LED Bulb Upgrade - Worth it & Your Feedback?

[slow&rusty]

Hey Gang - I spent some time tonight doing some research on replacing the standard incandescent bulbs with LEDs and the cost of this conversion is about $230 from LED Lights, Bulbs & Accessories - SUPER BRIGHT LEDS (13 bulbs in total including the fog lights and the 3rd break light), so not cheap.

In your opinion is this a recommended upgrade? I know the LED bulbs draw less current and produce less heat and also come on instantly. Is the light dispersion on the LEDs brighter? Any pictures you can share?

I read that there is a relay trick required for the flashers / turn signals and also read some members were not overly impressed with the LED stop light bulb, but not sure if that was due to their bulb selection.

Looking forward to your feedback.

Thanks - Yasin

[Benny771]

The Ultimate LED Ba7s bulbs for Gauges ala ETarga (pic & vid)

[patina]

Originally Posted by Benny771

The Ultimate LED Ba7s bulbs for Gauges ala ETarga (pic & vid)

Benny, I believe he is looking to upgrade his external lighting (turn signals/brake lights/etc)

[quattrorunner]

Signals and brake lights can be better but headlights are still not there. Hid us where it's at.

[vinyl_tien]

I did my one in gauge, look good~

[T77911S]

sorry, i just dont think LEDs should be on 70's/80's cars.

just like guitar amps, good old analog(tubes) are much better than digital.

[JFairman]

Originally Posted by T77911S

sorry, i just dont think LEDs should be on 70's/80's cars.

just like guitar amps, good old analog(tubes) are much better than digital.

right on, i totally agree.

fwiw, old analog tube amps distort in the natural harmonic series which is the circle of fifths in music.. and that gives them a warmer sound vs solid state amps that distort in random harmonics that sound cold or the newer ones have Digital Signal Processing to give them a fake warm tone.

[timc]

Originally Posted by JFairman

right on, i totally agree.

fwiw, old analog tube amps distort in the natural harmonic series which is the circle of fifths in music.. and that gives them a warmer sound vs solid state amps that distort in random harmonics that sound cold or the newer ones have Digital Signal Processing to give them a fake warm tone.

I'll take my old Marshall, i mean Cornell Plexi over any SS/DSP out there.....

[fredmeister]

Originally Posted by slow&rusty

Hey Gang - I spent some time tonight doing some research on replacing the standard incandescent bulbs with LEDs and the cost of this conversion is about $230 from LED Lights, Bulbs & Accessories - SUPER BRIGHT LEDS (13 bulbs in total including the fog lights and the 3rd break light), so not cheap.

In your opinion is this a recommended upgrade? I know the LED bulbs draw less current and produce less heat and also come on instantly. Is the light dispersion on the LEDs brighter? Any pictures you can share?

I read that there is a relay trick required for the flashers / turn signals and also read some members were not overly impressed with the LED stop light bulb, but not sure if that was due to their bulb selection.

Looking forward to your feedback.

Thanks - Yasin

I replaced the brake lights with LED with a wide dispersion pattern....130 degrees or so. They are much brighter than the stock bulbs. This was a safety issue in my opinion.....the stock 911 brake lights being so small and not too bright plus the idiots driving nowadays means trouble.

I like them....but do it in pairs cause the resistance needs to be balanced in the brake circuit. 2 bulbs were about 13 bucks I think.

Fred

[quattrorunner]

Agreed

[sundevil64]

I did the brake lights only for safety reasons and I would do it again.

[alwaysflat6s]

Gents,
Specifics?? I tried 2 different sets on my 930 and neither was as good as my slightly upgraded stock bulbs. Very intersted in exactly what you found that works better.
Thanks
JR

[quattrorunner]

On eBay. Not sure on longevity yet but they're bright.

400490120051 for signals
151046157089 for brakes or back up lights.

[JFairman]

If LED's for brake lights, turn signals, and backup lights are brighter and cooler running than regular bulbs then they sound like a really good upgrade.
I'm going to look into getting some of those.

[Tilikum Turbo]

I think for the gauges, they look unbelievably good. I will be ordering some.

Also, anything that reduces the electrical load on the alternator is a plus. LED's typically draw much less current than a standard bulb.

[quattrorunner]

Originally Posted by JFairman

If LED's for brake lights, turn signals, and backup lights are brighter and cooler running than regular bulbs then they sound like a really good upgrade.
I'm going to look into getting some of those.

Not too fast.
I know how picky/anal you are about that sweet ride and I'm having some trouble with voltages and brightness in the gauge indication of direction from inside the car. It bothers me but I'm nt sure why its happening yet. Might try a more reputable source than the eBay offerings. Just a heads up.
They are bright from outside the car though. I think the problem might be a ground fault in my car. I'm so busy with the ac project I haven't dug into this issue.

[Tilikum Turbo]

Originally Posted by quattrorunner

Not too fast.
I know how picky/anal you are about that sweet ride and I'm having some trouble with voltages and brightness in the gauge indication of direction from inside the car. It bothers me but I'm nt sure why its happening yet. Might try a more reputable source than the eBay offerings. Just a heads up.
They are bright from outside the car though. I think the problem might be a ground fault in my car. I'm so busy with the ac project I haven't dug into this issue.

A good way to find if you have a ground fault:

Disconnect battery(both pos & neg), and then using an Ohm meter, set it to say, 10K or 100K resistence.

Now place one lead at the fuse terminal where you are checking, and the other to ground(any bare metal or nut/bolt). If the meter registers around 500-1K Ohm, then you should be OK. If there is a ground fault, then the resistence will be zero, or close to it. Make sure you also see the meter go to zero, or 1-2 Ohms when you place the two leads directly together making sure it is functioning properly.

The variable resistor in the light switch(rotating clockwise/counter clockwise) may also be an issue. Until I rotated my back and forth numerous times(which cleans the terminal a bit), it finally got the brightness to an acceptable level.

[mooney265]

Originally Posted by quattrorunner

On eBay. Not sure on longevity yet but they're bright.

400490120051 for signals
151046157089 for brakes or back up lights.

It shows that both are sold out. Any other suggestions for exact match?

[quattrorunner]

Search Cree led in 1157 and 1156
1157 is signal/tail light and parking bulbs
1156 is brake and back up lights.

[mooney265]

Originally Posted by quattrorunner

Search Cree led in 1157 and 1156
1157 is signal/tail light and parking bulbs
1156 is brake and back up lights.

OK, who can spat off how many of each bulb we need:
1156?
1157?

Thanks, as i'm far from the car at the moment.