Led bulbs in taillights

[gssizzler]

Do any of you guys have these in use ? If so do they work well and do you like them?

[GS66]

I had them in my 1957 Dodge and liked them but had to take them out when I installed the cruise control. They looked good but were not compatible with the cruise.

[joereich]

I have them in my car and they are great! So much brighter, you just have to make sure you have good plugs they are very ground sensitive you also may have to change the turn signal relay since they don't draw as much electricity they make a special one.
I would recommend them.

Joe

[elagache]

Dear gssizzler, Jim, Joe, and mid-60s Buick fans of high tech.

Do any of you guys have these in use ? If so do they work well and do you like them?

There is a guy who sells high performance headlights for classics called Daniel Stern.  Here is his website:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html

He sold me a headlight upgrade kit based on optics designed by Hella and BMW.  I still haven't gotten around to installing them but I promise to report on the results when I do.  Daniel recommends Phillips LED replacements like this taillight bulb:

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-1157-X-tremeVision-Exterior-light/dp/B00HWS7XGW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1467495294&sr=8-2&keywords=Philips+X-treme+Vision+LED+1157

There is a LED backup light in the same series and Daniel told me that there is a parking light bulb in the works.

Since this fellow is an expert on lighting and optics, I'm inclined to go with his recommendations.  If you are curious cruise around his website.  His comparison of 1960s headlights to the headlights he sells is really interesting:

http://dastern.torque.net/Photometry/explication.html

Here is the comparison graphs themselves:

http://dastern.torque.net/Photometry/575.html

It is this information that convinced me I wanted to upgrade the headlights in my trusty wagon.

Cheers, Edouard 

[gssizzler]

 Thanks for the help!

[bobbybuick]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guPXE0iHiV4

I made mine out of led boards

[elagache]

Dear Bobby and mid-60s Buick fans of high tech,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guPXE0iHiV4

Unfortunately You-Tube seems to be overloaded tonight.  I can't get the video to come up.

I made mine out of led boards

I was tempted to go this route as well, but I realized the problem is more complicated than it looks.  The original taillights have reflectors so that the lights can be seen from a considerable distance.  Unless you can recreate that same effect, what looks bright up close might not be as visible to another driver on the road.  If possible, it really is better to use an LED that is designed to illuminate the reflector in the same way as the original bulb.  I still haven't had a chance to take on the LED upgrade for my trusty wagon, but I intend to stick with products recommended by Daniel Stern.  The guy reminds me enough of what I learned about optics as an amateur astronomer that I think he can be trusted.

Cheers, Edouard

[65arcticfox]

I took the plastic sockets out of my tail lights, and replaced them with metal sockets. I did this because the metal sockets have a ground spade on the outside. I have not put the ground wires on because I have a much better ground with the new sockets. My tail lights are much brighter now.