The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Switched to Led tail lights.

My son was driving our 53 the other day with me following him. We were giving it a workout trying to see if we have stopped our tranny leak. The sun was shinning brightly, and I couldn't see our blue dot tail lights at all. I think we were waiting to be rear ended. I ordered a set of led tail lights from Safeway. What a difference it makes. Now you can see the brake lights and turn signals on a sunny day. I guess there goes originality for safety.

How about posting a link to the lights?

The blue dot lights suck for daylight use and even at night they reduce the distance from which the lights can be seen, probably why they were illegal. They are still illegal, AFAIK, but I doubt that anyone would get a ticket for using them now.

Sorry Tiny, I said Safeway, meant Speedway.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/4051,964_1940-53-Chevy-Truck-LED-Taillights.html

I switched to LED for the same reason

Pardon my ignorance but are these a simple bolt on and wire in or do you need some sort of electronic gizmo to make them work?

Just bolt and slice,Bill.If you leave the front signals lights 1157,you won't have to change the flasher

I did the same ... for my '54:
See Here - with link to buy.

Mine was only a bulb swap-out. No bolt and splice for me. I love'em. You have to look very closely to see that they aren't stock. If you are looking closely, then they are doing their job!

Bill

Are the LEDs mounted integrally with the lens cover? If not, and this may be a totally ignorant question, would the glass lenses with the "Blue Dots" fit in the bezel?

TxLaTx - Can you link the bulb you used?

Thanks,

Don

There's several types of LED conversions out there, one that has the LEDS as part of the lens, one that's an LED panel that mounts inside the housing behind the existing lens, and then there's the one that's a simple bulb replacement, which is very popular with the "Tuner" crowd. The lens and bulb types can not be used with Blue Dots at all. In the case of the lens type, the LEDS are part of the lens itself and cuting into it to install a Blue Dot will ruin them, plus the dot will not work anyways. On the bulb replacement type, the dot will end up sitting right over the top od the bulb. In the case of LEDs, the lens color has to be either clear or match the color of the LED illumination. So a blue dot will actually block the light from an led making the lamp dimmer.
The panel type (I used on from Technostalgia) can be modified, there's enough room under the panel when installed to add a blue LED in the position of the dot on the lense. That's how I did mine. The dot makes no difference in the brightness of the light.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2368955000092261295qrmCdN
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2739260370092261295Qaohye
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2752257200092261295eZVJHY

Don-

Here is a link to a site that has bulbs that look identical to the pair I bought locally at AutoZone. After learning that you buy bulbs the same color as the lens, I got 1157R (red) dual intensity 19 LED "bulbs." A red lense will not filter out red light put out by the LED. But I think in the case of blue dots, the small blue lense WILL filter out some of the light emitted by the red LED, making it appear dimmer than non-blue dotted.

The site I linked to has them for about $7/ea + freight. At AutoZone, I bought the pair for around $16.

Bill

I want to switch to leds as well. I need to make sure I know what to get here before I order.
My system is 6 volts and I have turn signals front and back. I went to thier website TX recommended.. Do I Change the front parking lights aswell or leave them??? Do i get the wide angle or the narrow angle bulbs I think the 1156 are the ones I need

I see they have an Electronic flasher or do I need a load resister for both front and back or will the flasher unit be the way to go... Remember I'm a 6 volter

I need to be sure here I live here in Canada and its a hassle to return all this stuff. Thanks Peter

Peter,

Thanks for asking about the 6v LEDs. No mention of system voltage, above.

I think there are 6v LEDs for our tail lamps, but it would be nice to hear from someone who is actually using them (tail lamps, parking lamps, head lamps).

Tim

This company has 6 volt LED bulbs. http://www.highspeedmotors.com/Webled.html

Sorry let me clarify this I should of said 6 volt 1154 bulbs not 1156... Or will the 12 volt bulbs work but not as bright... but brighter then regular lights confused yet... Peter...

12 volt bulbs will be much dimmer than any 6 volt bulb at six volts. You won't be able to see them, but they will last forever!

Has anyone had first-hand experience with 6v LEDs in tail lamps?

Off subject on the LED's but I bought halogen dual filament bulbs from JCW. Not too hot and twice as bright as the regular bulb. Looks original.

I tried the halogens, got the from Auto Zone. While they were very bright, I found the life to be somewhat short. I only got about 6 months out of them. The ones I have in the backups are doing much better, though.