumens (see specs)
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_silverstar-incandescent-mini-bulb-sylvania_5080159-p#fragment-2

I use the 5x5050 because the SB28 is only in white and would most likely not fit within the side marker housing. This bulb is 60 lumens and the average incandescent is about 25.
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/194-T10-168-LED-Bulb

To each his own, but the automotive industry has been switching over to LED technology for years now. Compared to incandescent bulbs, LEDs have 100,000hr+ lifespans and immediate transient response (instant-on) that provides other drivers with increased reaction time.

josiahg52 · 30th August 2012, 21:19

The OEMs source quality components and the housings, lenses and, most importantly, the reflector are built around an LED light source. That makes all the difference in the world.

bibledriver · 30th August 2012, 21:44

I know the oldschool LEDs were garbage, I would be interested to see side by sides with the SMD style setups next to incandescent.

Tortuga · 31st August 2012, 05:13

Buy some silver high temp spray paint, take out your amber bulbs, stuff them into four appropriately sized holes in the bottom of a shoe box, just DUST them with the silver paint, REALLY light coat just so you see the color disappear; let them dry and reinstall...Works perfect cost like $5...