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Any recommendations for a 1972 with 1157 taillight bulbs? I want to convert to a LED 1157 taillight bulb that will work with the turn signal setup. Prefer NOT to use a resistor as that has been show to draw as much power as a halogen.
I've been looking for bulbs as well. Here are some things I've learned...
The 1157 LED bulbs I've found don't have as much difference in brightness between taillight and stop light as the factory bulbs do. Stop is bright enough but taillight is much too bright. When I put on the brakes at night I want someone behind to notice something has changed!
You need to buy a red LED for behind the red lens. The light from a white LED will be much dimmer by the time only some of the wavelengths make it through the red lens. Lumen ratings of the red bulbs look low, but they will look good (except for point one).
You won't need a resistor with any LED bulb to avoid ricer flash. There's no computer flashing the lights on our classics. Just replace your flasher with an electronic version.
I learned my lesson, don't buy the junk 6-10 piece packs on the cheap. This is what I have on the 64 F-85: http://www.bulbconnection.com/ViewSI...iABEgJGgvD_BwE
x2 need to replace the flasher with an electronic version....
I learned my lesson, don't buy the junk 6-10 piece packs on the cheap. This is what I have on the 64 F-85: http://www.bulbconnection.com/ViewSI...iABEgJGgvD_BwE
x2 need to replace the flasher with an electronic version....
How do you like the Sylvania LEDs? Is there a noticeable difference from running light to brake light?
What flasher did you use to make it compatible with the LEDs?
I used these projector-style LEDs in the back of my 67 Delta. I did not change the flasher. I'm very happy with them. The side LEDs light up the reflector in the tail light buckets, and the projector has a wide angle lens to help spread the light across the lens.
These are pricey, but well worth it. They light up instantly, and are brighter when on 'low' and much brighter on 'high.' They illuminate the whole lens very evenly, no bright or dark spots.
Thanks. That link is for red bulbs. Is that what I should do? The factory bulbs are white. It seems kind of like overkill to put a red light behind a red lens.
Thanks. That link is for red bulbs. Is that what I should do? The factory bulbs are white. It seems kind of like overkill to put a red light behind a red lens.
LED's put out a much brighter spectrum so a white LED would wash out the red lens and appear more white than red. Hence the reason why red LED bulbs are the way to go. You don't want to have white brake lights.
From their figures, the stop light is about twice as bright as the running light. Stock 1157s have from 11 to 16 times the brightness for stop light versus running light.
This is a great example of point 1 in post 2.
Perhaps if some of the LEDs are devoted 100% to the running light, you could poke out some of those eyes and get a better ratio of stop to running brightness.
If that big mismatch of brightness could be solved, the bulb has a lot of fine features.
This is the flasher I am using. Yes there is big difference between the brake light and the tail light brightness. I used their amber light for the front also. All works well together.
This is the flasher I am using. Yes there is big difference between the brake light and the tail light brightness. I used their amber light for the front also. All works well together.
What was the flasher #??
I got one that looked similar on Amazon and it is not working properly.
That is the correct flasher. Did you ground the ground wire?
I think I figured it out. If I remove the 1157 front amber bumper LED's, then the flasher and everything works. Somehow the front amber LEDs are causing an issue. Not sure but after installing the incandescent bulbs, all is fine.
The original sockets are swaged into the tail light housings. Replacement requires a lot of work. Those twist-in sockets do not fit in the stock housings.
Where does one get a new 1157 socket for the rear taillights? The OEM socket is rusted and not functioning like it should?
Depending how badly rusted it is, I've been able to free up sockets with sticking pins using WD40 and a metal pick, with the tail light harness unplugged of course.
I also noticed that the upper drivers side tail light works as a driving light but then the brake light and turn signal portion will not work. The lower lights up fine, it's just the upper.
What would cause that? A bad socket or something in the wiring?
Here are my LED updates. Running lights vs brake lights. The LEDs are at least 2x brighter than the incandescent bulbs. They don't run hot like the incandescent and pull about 1/4 of the voltage/amperage.
The glare is from the camera, not present in real life.
Once upon a time a had to deal with rear taillight sockets rusted etc. What I did to fix one of them is I put a tiny drop of solder on each contact on the bulb and that helped a bunch if the contact springs are not good. If the socket is worth saving put some Evapo-rust in a can and soak the socket see what happens.
I've been looking for bulbs as well. Here are some things I've learned...
The 1157 LED bulbs I've found don't have as much difference in brightness between taillight and stop light as the factory bulbs do. Stop is bright enough but taillight is much too bright. When I put on the brakes at night I want someone behind to notice something has changed!
You need to buy a red LED for behind the red lens. The light from a white LED will be much dimmer by the time only some of the wavelengths make it through the red lens. Lumen ratings of the red bulbs look low, but they will look good (except for point one).
You won't need a resistor with any LED bulb to avoid ricer flash. There's no computer flashing the lights on our classics. Just replace your flasher with an electronic version.
Tell us if you find a good bulb.
Not to dig up an old thread, but I'm converting my taillights/signals to LED's now and I'm wanting to know the best bulbs for the scenario. For starters, I've got an electronic flasher in my amazon cart and I just want a LED bulb/brand that will avoid point one in the 2nd post ^. Being 2020 now, I'm thinking that projector style LED's will provide the best 360 degree coverage to fill out the lens. I see that there was a recommendation for the "plasma" bulb but does anyone have any other tried and tested brand/type (just for options) that I don't have to roll the dice on. Thanks guys.
September 20th, 2018, 02:54 PM
