Conversion to LED (1157 tail lights & others)

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65lnc
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Re: Conversion to LED (1157 tail lights & others)

Post by 65lnc »

Now, I will admit my testing is NO WHERE near as involved as OP but I wanted to chime in that I recently installed

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GYL5X7H/

And I have to say that they performed exactly as I hoped they would. There is a significant brightness difference between running/brake light and they are quite a bit brighter than stock. I wanted to change bulbs when I had a friend following me claiming that the standard 1157 bulbs were practically non-visable at night compared to other cars....especially when he was more than 100 ft away from my bumper.

I understand the criteria of OP was that the brightness wasn't TOO bright but in my opinion these are not.

Also, with stock front bulbs the rear LED's worked with my existing 552 style flasher so I had no reason to try the electronic (grounded) flasher units

Hope this helps.
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LithiumCobalt
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Re: Conversion to LED (1157 tail lights & others)

Post by LithiumCobalt »

Finally had a chance to swap the taillight bulbs on my 67 sedan to LED last night. Also used an electronic flasher. I ended up with the best of all worlds. Lights are brighter, use less amps, flash at a regular speed (old flasher was very slow), and my blower motor no longer slows down when I hit the brakes. Bonus to the whole deal - my inside dash indicators still work flawlessly. I thought there were some that had trouble with that. I left the front signal bulbs original. A very worthwhile upgrade for not much money. I wish I had done it sooner. Thank you Denizen for doing a lot of the leg work.
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denizen44
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Re: Conversion to LED (1157 tail lights & others)

Post by denizen44 »

:shock: Woah, great news!!

With so few drawbacks, these things sure are addictive!
Which is why you might be tempted to swap out a few interior bulbs as well :)
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Re: Conversion to LED (1157 tail lights & others)

Post by action »

This thread is now a couple of years old and have decided now to start upgrading my fleet with LEDs
I am starting with non-flashing white/clear lamps and will move to colored marker lamps later then the flashing lamps.

Because two years have passed are your LEDs and the recommendation of Katur brand still the same?
Yes I am finding the sheer volume of choices to be daunting.

Or has the market place changed that you know of.
Also I am buying in bulk which seems to fit the market as well.
The back up light application is a 1156 and I have 4 vehicles with that application

Any added suggestions or tips greatly appreciated

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denizen44
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Re: Conversion to LED (1157 tail lights & others)

Post by denizen44 »

Hi,

White and non-flashing bulbs are easiest to find and substitute. Most agree brighter is better! :smt004

The most difficult types to match to your car are by far the red tail lights, because they have two brightnesses and must also work with your flasher, and especially if you seek to match OEM behavior with headlights on. A good reference is about 400-600 lumens, given an accurate spec sheet.

On the Katur ones:

-They have many identical substitutes that likely/probably behave the same.
-They looked good and behaved flawlessly, but as I said later on this thread, I found them a bit too bright so I changed my preference.

On the black 16smd ones:

-All six are still on my car to this day, and have worked beautifully and flawlessly in all conditions.
-Luckily enough, they still seem to be available from the same seller (DT-AUTOTECH) and linked below.
-Keywords to find these elsewhere online include: "16smd", "1157", "red" and "5730" / "5630", often used together.


Reminders:

-For inside the car, warm whites (around 4000K) looked better than cold whites (5000-6000K), unless perhaps for a map reading light or the dash illuminating lights.

-For back-up lights, brighter is always better, but I recommend making sure your car doesn't require BA15D bulbs, like mine does?
2.jpg
-Lots and lots of bulb spec sheets have inaccurate numbers. Especially wrong lumens, wrong wattage equivalence. Don't rely too much on the spec sheets. For example, the third bulb linked below says: 60 lumens, there's no way that's accurate. Most likely it's 600 lumens. Also it says: 6000K; but the light is RED so that's not accurate either. Sometimes the auction title says red and the spec sheet says white. Countless such errors everywhere!

-For already tested red bulbs, there's no way to be sure the manufacturer hasn't tweaked their brightness since. For this reason, it's probably wisest to order samples and do test trials before you commit to buy bulk.

-If you install very bright tail light bulbs, like many sellers strive to offer, when your headlights are on, your car will always look like you have the brake pedal pressed, especially in the evening.

-There are many flasher models and behaviors. When tweaking the tail lights, one can leave 1 or perhaps 2 incandescent bulbs on the rest of the circuit to make it easier for the flasher to detect a current flow & cut. I left the 2 incandescent front amber turn signals.

-If a red 1157 model doesn't flash properly, with or without headlights, you may consider trying other flashers before disqualifying that bulb model.

-When comparing lumen ratings, red lumens and yellow/white lumens may not be equivalent. Another factor to consider is that non-red bulbs have more of their lumens filtered out by red lenses.

Links:

Katur bulbs, IMHO a bit too bright (900 lumens) compared to OEM (400 lumens):
https://www.amazon.com/KaTur-BAY15D-33- ... B01KLGRIR0

My preferred bulb, 16smd, closest match to OEM I found, brightness is 500-600 lumens unless they changed it.
Some spec sheets say less lumens than that, but as my videos show, the ones I tested are actually brighter than OEM.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/232052773073

24smd version, probably a close/similar result, however some versions had a tweaked brightness similar to Katur:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133785755719
Note: these are NOT the same ones as similar looking models with 2835 square SMDs.

The link below is for WHITE; this manufacturer doesn't currently sell the red ones unless you buy 100;
HOWEVER if you ask, the seller will most likely accept to sell you two red ones instead of white.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003032305444.html

For bulk purchase of 100, red *IS* available:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003245872297.html

have fun!
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Re: Conversion to LED (1157 tail lights & others)

Post by action »

Thanks -

1156 bulbs are very simple single contact bulbs not dual contact.
Pretty typical for exterior lighting that uses the socket for ground.
Interior (Incandesent) single filament lights will have dual contacts in some cases to provide a ground in places the lamp is not mounted on metal.

Action
Phoenix - Yeah, it's hot, however it's a dry heat
2006 Lincoln Navigator Limited 5.4l 3V
1996 Lincoln Mark VIII 2DR Coupe Diamond Anniversary 4.6l DOHC, 4R70W, 3.07
1970 Continental Mark III Triple Black 460 4v, C6, 2.80 (Used for Woodward Dream Cruise or just generally stored in Michigan)
1966 Lincoln Continental 4DR Convertible 462 4v, C6, 3.00
1966 Mercury Park Lane 4DR Breezeway 410 4v, C6, 2.80
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tomo
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Re: Conversion to LED (1157 tail lights & others)

Post by tomo »

Some of the flasher cans can be opened and the points adjusted to get the correct flash rate for LED bulbs, so you don't have to buy a new flasher.
Tom O'Donnell
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