LED tail lights - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

AJW6 · 08-11-2009, 11:35 PM

I can't find any LED tail lights online for the 8th gen (only 03+). I did find LED bulbs that fit in OEM housing though. I was wondering if anyone has tried these in their brake lights or turn signals or anything. I wasn't sure if it would look tacky or actually good. If anyone has tried these or anything like them, let me know please!

Milky · 08-12-2009, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJW6

I can't find any LED tail lights online for the 8th gen (only 03+). I did find LED bulbs that fit in OEM housing though. I was wondering if anyone has tried these in their brake lights or turn signals or anything. I wasn't sure if it would look tacky or actually good. If anyone has tried these or anything like them, let me know please!

i have used led bulbs in past cars with good results. the only down side is your turn signals will blink faster. as for the brake lights you will have no problem.

TenZen · 08-13-2009, 02:10 AM

The last LED bulbs i bought for it were the brake bulbs they didnt work. They lit up, but wouldn't get brighter when you stepped on the brake, so i never went back to LED's since then. Then again, theres the chance that those bulbs were just crap.

AJW6 · 08-13-2009, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenZen

The last LED bulbs i bought for it were the brake bulbs they didnt work. They lit up, but wouldn't get brighter when you stepped on the brake, so i never went back to LED's since then. Then again, theres the chance that those bulbs were just crap.

excellent, thanks for the heads up. How did they look, though? Did they actually look like legit, exotic led tails? or could you tell that someone threw a pair of $5 leds in stock housing?

Milky · 08-14-2009, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJW6

excellent, thanks for the heads up. How did they look, though? Did they actually look like legit, exotic led tails? or could you tell that someone threw a pair of $5 leds in stock housing?

they will look like someone put leds in a stock housing. the only real way to make a true led tail light is to take it apart and put in a led circut board then wire it all up. but its usually a big hassle for most people.

TenZen · 08-14-2009, 09:25 PM

what milky said.

downsb · 08-24-2009, 11:19 PM

I've been swappin everything in my car (slowly) for LED lights. I agree that the LED's for brake lights aren't great ideas...I put mine in there and anyone behind me complains how they can't see them well...if you're gonna get LED's make sure to get the ebay termed 'SMD' type (I didn't get SMD's for my brake lights and that's why you can't see them). Those are MUCH brighter than the traditional LED bulbs and work better. The blinking can be fixed if you do 1 of 2 things:
1) get a relay that slows the blinking down (ebay it)
2) put a resistor in the circuit (the LEDs don't resist the current as much as traditional bulbs so the car thinks the bulb is out, which is why it blinks faster)

The relay will be easier bcuz it's plug 'n play most of the time...but the resistor will be cheaper by far.

Buurin · 08-25-2009, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by downsb

I've been swappin everything in my car (slowly) for LED lights. I agree that the LED's for brake lights aren't great ideas...I put mine in there and anyone behind me complains how they can't see them well...if you're gonna get LED's make sure to get the ebay termed 'SMD' type (I didn't get SMD's for my brake lights and that's why you can't see them). Those are MUCH brighter than the traditional LED bulbs and work better. The blinking can be fixed if you do 1 of 2 things:
1) get a relay that slows the blinking down (ebay it)
2) put a resistor in the circuit (the LEDs don't resist the current as much as traditional bulbs so the car thinks the bulb is out, which is why it blinks faster)

The relay will be easier bcuz it's plug 'n play most of the time...but the resistor will be cheaper by far.

Relay all the way, forget the resistor.

SMD (surface-mounted) LEDs are the newer types which are brighter, but I think it matters more how they are placed on the bulb. I look for units with more LEDs and pointed in all directions. "Barrel" bulbs (so named for their shape, the kind with one round circuit board on top, and another 5 or 6 strips down its sides with 3 LEDs each) seem to work best.

This is what I am running now: