Decided to change to LED brakelights

SDJason

SDJason

Senior Member
After reading about and seeing other folks' pictures of how much brighter they are, I thought I'd go ahead and make the change - and WOW, I am impressed. Definitely brighter - the pictures don't do them justice.

Here's Before and After pictures (I made sure to use the same exposure settings on each, so they should be fairly comparable - except for the unfortunate fact that the sun moved a bit during the time it took me to get them installed)

Edit: I also noticed that the current draw went down to nearly zero, compared to the incandescents - I've got mixed feelings about that - awhile back, my brakeswitch wasn't working - I only noticed this because one day I saw that the ammeter wasn't going negative with the brakes applied. Now, if I end up in a similar situation, I may not have the ammeter as an indicator that the brake lights are actually turning on.
 

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Here is my car signalling a left turn with LED taillites and a third brake light, all red since i feel mixing reds and ambers can further confuse other motorists.:)
 

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Bruce Adams said:
Here is my car signalling a left turn with LED taillites and a third brake light, all red since i feel mixing reds and ambers can further confuse other motorists.:)
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That's interesting. I have always believed that things are less ambiguous when turn signals are a different colour from the stop and tail lights. Red (read flashing brake lights) indicators have been banned here since the early 50's. Wiring indicators separately from the brake lights is much simpler too.
 
As Synchro said, red flashing blinkers have been banned for decades,
but lately I see a lot of yank tanks LHD and flashing red driving around.

Either the inspectors don't have a clue or they have relaxed the laws.

All LHD cars here used to have signs stating they were LHD, this has been relaxed for cars over 30 years old, so maybe the red flashing also applies to over 30 .
 
It's really quite simple. Amber light = turn signal front or back. No need to look harder or longer to decide what the red light means. I figure it all means LESS confusion but that is what I am used to.
 
Synchro909 said:
That's interesting. I have always believed that things are less ambiguous when turn signals are a different colour from the stop and tail lights. Red (read flashing brake lights) indicators have been banned here since the early 50's. Wiring indicators separately from the brake lights is much simpler too.
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I don't know about brake light colors in OZ, or how Model A's show amber for turns with red brake lights on single element bulbs or LED packs. I do not see amber brake lights in US, and when combined with my red Third Brake Light, a combination of red and amber when braking or turning is colorful but unnecessarily confusing at best. I feel consistency is better than confusion when driving at night, particularly in the NYC Metro traffic that I drive in regularly.
 
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Tom Wesenberg said:
That's amazing! Not only are the LED's brighter, but they fixed the severe right lean of the car.:D
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Yes Tom, though the fact that the car was parked with the right wheel maybe three inches lower than the left one that might caused have it's lean. She normally has a list towards port when parked on a flat surface. :)
 
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Lights color here in the USA.
Brake lights from 1953 have to be red. There are some grandfather rules, but, many judges dismiss them. Besides folks today have no idea about amber brake lights.
Turn lights can be amber or red.
Tail lights are to be red.



I didn't like changing the rear lens, but, I figured I should after 40 years and I'm slowly getting used to them.
It was/is harder getting used to the LEDs, but, they sure are brighter.

One thing I've found is that people are constantly saying the rear lights flicker. What I've found is that the sun shining thru the rear lens reflects off the LEDs creating that effect. At least that keeps their concentration where I like it to be.
 
Goldhardt said:
Snyder's, Bratton's, etc.... All of the major suppliers carry them.
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That's where I'd buy first.

For other applications there's a place called "Bright Lites" or something like that, which I found by using Google to search for LED's for my trailer lights.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
That's where I'd buy first.

For other applications there's a place called "Bright Lites" or something like that, which I found by using Google to search for LED's for my trailer lights.
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"Bright LEDs" is a firm selling a replacement LED bulb that is easy to install, not 1/4 as good as the LED cards, and unless you purchase RED or AMBER, its intense white light shows through original glass Model A lens showing white light. I purchased a few of these prior to me buying the LED card that replaces the lens and is as bright as my new Mustang's tail light.
 
I changed to LED's last Spring and I'm very happy. One issue that occurred was around 2 months after changing to LED's both blew out with only the tail light working. Brake light was dead, both sides. I thought is was the switch, but traced it to the lights themselves. I found the mfg in California and spoke with tech support. They suggested I return them and if defective, they would replace them. After a few days, they said that the lights did indeed fail and the most likely cause was high voltage. I'm running 6 volts positive and had a theory. If the generator temporarily lost ground, the voltage at the lamps may have spiked. I placed a ground wire from the generator case to the block and have not seen trouble since. Remember, there is only one bolt connecting the case to ground, and that acts as a hinge. Even if that is not the cause, I feel better now...

Frank
 
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