Does anyone know if there is such a thing? I was looking to upgrade my brake, reverse and turn signal lights on the back of my 1985 Toyota 4 Runner and thought - LED would be cool!

I have seen the Altezza style lights, and I am not sure if I like them enough to buy. I have seen some 1st Gens with them and they looked ugly IMHO.

If you have info or links to LED upgrades for please let me know!

Thanks!

John

 

http://autolumination.com/

 

I've seen LED lights that will fit into a regular 1157, and 1156 plugs. Im sure there's several companies to choose from. The only problem I have heard from people using them is for some reason the turn signal light blinks fast like a light is out. I'm not quite sure why this happens.

Of course you could just buy a LED light kit that works with 12 volt systems and splice the wires and silicone them into the houseing heh.

But if your looking to upgrade your lens.... I've never seen anything other than stock. But it's ment for wheelin, not being pretty so why bother?

 

thats cause leds draw way less power i have amber leds in my blinkers just splice in a load equalizer for each bulb works great and bright http://autolumination.com/equalizers.htm

 

Or simply mod your flasher.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=463125

 

Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas! I will check into that link. I wonder if you can use the LED bulb replacements with the Altezza style housings.

I think the stock lenses and housings wouldn't allow for the best environment for the LED light bulbs (replacement meaning.)

John

 

Yep they fit right into your normal sockets. They will work with any housing you chose.

And the altezza's would?

I'm not sure what your thinking. Don't get the red LED bulbs. Just get clear ones, they will be brighter than normal bulbs and will last a lot longer.

There is no best "environment" for LED's in your taillights.

I like the stock ones. Straight forward no frills and you don't have to worry about people wonder how high you were when you put them on your truck .

 

I was meaning taking the Altezza lights and adding LED's to them. Otherwise the stock lenses wouldn't show the LED's clearly, would they?

John

 

Clear LED's.

It's all just light shining through.

The altezza's only show light through the red part of the lens (for the brake) and have yellow lights for the turn signals.

If you put LED's in your stock taillamps use clear LED's not colored ones.

Since the LED's are brighter your taillights will be seen by one and all.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/1157.htm

http://www.superbrightleds.com/tail-brake-turn.html

More LED's than you can shake a stick at. Seriously they have a 30 LED brake light and a Luxeon one too.

 

LED 1157s and 1156 are NOT brighter then stock. they only put out a red dot of light the diameter of the bulb and the light does not fill out the housing and bounce off the reflector as from a regular incadescent bulb the housing was originaly designed for. you actually end up with a dumb looking red (and not so bright) dot in the middle of your lense. ever see that on riced out integras or civics? not bright or cool. there are many articles on the ammount of lummens (?) that oem vs led put out.

only advantage to led as i see it: last longer, fillaments won't bust from vibration, light up quicker.

the bad: way more expansive (especially the ones that have bulbs pointing sideways claiming to be brighter), not very visable once in the housing.

as for alteza style housings on older cars...ugh, don't even get me started.

if you want led, fill the oem housing holes with metal or diamond plate and put in roud off road jeep style (think semi truck or ups van) led light clusters. those actually work.

 

http://www.grote.com/prodcat/C.html

the real deal.

 

Thanks for all the info and help guys! I like the look of LED, however didn't want to be lumped into looking like one of those Ricer guys. I thought about the round LED, however I may go with more of the thin & wide type lights that the 18 wheeler tractors have above the mud flaps.

John

 

The Grote ones are definatley DOT legal

"industrial" looking...cause they are

 

I put the SuperBright LEDs in my '85, 30 LED narrow beam backup bulbs (may try the 3W Luxeons some time) and the 1157 red bulb for the brakes.


I did end up with a regular filament bulb for the turn signals, I did the load resistor and then the flasher mod, but had some minor issues (probably from trailer wiring harness) with the LEDs so put the old filaments back in.

 

From what I've read and seen the LED's are designed to be brighter. Otherwise there would be no point in using them.

That would also be why they sell they LED's that light up from the side and those 30 led bulbs.

I know LED's can be brighter, cause my 2 AA cell LED flashlight is much brighter than my 3 D cell Maglight. Whiter light too.

How much of a delay can normal lights have? I hit the brake maybe a less than a half second later they light up. I don't really think people even consider how fast the lights light up in their decision.

 

I didn't know there was such a hate for the Altezza style lights. I found these and am 50/50 whether I like them. I never have bought these type of lights before so I am not sure if this is the only style available for the 1st Gens. I have seen the chrome ones on one truck a while back and didn't care for the chrome at all. That I knew for sure!



These are like $40. I would consider them if I could take off the cover over the lower bulb and put in an LED.

John

 

led's only need .7 volts and they're on. they are a on-off application. once its on, they can get brighter. lamps on the other hand need as much as 2 volts just to get the filiments heated up and start glowing. theres quite a delay when your thinking in micro seconds, which is about the speed our brain reacts at, and makes a huge difference. plus, leds ARE brighter. period. it just comes down to each and every led's design.

 

Yeah.... microseconds. Why would anyone even consider that when buying bulbs?

Your talking about such a minute amount of time that it's not even a factor.

Even the voltage is only twice as much your talking about 2 volts in a 12-16 volt system isn't very much. Plus since they are so small they heat up quickly.

I just don't see how any of it matters. It comes down to brightness and price. That's it.

 

eva monkey... disagreed... you see, as ive stated before, brain has a reaction time that is in the microseconds... so the faster a light lights up, the better chances someone has of reacting to it. can be as much of a difference as 1-2 seconds when you add up all the time required to react from the time the brake light is lit up to the time the driver behind engages emergency manuvers. its the difference between rear-ending someone at 40 mph vs around 10..... if they havent stopped completely.

google a study done on brain response times and you'll be surprised with what you read. might make you think a little more about the minor details/decisions in your life that you take for granted.

 

The faster change of of dark to light on LEDs has a mild "startle" effect...
That is until all cars have them
Kinda like CHMSL

Still - it cant hurt.