saw led tail lights today at WALMART!!!!

yeah they was replacemt bulbs but used like i guess maybe 8 leds.wild there becomeing mainstream now!!

Cars tail lights? Only 8 LEDs?

i didnt look at em close but i guess 8 it looked like 8 was same sahped kinda as the old bulbds but it had leds instead it went in the old socket i stink at expaling my self lol

Those led replacements are way too dim. If you are going to retrofit your tail lights do it the Peter Gransee way. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

These things suck! I have a pair sitting on my desk from two years ago, same ol' crap they're selling today.

In the daytime all you see lit up on the taillight is a small round dot because the lights have a very narrow view angle since all the LEDs are pointing foward. They work with most of those aftermarket Altezza/IS300 style taillights that you can even buy at Pepboys now. Every time I see those aftermarket taillights I think yuck!! Just my opinion though.

Careful. They probably don't meet DOT requirements. Could cause problems with insurance or a law suit if you were in an accident.

Does anyone know where to find the DOT requirements? It would be nice if they would sell DOT approved, however, I think they can only do that if they sell the whole fixture. I'm sure there are some requirements for how much light goes out the sides as well as the back, and someone selling a bulb can't guarantee anything since they don't know how you will use it.

I have a pair like you describe that I got at Pepboys. YUCK!

I am going to do 3" round sealed LED tails on my truck if I can ever afford it!

Digi-Key carries these. . They're somewhat better than the smaller clusters.

Update!

I got one of the Walmart LED replacement bulbs on a whim today while getting needed stuff.

I was just out playing with that one, the two from Pepboys, and one other I got somewhere that has an 8mm LED in the center.

The tail lights I was trying them in are rectangular shaped with a bulb that stands straight up with a reflector above and below it.

The Walmart light lights up 6 LEDs (out of 12) for park. The others light up and those get brighter for brake. The Pepboy lights all light (12) for park and get brighter for brake. The third bulb just ain't got it at all!

I can bend the reflector enough to get decent light firing backwards. If I was only driving at night, these bulbs would be okay.

However with a standard incandescent 1157 bulb, those tail lights are veritable scorchers! Even in daylight (I have them up at eye level) you can't miss 'em!

I do have large square boat trailer waterproof LED tail lights at low position. They are decent during the day, great at night.

This thread actually should be under "general lighting".

My anylisis is, these replacement bulbs MAY work okay in some applications... but not mine!

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PhotonWrangler said:
Digi-Key carries these. . They're somewhat better than the smaller clusters.

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Yes, better but won't work in most common automotive lights.

Since they've got more LEDs than the ones mentioned, the area of the LEDs is wider and won't fit throught the hole for the light socket on the lights housing.

The ones I have sitting here (10 5mm LEDs + 1 8mm) are just short of 26mm in diameter and these barely fit through the light socket's hole.

Here is another site.
Have anyone bought anything from here?
http://www.superbrightleds.com/1157.htm

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[ QUOTE ]
PhotonWrangler said:
Digi-Key carries these. . They're somewhat better than the smaller clusters.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, better but won't work in most common automotive lights.

Since they've got more LEDs than the ones mentioned, the area of the LEDs is wider and won't fit throught the hole for the light socket on the lights housing.

The ones I have sitting here (10 5mm LEDs + 1 8mm) are just short of 26mm in diameter and these barely fit through the light socket's hole.

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You're right, they won't fit in any rear-loaded tail-lights. I was thinking of a particular front-loaded tail-light, but those are actually pretty rare. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

what about these? looks a bit pricy, but hey it's luxeon /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
http://www.ledcorp.com/1156.html

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what about these? looks a bit pricy, but hey it's luxeon /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
http://www.ledcorp.com/1156.html

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Looks interesting, but wouldn't it make more sense (and be a little cheaper) if they used a red Luxeon for a tail-light? The white one would be ok for backup lights.

I bought a pair of those 1156 luxeons. In fact, it was my first luxeon purchase ever. I was very disappointed, the brightness as a backup-light wasn't even in the same league as the stock bulbs, much less the 22w halogen bulbs I had previous upgraded to. Brake and turn-signal usage wasn't very good either, not really suitable for daylight driving. Despite the brightness problems, using it for the turn signal just looked cool, the instant on/off gave it such an authoritative "look" that I decided I would upgrade to LEDs eventually.

Now, I'm just looking for something super, extra bright so I can heavily tint the light covers so that they blend with the black paint on the rest of the car. Those Lamina ceramic arrays look like they might have what I need - ~2K lumens in red and amber in about a square inch.

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what about these? looks a bit pricy, but hey it's luxeon /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
http://www.ledcorp.com/1156.html

[/ QUOTE ]
Looks interesting, but wouldn't it make more sense (and be a little cheaper) if they used a red Luxeon for a tail-light? The white one would be ok for backup lights.

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Well yes and no. If you have a red LED in your tailight, it makes it appear blood red. Some people dislike that color. Also 1156 are single filaments. Brake lights always use dual filaments like 1157, 3157, etc.

Hey those LEDcorp things look like similar to mine. Glad to hear they don't perform as well. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

I wish i could find some 6 volt versions of all these LED bulbs. My moped can barely handle the load of incandescent bulbs - these things would be perfect.

Where can i find the *best* performing 1156/1157 led bulbs (from experience) that can be rear loaded? I wanna order one up and see how it performs in my headlamp/signal assembly.