What'a the latest on LED 1157R (LED taillight replacement bulbs) swap outs?

[JPRambo]

I replaced the round lights on my trailer. Found them here. www. overtons. com

 

[Degolyerent]

3.82"

 

[George2615]

The last time I did that all the links were like the one at HF 4" Submersible LED Stop/Turn Trailer Tail Light and the actual dimensions are



I just want to swap bulbs.

But apparently there are not many TBN'ers that have swapped LED 1157's into their equipment.

I have swapped the 1157 and 1156 regular bulbs with the Sylvania brand LED's for my tractor brake and flasher lamps. Mainly to cut down on heat generated from the original 1156 & 1157's. Another member had his brake light lenses crack from the heat off the 1157's.

I've also swapped the 1156 & 57's on my Classic 57 Chevy to be seen better driving at night. Older cars have small taillights (compared to vehicles today) and were known for having dim parking / brake lights. I've had many compliments on how bright they are at night when I hit the brakes or use turn signals.

 

[newbury]

I have swapped the 1157 and 1156 regular bulbs with the Sylvania brand LED's for my tractor brake and flasher lamps. Mainly to cut down on heat generated from the original 1156 & 1157's. Another member had his brake light lenses crack from the heat off the 1157's.

I've also swapped the 1156 & 57's on my Classic 57 Chevy to be seen better driving at night. Older cars have small taillights (compared to vehicles today) and were known for having dim parking / brake lights. I've had many compliments on how bright they are at night when I hit the brakes or use turn signals.

So was that Sylvania 1157's? Did you have any problems w/ turn signals working? Some people reported needing a different flasher.

 

[newbury]

I have tried swapping with several different brands of 1157 bulbs. The issue I've seen with all of them is that there isn't enough difference in brightness between the running lights and the brake lights to be noticeable. That's why I've been suggesting other bulbs.
I have heard good things about the Sylvana LED 1157 bulbs but I have never tried one in person.

Aaron Z

Thanks, now that is helpful.
Can you tell me what brands you tried? So I can rule them out.

 

[aczlan]

Thanks, now that is helpful.
Can you tell me what brands you tried? So I can rule them out.

They were off-brand ones from Amazon a couple years back. I could probably look them up but it wouldn't be overly useful being as they have probably changed factories now.
If I remember correctly the ones I ended up using in our magnetic lights that go on the hay wagons were from Walmart. I don't remember what brand but they were on the shelves in with the other 1157 bulbs and the brake light circuit was bright enough that you could see it over the running lights even in the daytime.

Aaron Z

 

[George2615]

So was that Sylvania 1157's? Did you have any problems w/ turn signals working? Some people reported needing a different flasher.

I bought the Sylvania 1157 and 1156 bulbs in cool white, amber, and red. Each came as a 2 pack.
No flasher change on the tractor (they worked fine) but did have to replace the flasher on the car with an LED flasher.

 

[newbury]

Wrap up -
Bought the only ones I could find in stock in my area - Sylvania 1157R, waste of money for MY light, they rely on a reflective holder. But all functions DID work.
Note they are labeled "for offroad use only".

 

[Fallon]

LUYED LEDs off Amazon were cheap & work well in my camper as interior lights. Not the most name brand by any means, but cheap & worked well for me.

Not sure if these fit your application, but they are bright & stable, unlike the cheap ones I had previously. Dim, flickered & really yellow. The 2 pack of brighter ones wasn't much brighter than the 5 pack, so the 5 pack was a much better deal.
LUYED 5 x 900 Lumens 12v-24v 1156 1141 1003 3014 78-EX Chipsets Led Bulb Used For Back Up Reverse Lights,Brake Lights,Tail Lights,Rv light,Xenon White(Best Choice Of High Brightness) Amazon.com: LUYED 5 x 9 Lumens 12v-24v 1156 1141 13 314 78-EX Chipsets Led Bulb Used For Back Up Reverse Lights,Brake Lights,Tail Lights,Rv light,Xenon White(Best Choice Of High Brightness): Automotive look for their other stuff if you need a different model.

LED retrofits in cars often make the blinkers blink at double speed like you get with a burned out bulb. It's because of the lower power draw. I hear adding a resistor fixes that. Haven't bothered with that on the old F250. The utility bed came with LEDs & it's always blinked fast.

Had a 75% success rate installing them right. The socket isn't keyed so you can install LEDs backwards unlike a hallogen bulb. If they don't work, just pull em out & rotate 1 notch to fix em.

 

[sklunk]

Something else to add to the discussion:

I see lots of links on here to white LED bulbs. The way an LED works is that it emits a certain part of the color spectrum. As a general rule of thumb you want to use the same color LED bulb as the lens you are putting it in. For example if you are using it in a red lens you want to use a red LED bulb, not white. The white one will still work but will make your light look white instead of red (this has to do with the brightness and color spectrum of LED vs. incandescent). If you are using them in brake lights/turn signals that will be used on the road you could face legal problems. If they are only for off-road then it may not matter.

Just FYI ...