buckeyedemon
Member
if your problem is a little bit of resistance causing voltage drop, then switching to a plug in led based bulb should help in itself. they draw over a magnitude less current.
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Dim taillights (this was almost a 'wrecked my Mustang' post...)
- Thread starter DougG69
- Start date
DougG69
Member
Well, I pulled the taillight housings yesterday. Cleaned them up and painted the interior white. It helped a little but not enough.
Next, I'll clean the ground tabs, and the contact points in the bulb sockets per Mid's suggestion.
I also just ordered a taillight kit today... lenses, gaskets and bezels. I needed those anyway, and hopefully the new lenses will help.
Next, I'll clean the ground tabs, and the contact points in the bulb sockets per Mid's suggestion.
I also just ordered a taillight kit today... lenses, gaskets and bezels. I needed those anyway, and hopefully the new lenses will help.
DougG69
Member
"buckeyedemon" said:
Speaking of those LED bulbs... I saw on your thread on 69Stang.com where you were talking about bulb selection and thought maybe the red 18 LED bulb would have worked out the best for you. Do you still feel that way now that you've had some time with the 45s?
gtscode
Active Member
Halogen in the front with relays and the big LED kit from Mustang project. Couldn't be happier.
chillininnh
Member
Go LED for sure, I used the sequential Mustang Project kit and they are shockingly bright, 230 leds or something crazy. They were also super easy to install, plug and play. They literally light up signs I have passed from GREAT distances.
buckeyedemon
Member
"DougG69" said:
i don't recall where i said a red 18 LED bulb would have been the best (as compared to the red 45). I believe i said the red 18 would have been better than the white 18 that i had originally purchased. if you could point me to where i said a red 18 would have been the best (as compared to a red 45) then let me know. i'll need to fix that.
without having tested the red 18 LED bulb, i would speculate the intensity between the 18 and 45 isn't all that much difference. that's purely a guess though.
i've never compared the three different bulbs to a standard to see the light difference. i think i'll pick up a standard bulb tonight and do some test. i'll post pics tomorrow or at a minimum indicate the light difference.
with either the silverstars, white 18 LED, red 45 led, i personally felt the light output was fantastic. so i don't know what the problem with people feeling the tail lights are dim. I did paint the buckets white (i think gloss?), have new lenses and a new tail light harness, so maybe all those things add up to nice lighting.
RagTop
Old Grumpy
I replaced my tail lights with the Mustang Project LED units some time ago. I had tried using the halogen bulbs previously, but they didn't produce enough of a difference between the bright tail lights and the slightly brighter brake lights to convince me that I wouldn't be hit from behind even with the brighter lights. The step function between the tail light and brake light illumination from the LED units is just what I wanted. Bright tail lights and brake lights you can't miss. The only thing to remember is to replace the emergency flasher with one of the Mustang Project units. I didn't and my e-flashers don't work anymore.
buckeyedemon
Member
comparison of a standard 1157 bulb (drivers side) and a 45 Red LED plug in bulb (passenger side) with the running lights and brakes.
the pics don't quite show it but the LED is slightly brighter and has a deeper red color (i think it looks a little better).
i snapped the same type of pictures of my daily driver (escort if you can't tell...). same camera and settings, same time at night.
i honestly don't see a visibility problem with either bulb.
for pure reference info for this site, i copied the following from a post i had made on my build thread.
.......................................
also for reference, i snapped some pics of testing a few different bulbs for the tail lights (1157).
Sylvania Silver Star. rated at 645mA/2100mA per bulb.
they claim 40% brighter than a standard. i didn't test the standard bulb, so i don't know if it's that much better.
1157-W18-T rated at 35mA/210mA
these use 18 white leds. (i should have gotten a red)
1157-R45-T rated at 25mA/165mA
these use 45 red leds
i tried to take some pics but it's hard to tell.
left: silverstar
right: red led
the red led is actually just a little more red than the silverstar. my camera doesn't indicate this though.
brakes on
left: white led
right: red led
brakes on
i really liked the color of the silverstar. the lens was nice and red. i would be perfectly happy with them. what i was noticing was the voltage measured interior of the car would drop about 1.5 volts when hitting the brakes, turn signals, etc. i so i wanted something with less current since the headlights will probably be the pig. my ignition box runs off it's own power source so i really wasn't concerned about that.
the white LED produced an orange look (pictures don't show it well at all) and wasn't quite as bright. i hated the way it looked. the difference was slight between the 45 red led and the silverstar.
a red 18 LED unit would have been much better for color. I made a mistake when ordering. the website claims the 45 version is the highest output. I'm sure it is, but not positive it would be that much of a difference. the nice thing now is that my volt gauge doesn't move when i hit the brake lights.
i can't physically tell there is an LED bulb inside except when the lights are turning on/off. the LEDs are on/off whereas the bulb has a slower response time.
the pics don't quite show it but the LED is slightly brighter and has a deeper red color (i think it looks a little better).
i snapped the same type of pictures of my daily driver (escort if you can't tell...). same camera and settings, same time at night.
i honestly don't see a visibility problem with either bulb.
for pure reference info for this site, i copied the following from a post i had made on my build thread.
.......................................
also for reference, i snapped some pics of testing a few different bulbs for the tail lights (1157).
Sylvania Silver Star. rated at 645mA/2100mA per bulb.
they claim 40% brighter than a standard. i didn't test the standard bulb, so i don't know if it's that much better.
1157-W18-T rated at 35mA/210mA
these use 18 white leds. (i should have gotten a red)
1157-R45-T rated at 25mA/165mA
these use 45 red leds
i tried to take some pics but it's hard to tell.
left: silverstar
right: red led
the red led is actually just a little more red than the silverstar. my camera doesn't indicate this though.
brakes on
left: white led
right: red led
brakes on
i really liked the color of the silverstar. the lens was nice and red. i would be perfectly happy with them. what i was noticing was the voltage measured interior of the car would drop about 1.5 volts when hitting the brakes, turn signals, etc. i so i wanted something with less current since the headlights will probably be the pig. my ignition box runs off it's own power source so i really wasn't concerned about that.
the white LED produced an orange look (pictures don't show it well at all) and wasn't quite as bright. i hated the way it looked. the difference was slight between the 45 red led and the silverstar.
a red 18 LED unit would have been much better for color. I made a mistake when ordering. the website claims the 45 version is the highest output. I'm sure it is, but not positive it would be that much of a difference. the nice thing now is that my volt gauge doesn't move when i hit the brake lights.
i can't physically tell there is an LED bulb inside except when the lights are turning on/off. the LEDs are on/off whereas the bulb has a slower response time.
Last edited by a moderator:
DougG69
Member
"buckeyedemon" said:
After looking at your post again, you didn't. For some reason I thought you meant the 18 LED bulb might have been the best for color overall, but re-reading it's clear you meant vs the white LEDs.
"buckeyedemon" said:
I would have to agree with that, absolutely. I am coming from the opposite end of the spectrum - old wiring, old lenses and old, faded housings.
Mainly I am concerned with having the brakes stand out better during full daylight.
I took a few pics yesterday to refer back to.
Off:
Brakes on, original condition:
Brakes on, buckets painted white inside, grounds quickly gone over with a wire brush:
So you can see some improvement already. I plan on going over the grounds again more thoroughly, and hopefully the new lenses will help a bit as well. I will probably grab some 1157-R45-T's for good measure.
DougG69
Member
Buckeyedemon, thanks for posting that comparison up. Nice to have it here in the thread to refer to.
DougG69
Member
Well I just placed an order for the non-sequential 230 LED taillights with Mustang Project. If some idjit crashes into me it won't be because my brake/turn signal lights were too hard to see.
That would seem to be common sense, but I've also seen claims that flat white would be best. I split the difference & used semi-gloss... I had some on hand, and it worked well with the gauge housings when I put LEDs in there.
"jmlay" said:
That would seem to be common sense, but I've also seen claims that flat white would be best. I split the difference & used semi-gloss... I had some on hand, and it worked well with the gauge housings when I put LEDs in there.
What I did with Shag was to spray the inside of the shell with VHT's plate paint.
http://scoutparts.com/products/?view=product&product_id=16202
http://scoutparts.com/products/?view=product&product_id=16202
AzPete
Well-Known Member
I always found white to do better. If led's.....it will not make much difference.