LED lights on older cars, Yay or Nay?

[Drew Dowdell]

What do you guys think about LED running lights/turn signals/brake lights retrofitted into an older car?

[Robert Hall]

The ones I've seen look cheesy...but I generally don't like anything not OEM.

[Drew Dowdell]

well, not the whole housing, just swapping out the bulb.

This

instead of this:

[David]

I like, if it is brighter and lasts longer I have no problem with exchanging a bulb for an LED equal. I think in some cases, older auto's look better once they have LED tail lights and headlight systems. Plus lower draw on the electrical needs of the old wiring harness.

[Drew Dowdell]

Brighter is what I'm going for. I don't have a high-mount center stop light in the Toronado and I'm not going to retrofit one. On sunny days, I'm not convinced my brake lights are quite bright enough. I've gotten nearly rear ended a few times lately.

[Z-06]

Yes for safety reasons.

[loki]

curious about the cost.

my rear side markers on my monte(red lens) corroded away several years ago (sockets) thought about replacing them, but... eh

[balthazar]

I think LED upgrades in existing housings (like on the Toro) is fine, esp in the tails/turn signals. I was thinking this for the B-59, which has nice round tails that really would benefit from the brightness, I think.
However, not sure I've noticed this upgrade in a vintage unit in person to see how it looks.

[Intrepidation]

I've seen that upgrade done a lot, people like it. I'd like to get a DE3175 LED replacement for the Prizm's dome light, since the standard DE3175's output is crap.

[SAmadei]

Swapping in these LED bulbs requires some research. In some cases, the bulbs are not as bright in RL as the specs claim. In other cases, the load is so low that the flasher relays (or other components) will not detect the lights and will malfunction... requiring resisters to be hacked into the wiring. The resisters, in some cases, get hot and are another problem entirely.

I bought a few of these bulbs a few years ago in popular sizes... 184, 1157, 1156, etc... I did not like the light pattern or brightness and they got tossed.

No doubt they have gotten better... but sorting out the garbage from the good is a PITA.

[balthazar]

^ Agreed RE the temps: the LEDs in many cases run hotter. In smaller housings it may be an issue.

Toro has metal light housings or plastic?

[Drew Dowdell]

It's that really hard plastic.I knew about the resistance thing. I already have an electronic flasher rather than a mechanical one because I didn't like the speed of the flashers when I got it.