Has anyone upgraded their taillights to LED's?

[Kern Dog]

Daniel Stern is a member of FABO under the name SlantSixDan.
Last night he posted at FABO about how simply painting the insides of the taillight housings a FLAT white allows for great improvements in brightness even for standard incandescent bulbs.
I might try this.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Daniel Stern is a member of FABO under the name SlantSixDan.
Last night he posted at FABO about how simply painting the insides of the taillight housings a FLAT white allows for great improvements in brightness even for standard incandescent bulbs.
I might try this.

Ceiling White Paint REALLY Works!

Specifically calls out Ceiling White...

 

[chrger1967]

Daniel Stern is a member of FABO under the name SlantSixDan.
Last night he posted at FABO about how simply painting the insides of the taillight housings a FLAT white allows for great improvements in brightness even for standard incandescent bulbs.
I might try this.

Not a bad idea whether your using LED or stock bulbs.

 

[71GTXdragpack]

I put them in the tail lights on my 71.
View attachment 1870598View attachment 1870599View attachment 1870600

Buddy, those look great! I tried installing LED tailights on my GTX but was having issues so I went back to standard.

 

[chrger1967]

Buddy, those look great! I tried installing LED tailights on my GTX but was having issues so I went back to standard.

What issue were you having?

 

[71GTXdragpack]

What issue were you having?

If I recall, they did not work consistently. It was really cold when I tried to replace to LED's and I didn't have a chance to troubleshoot the tail light harness.

 

[chrger1967]

If I recall, they did not work consistently. It was really cold when I tried to replace to LED's and I didn't have a chance to troubleshoot the tail light harness.

I want to use LED bulbs all around as well. Did you use an LED flasher as well?

 

[71GTXdragpack]

I want to use LED bulbs all around as well. Did you use an LED flasher as well?

It was a while ago but I don't think I did which could be the reason they didn't work consistently.

 

[71Beeper]

Karl, you must use an LED flasher with the LED bulbs.
Here is the one I used.

I bought two of them, one for the turn signals and the other for the 4 ways.

 

[69XMan]

I installed the retrobright headlights in my 69 GTX and they work way better. I can see now with the modern white. However I’m having trouble with the retrobright bulbs I put in my tail lights and turn indicators. When I press brakes they are not getting brighter and turn signals stopped working. Any ideas?

 

[gkent]

Do you know how and what a diode does? It only allows current to flow one way. A LED is a diode. Therefore the + and - are specific. Make sure they're wired accordingly. Likewise with the flashers. There's really not much else that can go wrong unless your wiring is dinked.

 

[gkent]

Karl, you must use an LED flasher with the LED bulbs.
Here is the one I used.

This is not true. The LEDS in my 69 RR work fine with the stock 50+ year old flashers. In fact, I bought three different pairs of LED flashers and they didn't work with any of them regardless of the polarity.

 

[Coelacanth]

When it comes to LED lights, I'm torn between the pros and cons. The obvious pros are they're brighter, illuminate quicker, are more efficient and output very little heat. I replaced all my interior and dash lights to LEDs. Especially the console courtesy bulbs, which scorched the inside of one of the white plastic lenses. I also replaced the hood signal indicators with LEDs, but that leads to my observation of the cons.

LED arrays look cute and all, but some of those diodes will inevitably fail. Every day, I see cars with LED arrays and burnt-out diodes, and it looks like A$$. Especially cars with long taillights like 2nd-gen Chargers. And you can't just replace a handful of dead diodes, you need to buy a whole new pair of LED arrays...very spendy. It's guaranteed to happen.

I would go for the idea of replacing the 1157 bulbs with LED bulbs instead of a full array, but LEDs typically aren't very diffuse and output more of a spot of light than a glow. I found this with some white LEDs I tried in my hood indicators; they mostly shone just a small circle of whitish light through the original amber lenses, it wasn't satisfying at all. Fortunately I found some amber LEDs that had diodes aimed more to the sides than straight out, and those made a big difference. The hood indicators now flash a nice, bright, diffuse orange color.

Grendel lives...resurrection of a 1970 Charger 500



I'd put LED bulbs in my taillights if they made a nice diffuse glow instead of 3 separate spots of light. Has anybody tried LED bulbs that produce a wider angle of light?

 

[71Beeper]

I wonder if this style of LED bulb would be what your looking for.

 

[Coelacanth]

I'd love to see them installed in a long taillight lens before I'd spend quite a bunch on a half dozen of those. The diode arrangement looks promising, though. Thanks!

 

[gkent]

I use that style in my 69 RR . They look fine.

 

[Sixpactogo]

I seldom drive my collector cars at night so have no opinion on LED Headlights but I do like the LED's for tail and brake lights. I have the LED 1157 style in my 65 Fury and 60 Dodge but I elected for the LED impregnated lenses for my Charger. They are so much quicker and brighter than the incandescent 1157's. I have had people comment on them at stop lights and quiz me as to where I got them so they are very noticeable.
As far as the headlights go, the "Cracked Back" relay upgrades are more that efficient for me if and when I drive at night. Here is a pic of my Charger LED's. Brake light on the left, tail light on the right. I think there are like 20 emitters in each lens. They draw much less amperage so much less heat as well.

 

[Coelacanth]

I have an idea to fabricate my own third-eye LED taillight at the top of the rear window with the Fratzog logo illuminating. A project for next spring. Something like this, but with the logo illuminating, and blacking out the surrounding lens.

Grendel lives...resurrection of a 1970 Charger 500

 

[Kern Dog]

I seldom drive my collector cars at night so have no opinion on LED Headlights but I do like the LED's for tail and brake lights. I have the LED 1157 style in my 65 Fury and 60 Dodge but I elected for the LED impregnated lenses for my Charger. They are so much quicker and brighter than the incandescent 1157's. I have had people comment on them at stop lights and quiz me as to where I got them so they are very noticeable.
As far as the headlights go, the "Cracked Back" relay upgrades are more that efficient for me if and when I drive at night. Here is a pic of my Charger LED's. Brake light on the left, tail light on the right. I think there are like 20 emitters in each lens. They draw much less amperage so much less heat as well.

View attachment 1974817

I agree that those lights are a lot brighter.
My opinion.....I just don't like the look of them.

 

[Sixpactogo]

I agree that those lights are a lot brighter.
My opinion.....I just don't like the look of them.

You're not alone. Neither to the tailgaters.