I purchased some LED bulbs for the whole car recently. I love them minus one problem.
I have a set of APC Altezzas and the reflector in the center of the lens conceals any bulb light during the day. So, during the day no one can see if I am signaling or braking. Not good! They look great at night, but I don't want to get rear ended during the day.

Has anyone been running Red LED bulbs in their tails successfully. Have you checked to make sure they are visible in bright direct sunlight?

 

Had the same problem with myAltezza'a...I eventually went back to stock after 5 yrs

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ALMXDUPINTEGRA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Had the same problem with myAltezza'a...I eventually went back to stock after 5 yrs</TD></TR></TABLE>Stock taillamps or stock bulbs?

 

thats the problem with LEDs, they only point light in one direction, rendering your bulb housings useless (regular bulbs use the housing a reflective surface to point the light in multiiple directions). This is why you see the LED's on Industrial vehicles in clusters, in a flat array. Also, you see LED's in recent luxury vehicles, which also use a flat array of multiple LEDs.


I really like how LED's only operate in a certain range (this is why they turn on and off instantly), but I have yet to see a well made conversion from regular bulbs to LED's. I did read somewhere that are new LED's for cars that didnt have them that spread the light in multiple directions for regular housings like ours.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Spec R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thats the problem with LEDs, they only point light in one direction, rendering your bulb housings useless (regular bulbs use the housing a reflective surface to point the light in multiiple directions). ... I did read somewhere that are new LED's for cars that didnt have them that spread the light in multiple directions for regular housings like ours.</TD></TR></TABLE>I tried the run of the mill flat array of LED bulbs many years ago when I first saw them. They didn't work just like the Xenon bulbs that have their own reflector to focus the beam foward.
I found a newer version that does shine light in multiple directions. This is what I am using:
Unfortunately, it is still not enough to get around the centers of the APC style tails.
I almost have an itch to try my hand at some Fiberglas work and mold some trucker LED pieces into the taillamp area.

I'm just wondering if anyone has had any luck with LEDs in any kind of taillamps on the market, OEM or aftermarket.

 

try switchin back to oem tails...its not a very time consuming swap...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nickG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">try switchin back to oem tails...its not a very time consuming swap...</TD></TR></TABLE>It is a little time consuming if you don't own OEM tails anymore. If I still had them, I would have tried that already. I installed the Altezzas back in '01 and sold them since.
That's why I'm asking around before I look to purchase any housings. I am considering the OEMs if they work with LEDs. Maybe one of the OEM variations, like the red with white turn signals or all white (just need to slap on some red refelctors to make them street legal). Might look good on my white car.
But before any of that, I want to find out what they will actually work with.

 

get sum 98+ tails . altezzas

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gsr dood &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">get sum 98+ tails . altezzas </TD></TR></TABLE>Do you have <U>LEDs</U> in your 98+ tails?
I am not concerned with the looks of the lamps (to a limit) as much as I am about functionality. And the only asthetic taste I care about is my own. This is purely a functional question.


Modified by Zuul at 12:45 AM 7/26/2005

 

What the heck is the advantage of LED bulbs anyways? They last longer? I mean c'mon, have u ever changed THAT many rear light bulbs before? Or do you get better lighting out of them? (not in this case anyways).

Why not just stick to original lights OR stock bulbs

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sifu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What the heck is the advantage of LED bulbs anyways? They last longer? I mean c'mon, have u ever changed THAT many rear light bulbs before? Or do you get better lighting out of them? (not in this case anyways).
Why not just stick to original lights OR stock bulbs</TD></TR></TABLE>Personally, I like the deep red color, unique look, low current draw, speeds up blinker flash, instant on/off, & I will never have to replace them. Plus, I just like LEDs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Zuul &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Personally, I like the deep red color, unique look, low current draw, speeds up blinker flash, instant on/off, & I will never have to replace them. Plus, I just like LEDs.</TD></TR></TABLE>

He has a point. If I had the extra money to spend on LEDs, I'd do it. Probably not on the prelude, because it's *** looks kind of silly, but maybe on the FD.

Where'd you get those wide angle LED bulbs though? I might try to test some out on the FD's tails (stock taillights).

My personal thoughts about LEDs are that it's nice that they're just red, not that funky pinkish red that you normally get. They light up faster, and look just a tad different from standard bulbs, but not enough to **** people (or cops) off.

EDIT: I'll overlook the little thing in your signature about V8s this time

 

I bought all of mine from Autolumination, but I was also recently told about LEDtronics & SurplusLED

EDIT:

 

Found what I was looking for on autolumination, but i've got to say...that has to be the shittiest looking site i've seen in a while

I'll tell you how they do on the FD's tail lights in a few weeks.