led lights...not headlights

[ramblingboy42]

Is anyone on here using LED replacements for their tail/stop/parking light bulbs?

I know theyre out there but just cant seem to track them down to an outlet.

[robbotd5]

Hey mate.
Yes, I have LED stop/tail lights. As well as the high mount stop.
In addition to that, interior lights, parking lights and number plate lights are all LED.
I bought them from Autobarn and Jaycar.
They are heaps better than the old incandescent bulbs.
Regards
Robbo

[JDNSW]

Replacing incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs in mandatory external lights is certain to make the vehicle technically unroadworthy, and in most cases will leave gaps in directional coverage of lights and often result in lights that are outside the legal colour range.

This may explain why finding the bulbs can be a bit difficult. (And any you find should have a warning not to use them on road)

The fundamental problem is that the reflector/lens of the fitting is designed for a filament that emits light in all directions and over a broad spectrum. LEDs have one (or several) point sources, usually each fitted with a lens to give a directional beam from each point, and emitting monochromatic or at best multi-line spectrum.

However, the problem is not, in practice as bad as the fitting of HID bulbs to headlights designed for filaments, simply because the amount of light is less.

But you need to be aware that while very unlikely to be picked up for them, an investigation following an accident could see you without insurance and possibly charged with driving an unroadworthy vehicle. (but even this is unlikely)

Note that these comments do not apply to lights which are designed as a whole unit to use LEDs, and are marked as ADR approved. But this is not what the question referred to.
John

[Eevo]

^^
he said NOT headlights

[ozscott]

yep...from .jd's answer he is aware of the fact that its parkers and brake etc.

The only answer is the whole cluster to be replaced with one built for led. As said above led bulbs in fitting designed for a filament bulb does not usually give off enough light in all directions. It is usually obvious from outside the vehicle.

Cheers

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I bought mine for the caravan off the net,, sydney I think,, bought another from a caravan parts place and paid 3 times more!
$21 for this,,
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/01/662.jpg

[ozscott]

I have those in my van interior Pedro....mine are way less bright than the filament originals...



Cheers

[ozscott]

Led are good to a point. I bought a expensive set of submersible Narvas for my boat trailer and within a month of install and one trip one of the big led's had blown.

Cheers

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I have those in my van interior Pedro....mine are way less bright than the filament originals...
Cheers
Interior toilet Dome and exterior Dome,,
one a single contact, one double.

Go figure,,,:confused:

[ramblingboy42]

I have just gotten a jaycar cattledog and the shop is amazing

prices seem to blow the competition away for almost anything

[Tombie]

ebay mate.... Save a fortune....

[Harmost]

Just ordered these for the parkers:

Landrover Discovery LED White Bulbs Front Light Parking Super Flux Globe | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Landrover-Discovery-LED-White-Bulbs-Front-Light-Parking-Super-Flux-Globe-/320782474030?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ab0201b2e)

Also ran across this whilst looking:

Car Bulbs ? W5W (501) | PowerBulbs (http://www.powerbulbs.com/au/store/category/car-bulbs/fitting/w5w-501)

In the UK, but offer free AU shipping.

I did half the dash and the clock recently with a trip to Jaycar and enjoy being able to see what speed I'm doing at night again.
Will update after the new LED park globes are in.

[Jason789]

I replaced all tail lights with LEDs' a few years back and almost immediately put the old incandescants back on.

The reason??

As brought up by JDNSW, the directional light is a major issue with LED lights.

At certaian angles you could not see the brake lights(they were very dim due to the light not pointing in all directions, the refractor/mirrored surfaced of the brake light not being able to compensate for the poor spread of light by the LED).
A waste of time and money IMO.

Cheers,

Jason

[gavinwibrow]

I do recall a previous poster saying he had put 9W LED Cree lights in to replace his reversing lights (on a Rangie from memory?) with considerable success.
Guess that's one situation where they could work well.

Now to find a link to buy a couple!!

[worane]

Slightly off topic, I bought a couple of interior overhead leds for the disco from Jaycar . They cost the thick end of $12.00 each and were well worth the cost. They even have heat sinks on them.
In a word "Brilliant."

[joel0407]

I've used them in some but not all my lights. Mine are the type with multipule small LEDs.

They are great in the Orange clearance lights on the Disco 2 that no one knows about. (well almost no one).

They are great as park lights, very bright reverse lights (not blinding but makes the old D2 as good as some of the newer cars). The bigger brighter LEDs were no good in brake lights as the red lens looked pink. Great in the blinkers.

I used smaller ones, still with mutlipule LEDS in the tail lights. The D2 has side and rear tail lights in the one housing. Who knew but I think my side ones had been blown since I'd owned it.

I also converted the rear fog lights in the rear bumper to be brake lights like the later D2a.

I thinkl the biggest issue is there is that many different varieties, you never know what you are going to get. I think you just need to use some uncommon sense. Mine worked in some cases and not others, like my brake lights.

Happy Days.