Rear lights--LEDs anyone?

Yes I had some in for a few, I put the bulbs back in. I think there are dif. LED bulbs out there (good ones and crap ones). The crap ones I got (red), were not all that. I'm thinking maybe the "white light" ones may work O.K.,,, I may try to find some good ones here soon.

I bought some the other day but haven't had time to put them in yet!
Dennis

This was discussed on the DeTomaso e-mail forum a few weeks back, and the summary is that there are good LED's and bad ones. The good ones are very expensive and very good, and the bad ones are not very expensive but pretty bad. This is truly a case of getting what you pay for.

A group in Texas did a comparison and found that the LED's made their brake lights quite a bit brighter. But they got good LEDs. It was also pointed out that messing with the illumination level of your brake lights is something you need to think carefully about.

Thanks everyone.

Charlie, did they mention part numbers or manufacturers?

I replaced my Rapier stop/tail bulbs with LED units. These replaced standard Lucas dual filament (21 and 5 watt) bulbs.
I think these are the same as the Pantera bulbs (I've not replaced a bulb yet).

These had about 13 LEDs. The ones in the centre for the tail light and the outer ones joined in when the brakes were on.
These cost about $15 each bulb (about 5 years ago).

I did this because all the 'silver' had disappeared from the internal reflectors. The LED lamps don't use (or need them) as they aim all their light to the rear.

I was very pleased with them, they were bright and trouble free.

I think the LEDs were clear, not coloured (it's been a while since I've seen them!)

I've attached a picture of what I replaced - are these the same as Pantera bulbs?

quote:

Originally posted by Kevin Perry:
Thanks everyone.

Charlie, did they mention part numbers or manufacturers?

Kevin -
I just sent them an e-mail. I'll let you know if I hear anything.

quote:

I've attached a picture of what I replaced - are these the same as Pantera bulbs?

Yup, same 21/5 watt dual filament bulb.

I started to change out the rear brake and front turn-single lights to LEDs. I found out that when all four bulbs were replaced the turn signal flasher would not work. By replacing two of the bulbs with normal filiments it worked. I assumed that the LEDs had less current draw and with all 4 bulbs, there was not enough to activate the flasher. I used APC units avialable from Summit Racing. They run about $10 each. I ended up only having the rear brake light with the LED.

The other backup and running lights were not worth the cost to replace to LEDs.

The flasher unit uses a bimetal strip.
As it gets hot it bends and turns off the lights. Then it cools, straightens and turns them on again.
If your bulbs don't pull enough current through it then it won't work.

LEDs use a tiny amount of power compared to conventional bulbs.

Kevin -
Check out the following link, which had some real good information on the subject

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/led/led.htm