l.e.d light bulbs

[mad dog]

good morning FABO, i had mr. heaterbox do some work on my dash and he installed led lights in my dash.
Now i would like to add leds to my map light, dome light and console, can someone recommend a quality led for those locations, theres a lot of junk out there.
The car in question is a Duster... below are the lights i would like to convert and the original bulb numbers.
Dome #1004
console #57
map #89

 

[tom999w]

All LED lights are junk. After getting taken for a ride with 20, 25, 30 year life-span LED lights that costed 4x more and lasted 6 months, I've realized that the country has been duped by a scam.

 

[mad dog]

hehehe, maybe i will stick to the oem bulbs

 

[Bewy]

Ummmmm. I bought LED lamps for my car about 15 yrs back, from Superbright LEDS. All the external lamps, plus dash & interior. I have had one fail...

 

[mad dog]

Bewy, i just ordered 4 interior bulbs from superbright leds, $30...thanks for the tip...if they fail or i dont like them its easy enough to change...Rich

 

[Demonx2]

Bewy, i just ordered 4 interior bulbs from superbright leds, $30...thanks for the tip...if they fail or i dont like them its easy enough to change...Rich

I use them from superbrightleds also. Dash and dome, etc, in my 71 Demon show pony as well as the avatar. Love'm.

 

[matthon]

What bulbs, part#, and color option is everyone using for dash bulbs?

 

[mad dog]

Matthon, im not sure about my dash because Mr. Heaterbox put leds in there, my other interior leds that i just ordered this morning are cold white, i think thats what they call them.

 

[tom999w]

The Principal at my architecture firm was always angry at LED bulbs. He had to replace most of the "20 year life span" LED lights in the whole office building once a year because they would burn out. So yes, IMO the country has been duped by a scam. My neighbor installed a "20 year life span" LED floodlight on his house, it lasted 6 months.

Similar to when DeBeers started an ad deluge saying that every woman needed a diamond. That ad campaign took a typical worthless gem and skyrocketed it's value by making the public thinks it's more valuable than other gems. The campaign worked....

 

[tom999w]

When LED bulbs last over 100 years, then I'll believe that they're not junk. This incandescent light bulb has been running continuously for 124 years...

Livermore's Centennial Light Live Cam

www.centennialbulb.org

 

[MopaR&D]

I agree the residential LED bulbs are questionable but I've had good results with automotive ones; I've had superbrightleds in the taillights and IC of my Duster for at least 7 years now and not a single one has failed, yet. Although our resident lighting expert @slantsixdan has voiced a not-so-good opinion of them in another recent thread and may have a better option to recommend.

Just stay away from the parts-store ones (Sylvania etc) those are definitely garbage.

 

[slantsixdan]

I agree the residential LED bulbs are questionable but I've had good results with automotive ones; I've had superbrightleds in the taillights and IC of my Duster for at least 7 years now and not a single one has failed, yet. Although our resident lighting expert @slantsixdan has voiced a not-so-good opinion of them in another recent thread and may have a better option to recommend.

Just stay away from the parts-store ones (Sylvania etc) those are definitely garbage.

This is just about exactly backwards. Even the crummiest Sylvania ones are more likely to work better (safer brake/signal light output) than any of the trinkets SuperBrightLEDs carries. That's not to say the Sylvania items are generally worthy; they're not. They work "OK", not great, in some lamps they fit in.

There is one LED bulb that works well in most any/every lamp it fits in, and avoids the whole checklist of problems with LED car bulbs. That's these:

Amber 1157/1034 (for front turn signals with clear or amber lenses)

Red 1157/1034 (for brake/tail lights)

White 1156/1141/1076 (for back-up lights)

For the side marker lights (and instrument cluster lights), the only perfectly legitimate, zero-problems one is this one.

All these are a whole lot more expensive than most of the rest of the "LED bulbs" on the market — and well worth the extra cash in terms of keeping you out of a crash (which is the point of car lights) and avoiding risk of electrical system damage. Learn the info and follow the advice in these three links, and see here, too.

 

[Yote]

Got some from Wally, life span was from 1/10th to 1/2 second. I believe that they were a name brand.
Replaced them from Super Bright LEDs and they have been just fine.
Yote

 

[matthon]

instrument cluster lights

What's the best non-led cluster bulb?

I've tried a number and they all suck, the smaller regular bulbs in the cheapo 3 pod gauges are 'light' years ahead.

 

[nutz]

can you fade the super brightes i don't like too much light in my car at night

 

[RustyRatRod]

What's the best non-led cluster bulb?

I've tried a number and they all suck, the smaller regular bulbs in the cheapo 3 pod gauges are 'light' years ahead.

Really? I got some ZEVO bulbs from the local OReilly in Vixens cluster and I like them a lot. Been in a few years now. They are BRIGHT.

 

[nutz]

Think most leds are too bright
And hate that some flicker

 

[4spdragtop]

Need more tin foil for your hat??

All LED lights are junk. After getting taken for a ride with 20, 25, 30 year life-span LED lights that costed 4x more and lasted 6 months, I've realized that the country has been duped by a scam.

 

[tom999w]

Need more tin foil for your hat??

 

[tom999w]

Need more tin foil for your hat??

Report back how many thousands of dollars you've saved since you've replaced all the fixtures that are not compatible with LED bulbs (dimmer fixtures, enclosed fixtures, outdoor fixtures, etc.), purchased LED bulbs that cost 4 times more than a regular bulb, an also include the amount of times that you've had to replace all the LED bulbs that wore out after six months. Then I'll tell you how many times in a year I had to replace any incandescent bulbs (0), replaced fixtures to accomodate the incandescent bulbs (0), and how much each incandescent bulb costs ($1.76)..... Oh, what's really going on???

 

[matthon]

I got some ZEVO bulbs

I was asking about non-led, these appear to be led, but I'm not against trying them.

I have led bulbs in the c pillars of my Barracuda for years, no heat, great light, no complaints.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Think most leds are too bright
And hate that some flicker

I have zero complaints. The stock bulbs flat out SUCK. It doesn't bother me one iota that the bulbs I got cannot be dimmed. I'm just glad I can SEE the instruments at night.

 

[4spdragtop]

How bout you report back how many THOUSANDS you have either saved OR spent on LED'S for your car. Because that's what this thread is about right? I have put LED'S in our dash and they ARE an improvement.

Report back how many thousands of dollars you've saved since you've replaced all the fixtures that are not compatible with LED bulbs (dimmer fixtures, enclosed fixtures, outdoor fixtures, etc.), purchased LED bulbs that cost 4 times more than a regular bulb, an also include the amount of times that you've had to replace all the LED bulbs that wore out after six months. Then I'll tell you how many times in a year I had to replace any incandescent bulbs (0), replaced fixtures to accomodate the incandescent bulbs (0), and how much each incandescent bulb costs ($1.76)..... Oh, what's really going on???

 

[slantsixdan]

What's the best non-led cluster bulb?

For a '66-up application with the all-glass wedge-base dash bulbs, the original bulb was a 158 (or its longer-life equivalent, the 194). These 3.8-watt bulb put out 25 lumens. Next step up is a 168 or W5W (2825); these 5-watt bulbs put out 50 lumens. Then from there it's a 3652 (5 watts, 75 lumens) and on up to a 2886X (6 watts, 85 lumens).

For a '65-down application with the metal bayonet-base bulbs, see here and then proceed as for '66-up.