7440 Reverse/Backup Light Upgrades

Alaric Darconville · Mar 1, 2019

dbell54 said:
The PIAA 7440 p/n 19225 appears to be the best choice

Best choice for what? It's very heavily tinted blue, which means total output is reduced greatly and the remaining light tends so much toward blue that it'll be hard for the human optical system to process. It's a good thing they discontinued it, but now they need to work on discontinuing the rest of their products.

dbell54 said:
Hey, that's pretty neat! On my old Tahoe I had 2 tiny driving lights mounted under the bumper on either side of the hitch with a relay tapped into the b/u wire and the trailer aux pwr. It worked really well, but the 2013's bumper isn't well suited to such.

Real "driving lights" (auxiliary high beams) are not "tiny". Whatever their original non-reversing lamp purpose, you can't just take lights of one kind and declare them to be a different kind. All by yourself in the woods it's probably no big deal doing so but in parking lots and on the side of the road around others, lights like that can cause more problems than they solve.

Alaric Darconville · Mar 1, 2019

dbell54 said:
While looking at that one, I found this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GJ9MHX5/?tag=cpf0b6-20

You'd be better served with this JW Speaker product, which conforms to SAE J593 (Backup Lamp (Reversing Lamp)).

-Virgil- · Mar 1, 2019

dbell54 said:
I found this thread while looking to upgrade my Tahoe b/u lights. In my old age, I can't see in the dark very well, esp. with the tinted windows my wife had to have. The PIAA 7440 p/n 19225 appears to be the best choice

Best choice if the object of the game is to waste money and reduce your ability to see, maybe, but not if you're trying to improve your seeing.

There are up-to-date bulb recommendations here in this thread, in post #13. Try them out and see if they work well in your particular reversing lamps. If not, or not enough better, then put two of these lamps (particularly, not just lights that look like these or are the same shape/size, etc...THESE lamps) and grommets like these, spaced as far apart as you can on the back of the vehicle. You can cut the needed holes in the bumper cover, or mount them in appropriate brackets. Tap them into the vehicle's reversing lamp circuit using Posi-Taps. Then you will have plenty of properly-distributed light for reversing, without causing new problems.

dbell54 · Mar 1, 2019

I was under the impression that the PIAA 7440s were bright white, not blue, and supposedly much better than LEDs. On this forum and elsewhere I'm always reading about how LEDs don't work right with the reflectors, etc. So I was trying to avoid them. Now I find out the PIAAs are blue, which I hate. I mean the light, not the color of the bulb.

I've got more than a passing familiarity with the Peterson truck lights. The new LED ones are way brighter than the old incandescent style and really work well. And they have a built-in reflector made just right for the job. But cutting holes in my Tahoe bumper is out of the question.

The JW Speaker b/u lamp has more possibility, but it's kinda bulky. I think it would work good on my old GMC P/U.

I'll take a look at the Sylvania Zevos. That's an easy-to-try option. Like I said, I was leery of LEDs, but since you experts recommend this one, it must be better than most. Thanks for the info.

-Virgil- · Mar 1, 2019

dbell54 said:
I was under the impression that the PIAA 7440s were bright white, not blue

Take a look at the bulb and see how very, very blue it is. The claim that a blue-glass bulb is anything other than blue is pure manure dreamed up by some marketer. Adding a color filter cannot ever make a bulb put out more light, only less light than an uncolored bulb. There's all kinds of handwaving (and PIAA is one of the worst offenders) about how the bluer light is whiter, brighter, better, sharper, crisper, saltier, etc. None of it is true, not even a little bit.

On this forum and elsewhere I'm always reading about how LEDs don't work right with the reflectors

It's variable, lamp by lamp and bulb by bulb. Take a look at this post.

I've got more than a passing familiarity with the Peterson truck lights. The new LED ones are way brighter than the old incandescent style and really work well. And they have a built-in reflector made just right for the job. But cutting holes in my Tahoe bumper is out of the question.

So use the bracket method instead, won't that solve the problem?

dbell54 · Mar 2, 2019

-Virgil- said:
So use the bracket method instead, won't that solve the problem?

It would kill my departure angle. Very important on a 4x4 that's actually used in rough conditions. (Unlike the city boys in their jacked-up, blinged-out H2s with 22" low-pro wheels.)

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. It seems this forum is about the only place one can get the unvarnished truth about lights.

Sadden · Mar 2, 2019

I strongly feel that tinted windows and weak standards make modern reverse lamps borderline unsafe.l

I would get a rigid/grote/peterson/JWSpeaker work lamp and call it a day.

They are on for moments at a time, traffic in parking lots will be fine for the 10 seconds while you backup without hitting anything.

I am aware there are standards for reverse lamps but unless you are running them in traffic i dont see how they can negatively impact other drivers.

I have 8 of these on my rig and they drown out the grote 4" round reverse lamps...
https://grote.com/britezone/BZ101-5-led-work-light.php

-Virgil- · Mar 2, 2019

Sadden said:
I am aware there are standards for reverse lamps but unless you are running them in traffic i dont see how they can negatively impact other drivers.

Hello? Glare. If you're going to use work/flood/spot/fog/other kinds of lights as reversing lamps, put them on a cutout switch so you can use them when you're alone in the dark, and cut them out when you're doing parking maneuvers when other drivers are behind you. Parallel parking, parking lots, etc.

"Oh, there are standards, but pfft, you can ignore those because the reason they exist doesn't occur to me" is a very irresponsible attitude. We don't do that here.

Sadden · Mar 2, 2019

Right, but how will glare negatively affect someone who has too come by a complete stop while i back into my spot.

In parking lots where you actually need them everyone is moving at such slow speeds or stopping so that one person can move i dont see how thats impairing anyones safety, actually being able too see where you are backing up...

I am 100%, pro headlamp safety, especially lowbeams (seriously idc what you run on highbeams, just turn em off for me please)

Maybe its because I am in an area where off road legitimately means off road. Work trucks have driving lamps and reverse lamps (those flush mount rigids sell like hot cakes up here), its just the norm.

dbell54 · Mar 3, 2019

Sadden said:
Maybe its because I am in an area where off road legitimately means off road. Work trucks have driving lamps and reverse lamps (those flush mount rigids sell like hot cakes up here), its just the norm.

Yeah, same around here. It's dark out here in the woods. My old Jeep has a tractor light on the rear bumper. It's pointed down at the ground, and it has a switch so it could be turned off should that ever be necessary, which is unlikely, since it never ventures far from home, esp. at night. My UTV has an LED light bar over the windshield which more than makes up for the crappy headlights. On the rare occasion that I'm out on the road and a car comes along, I turn it off until they pass. That's just common courtesy (and sense). Another smaller light bar under the tailgate works great when backing or out working behind the mule.

JasonOk · Mar 4, 2019

Sadden said:
Right, but how will glare negatively affect someone who has too come by a complete stop while i back into my spot.

In parking lots where you actually need them everyone is moving at such slow speeds or stopping so that one person can move i dont see how thats impairing anyones safety, actually being able too see where you are backing up...

Just a thought... Dark adjusted vision suddenly lost by a flood of light takes forever to get back, and while yeah i stopped because i couldn't see to go forward your done and gone while I'm still trying to figure out my surroundings again in a suddenly dark again environment, (assuming parking lot situations) its a kinda i don't care if you can see i can see best luck to ya approach

-Virgil- · Mar 5, 2019

JasonOk said:
Dark adjusted vision suddenly lost by a flood of light takes forever to get back, and while yeah i stopped because i couldn't see to go forward your done and gone while I'm still trying to figure out my surroundings again in a suddenly dark again environment, (assuming parking lot situations) its a kinda i don't care if you can see i can see best luck to ya approach

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. This is exactly why the reversing lamp standards, around the world, have an intensity limit on light directed above horizontal. It's also why work lights, flood lights, spot lights, etc are not suitable for use while backing up unless you are alone with no other drivers behind you.

jzchen · Mar 5, 2019

I ordered the recommended 7440 bulbs to try as I needed an extra item to get free shipping from Amazon, (the bulbs are currently still working). (Those bulbs are sold by another company but fulfilled by Amazon). I will report back on what actually comes in. I believe the undesired SMD version has the same part number......

jzchen · Mar 7, 2019

Order arrived last night. I excitedly opened the package to find the correct bulbs as in the images!!!

(Not sure when exactly I'll get a chance to test one and verify the compatibility as instructed, but I promise I'll be back to report when I do)....

jzchen · Mar 10, 2019

Alaric Darconville said:
I did the evaluation on that very same 7440 on an RX300. And from outside the vehicle, it really appears to provide good *warning* to others, from the driver's seat it's not as good as the filament bulbs they replaced for actually *seeing*. It may be a combination of the 6000K CCT and some incompatibility of the lamp assembly wherein the heatsink and rest of the bulb body blocks light from the reflector.

I took a look at the driver side lamp yesterday. (I have not tried to install yet). I can clearly see the filament of the 7440 bulb in practically perfect vertical position, directly through the lens. I remember Virgil noting Fresnel lamps using light direct from the filament and got concerned. Should I even try? (Or is it should I even be asking this question)? Thanks!

-Virgil- · Mar 10, 2019

Just because you can see the filament doesn't mean the lamp uses fresnel optics.

jzchen · Mar 10, 2019

-Virgil- said:
Just because you can see the filament doesn't mean the lamp uses fresnel optics.

Thank you!

I installed one and took a close up picture of the new one and original one. First thing that was super obvious was color. The LED looks white. The old one looks yellow.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16C5RegOnvESAXygDfHdh5PV2ix7b08fP/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WE-JiWj6pSTpHYXuSzAUrn9of0F77nTq/view?usp=drivesdk

Do you think I should pull the LED out? The difference is in the center where the cooling fins are....

Walking around about 25 ft away was mostly doable, and seemed pretty decent comparing both sides. I would say the LED was slightly dimmer to my eyes.

(Thanks again for all the input)!

-Virgil- · Mar 10, 2019

These pics are taken with the camera at the height of the lamps, which is good, but they're much too close to the car. Back away about 10 feet, crouch down to put the camera at lamp height, and take some more pics. Also, scrutinize their performance as described in this post.

jzchen · Mar 10, 2019

jzchen · Mar 11, 2019

I reread the test conditions, and looks like they fail the night time test. I'm going to pull the LED. I have the contact info of Calcoast-ITL. (I assume they need the lamp removed from the car to be tested. I'm not willing to risk breaking them trying to remove them plus downtime without rear lamps. More willing to drive it up there, but, don't even know how much they charge)....

I guess the follow up question is what bulb is next best?

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