Product Review:

LED Brakelight Bulbs

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Preface: I discovered that these products were on the market by seeing them in the back of Automotive Engineering International, which is published by SAE. I didn't find out that they were being marketed to ricers until I started shopping for 'em!!

But in the name of science, and morbid curiosity, I pressed on. I tracked down one pair of 3157-size bulbs manufactured by an independent company named JamStrait ( link ). Cost at Autozone: $14.99 +tx for the pair of "Super-Bright" red LED bulbs.

Here is what they look like:

Here are the pics of the bulbs installed:





While JamStrait does manufacture "Hyper-Bright" LED bulbs, which they claim are twice as bright as these "Super-Bright" bulbs, I think the problem is that the taillight fixture was designed for an "explosion" of incandescent light. The unilateral beam of LED light does not take advantage of the reflective surfaces inside the light fixture, and is therefore not as effective. I must admit, though, that applying the brakes is very cool, it is instantly brighter unlike the ~200ms delay found in incandescent bulbs.

So, why not try putting the bulbs into the blinker fixture?



Success! The LED bulb is just as bright as the incandescent, and the blink is very sharp. The red LED is so bright that it burns red even under an amber lens. Since I like my turn signals to be amber (I think it's safer that way), I would like to track down four amber 3157 LED bulbs and use them. However the cost is prohibitive, the lowest price I could find on the internet was $50 + s&h for four bulbs. And Autozone says they can't special order bulbs from Jamstrait, which sounds fishy to me. However they did take back the red LED bulbs when I was done experimenting, so I'm not upset with them.

So, to sum up...

LED's for Crown Vic taillights:

LED's for Crown Vic rear blinkers:

Also I did some further testing up front, and...

LED's for Crown Vic parking lights:
-- They are unacceptable for the same reason as the brakelights, the current design relies on the reflective surfaces in the fixture itself.

LED's for Crown Vic side markers (size 194):
-- Same reason again.




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