The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk What do you think about led taillight upgrades?

I drive my 41 pretty regular and everyone have mentioned my tail lights are dim so I took it out recently and looked at my lights. During the day it's hard to see those incandescent brake lights and at night they're visible but not well at all. Now I did change to twelve volt and passenger side light a while back and I have turn signals. Well last week I got a set of led replacements, they look stock as the leds are built into the back of a stock lense (for those who don't know) however they are extremely bright. Much much better. So I was wandering if anyone else has done or consider this, or what your solution to dim lights is? And you hate the led idea say so you won't bother me ha ha

I like the LEDs. They are bright. Safety comes first.

The proper bulbs along with gloss white paint in the housing and plastic lenses will go a LONG way to providing great light without the expense of LEDs or "upgrading" to 12v. Below is my 6v '38 on the left & my modern 12v pickup on the right. All I did was what I listed above.

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I gone to lengths to keep my truck stock or make it appear so with the few changes I have made. The taillights/turn signals are an exception. I also went with the LEDs. They look normal until they are on. I can appreciate how bright they are when I forget to cancel my turn signal when exiting the truck. I am happy to live with the non-stock appearance when on for the extra visibility.

Many 6v pos/neg LED bulbs are now available for old bulb bases.

They are incredably bright.

What are the types of 6v bulbs that you have? I do not know 1941 bulbs.

I'll add a mid-50s bulb chart in a few minutes.

LED's are a good idea for any vehicle driven routinely in traffic. They are brighter - therefore more visible - and definitely more reliable.

Mid-50s auto bulb chart.

SuperBrightLeds 6v bulbs - many auto-tyle bases (some are pos/neg ground).

Tim I use the #81 for the tail light and the #1129 for the brake light. The OEM bulbs in '38 were the #63 for both tail & brake in the car. The truck used the #87 for the brake light. The problem there is the #87 is only 15cp where the #1129 is 21cp. The #63 is only 3cp where the #81 is 6cp and the exact same size as the #63. The #1129 is the same size as the #87. Using a #81 and #1129 give a 6v vehicle brighter tail lights than a 12v #1157 and almost as bright stop lights. In the '38 two bulbs were used in the housing. For the years where two bulbs were used the upgrade is easy. I don't know when Chevy went to the single, dual filament bulb which would prevent that particular alteration. FWIW using a 316 bulb for your dash lights will make them much brighter.

I don't know if this link will work but I got mine on eBay, the leds are built in the lens. Pricey but worth it to me. I'm trying to keep a stock feel to the truck but I like upgrading for safety or practicallity.

(Moderator's note: Ebay links prohibited. Do a search.)

Ian,

You have a 12-volt-converted electrical system.

You bet! LED taillights. H4 headlights

Yes I have converted to 12 volt

LEDs all the way for me,my truck is my daily,and add to the fact folks in the UK don't 'get' red turn signals etc.
To that end I used amber LED bed roll turn signals and complete LED inserts in my tail-lights,I also put a third brake light in the rear window for added safety.
I much rather give up a little originality in pursuit of a safer drive.

All of those dash cam videos on the web are scaring you eh John?

Nah Tiny,I just didn't want some dummy running up my backside,I can bend my truck just fine all by myself thank you very much....

It's funny though,people DO just pull out in front of me on the freeway quite regularly,I guess they just don't expect a near 70 year old truck to be going so quickly.....

No. One of the things people always comment on is my glass tail lenses with tungsten filament bulbs behind them. The appearance can't be replicated with LEDs; from what I have seen it's not even close.

That is not to say I disagree with prioritizing safety. I knew that the single 6v running/brake light on the barn door was a guaranteed collision-maker, so I converted it to 12V, swapped all the single-pole sockets for dual-pole, and used a motorcycle trailer lighting module to make the turn signal pods into running/brake lights as well. I stuck "extra bright" #1157 bulbs in all three sockets, and to my amazement nothing blew up.

You can see my tail lights in the "Cold start challenge" video listed at the link in my signature. Show me an LED that looks that nice, I'll reconsider my position.

I run LEDs. I like to be able to tap my brakes and watch the texter behind me look up from their phone in a near panic. Especially when the entire interior of their car is a brilliant LED red .

There many LED "upgrades" that as it turn out are not as bright as the filament bulbs. Then add the extra cost and the cheap LED poor reliabilty equals buyer beware.

I'm going LED in near future, just installed the H4 headlights and really like them. Kind of related, has anyone found LED replacement bulbs for the dash lights? One area I'd like to have more illumination on my truck.

dash light bulb - what base code or bulb code?

6v or 12v?

I bought these (Super Bright 12V T11 BA9S 5050 SMD 5-LED Car Bulb) on Ebay for the dash in my 58 and am pleased with them.