LED replacement brake & tail lights

[ADRay]

Is anyone using LEDs?

My '82 uses 1157s that I want to upgrade to LED bulbs.

However...

I've heard that they don't always work on older cars.


ALSO, I'm thinking of installing a third brake light with a strobe module like this one:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/strobe-controllers/brake-light-strobe-module/195/

all in the interest of safety. Thanks.

[ADRay]

did you decide to use LED brake lights even though there was no improvement?

[John Gervais]

Don't know if you saw my thread/review earlier re. APEM Q8 pilot/indicator LED's for switched accessories, but I'm doing another electrical project which also includes various LED's.

I've been testing a few different LED bulbs for use in Smiths classic instruments, as I find the usual 'white' to be too cold.

So, after speaking with Duncan (a classic MG owner) at Classic Car LED's, I received a small package last week with several different 'Warm White' bulbs that match not only the warm hue of the older GLB233 and GLB987, but also the newer Smiths gauges (my new tachometer, for example) with built-in illumination.  I've got one more bulb to try, so didn't plan on reporting anything just yet.

So far, so good, though I haven't used the car since I installed the bulbs.  I also installed new festoon bulbs for the taillight lamps and the interior lamp - big improvement without being too bright/pretentious. 

http://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/

[John Gervais]

did you decide to use LED brake lights even though there was no improvement?

There was a huge improvement from incandescent to LED in the brake lights, all of my lights are brighter and whiter than the stock bulbs. My comment on TMF was the ratings for LED and stock bulbs are hard to compare. The only lumen rating I could find for the 1157 bulb was 400, the LED's I put in are rated at 550. Lumens are not rated on a linear scale so it's not like they're 30 percent brighter but the color is whiter and brighter to the eye they look much brighter.

Of course, you could also get red LEDs for the brake and tail lamps - reduces the 'pink' effect.

http://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/

[John Gervais]

Cool - I look forward to trying them (the red tail light LED's) - when I get some time.  Right now I'm re-visiting my aux. fuse panel, fog & driving lamp installation.