Who uses LED bulbs in their car?????

[DrummerJim50]

I'm looking at getting some LED bulbs (turn signals, brake lights, back up lights, etc). I'm unsure about it because I don't know if they'll be bright enough or if they will look cool.

I've found three LED bulb companies that look decent:
www.jamstrait.com
www.superbrightleds.com
www.ledtronics.com

Ledtronics looks like the best but they are super expensive. None of these brands are very big so I wonder about how good they actually are. I would think that if these bulbs were really good or revolutionary that they would be huge companies and sell in the big auto parts stores? I know PIAA and Pilot have limited LED bulbs too, but it doesn't look like they sell very many and definitely don't specialize in them. I want to get the best ones I can, but I don't want to get ripped off either.

So here's the deal: post what LED bulbs you have (brand and type/location), what you think of them, if you had to use a load equalizer for turn signal bulbs, and post pics if you have them.

 

[JOS3]

i had led bulbs in my side markers, until they burned out. i have regular bulbs now.

 

[fLyPiNoY7]

i have some superbrightled bulbs that i used on the turn signals in my guage cluster, one in my keyhole light, and some radio shack leds that i used in my hvac controls...looks very good and clean...as well as a whole lot better than the stock colored lights...

 

[NRRfrogmanP5]

i have led bulb in my reading lights inside the car they look awsome i think

 

[booom]

diy

if your ambitious you could do it yourself. it's not hard at all. i haven't done it yet but looked into it. pick up an extra set of tail lights to modify. if you go the dyi route just decide on the size of the LEDs and the amount you will use. Find their voltage and forward current flow. There are online calculators you can plug your values into to figure out what ohm resistor to wire in before the series of LEDs so you don't burn them out.

 

[PRO2NR]

I have a full set for a sedan. front and rear turn signals, brake lights, parking lights. We just did a group buy for them on the Toprotege.com. I don't know if I'm gonna install them and am willing to let them go for $100CAD Shipped. (inludes load equalizers and fittings to do the install.

Pm me if interested.

 

[DrummerJim50]

if your ambitious you could do it yourself. it's not hard at all. i haven't done it yet but looked into it. pick up an extra set of tail lights to modify. if you go the dyi route just decide on the size of the LEDs and the amount you will use. Find their voltage and forward current flow. There are online calculators you can plug your values into to figure out what ohm resistor to wire in before the series of LEDs so you don't burn them out.

Yea I've actually thought about that before because I don't think it would be too hard at all. I'll consider doing it in the future but don't know if I have the time to try it right now.

I have a full set for a sedan. front and rear turn signals, brake lights, parking lights. We just did a group buy for them on the Toprotege.com. I don't know if I'm gonna install them and am willing to let them go for $100CAD Shipped. (inludes load equalizers and fittings to do the install.

Is what you have the type of thing that booom was talking about? Or just LED bulbs? Got any pics? How much was the GB cost?

 

[PRO2NR]

Yeah it's pretty much the same thing. the group buy was for $90CAD. I just added a little more for shipping. We got a really good deal of 40% off because we had an order for more than 2 thousand dollars. (it was a big group buy)

 

[DrummerJim50]

Might be interested, but I'd like to see a pic if you've got one...

 

[pancake75]

I ordered from superbrightleds and they shipped them out within a week if I remember right. I ordered a set for my map lights and my license plate lights. I have a purple theme going so that's the color I went with. I like how they look in the back. It's been a few months and they're still going strong. I had leds for my bumper lenses but even though the bulb itself was clear and lit up amber the base was yellow and looked bad. Went with the stealth bulbs instead. They look really nice with the euro lenses.

 

[steplat]

Be careful, "load equalizer" is just a fancy term for a resistor, if you diy you can solder a couple resistors for the blinkers instead of paying some ridiculous price for "load equalizers".

All of the car companies are using Lumileds since they are the brightest but frankly the much cheaper ones on ebay are very bright.

I am doing diy LEDs for the taillights but my process is slow. I have gotten an array working. I soldered eight LEDs to a PCboard with a Voltage regulator and individual resistors for each LED so if one goes out the rest don't. I could take some pics if you like.

 

[centsless]

Be careful, "load equalizer" is just a fancy term for a resistor, if you diy you can solder a couple resistors for the blinkers instead of paying some ridiculous price for "load equalizers".

All of the car companies are using Lumileds since they are the brightest but frankly the much cheaper ones on ebay are very bright.

I am doing diy LEDs for the taillights but my process is slow. I have gotten an array working. I soldered eight LEDs to a PCboard with a Voltage regulator and individual resistors for each LED so if one goes out the rest don't. I could take some pics if you like.

hey,. can you pm me the tech details with the schematic.

 

[DrummerJim50]

Yea that would be great to see some pics and/or a schematic

 

[glyph]

Just saw this, I am selling a complete LED conversion pack for the entire car. Click the link in my thread for pics of what LED lights look like. EDIT: I will soon be selling them. I just finished the install on my car.

 

[pr5owner]

i had led bulbs in my side markers, until they burned out. i have regular bulbs now.

something must be wrong there, LED's dont burn out for at least 15 years

 

[steplat]

LEDs need to have a current of about 10 to 20 miliamps, any more than that and the life span is significantly reduced. So if you try to just hook up LEDs without designing your circuit first they will pop and melt.

http://faqlight.carpassion.info/signal-leds.htm
is a great website that explains some of the problems and/or design issues you need to consider like brightness, voltage spikes, etc.

 

[glyph]

a resistor kit from superbrightleds is only $5.

 

[Kansei]

a resistor kit from superbrightleds is only $5.

They say you need one for each bulb you do though (for turn signals)... I don't think you need them for the side markers since they are such low wattage anyways.

Anyone who has these, to what wires did you connect the resistors? For the front turn signals, I figured the black and the darker green because the darker green is the one that goes to the side turn signal too. I got my bulbs from superbrightleds today and can't really drive my car until I get this figured out. What a disappointing mod week, first I get XM and find out how crappy most of the channels sound, then I get LEDs with the resistors and it won't stop flashing fast. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DrummerJim50]

They say you need one for each bulb you do though (for turn signals)... I don't think you need them for the side markers since they are such low wattage anyways.

Anyone who has these, to what wires did you connect the resistors? For the front turn signals, I figured the black and the darker green because the darker green is the one that goes to the side turn signal too. I got my bulbs from superbrightleds today and can't really drive my car until I get this figured out. What a disappointing mod week, first I get XM and find out how crappy most of the channels sound, then I get LEDs with the resistors and it won't stop flashing fast. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not sure which wire it is but you can find the wiring manual here if that helps: http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93725

Do you have the XM MyFi receiver? I had that at first and it sounded like crap with both the home and car kit. I took it back and got the SkyFi2 and it sounded a lot better.

 

[Kansei]

No, I have the XM tuner from Alpine for my head unit