Anyone have any good luck with aftermarket LED directional bulbs?

[GT_80]

So I have been trying to change out my front and rear directionals/stop/turn/tail bulbs with LED's and I had done a lot of looking online- Having previously buying some I was very disappointed in, I bought some rears that I thought looked a lot better, and since there were two one each side in rear, and 2 on each side in the front, I figured they may not fast flash- Well, I had more issues than that.

I bought these for the front:

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/301581945870?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

and as it turns out, the rapid flash was the least of my worries... The base is not long enought to fit in a standard 1157 socket that is used on the front directionals in my 1991. So I qucikly trimmed the top of the socket with a knife till the bulb went in. Then, the bulbs turned on with parking lights, and the directionals, big surprise, were in rapid flash mode. Also, the original 1157A bulbs are brighter than these were. For $8, I guess I was expecting a lot.


As for the rears, I bought what I thought were slightly better bulbs- Got these:

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/121852831540?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

these are considerably brighter than the fronts were, but still only about as bright as the 3057 that were stock in my truck and they had issues when I stepped on the brake, the lights dimmed, and they also rapid flashed. After all that, I realized that my sockets in my taillight circuit board were filled with frozen bulb grease and these may not has seated all the way, so maybe I need to give them another try.

I also bought these for my backup lights:

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/251890783407?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

and these, being Cree, are awesome! Super bright, and good quality. I thought about trying these in my taillights as well, and see how they are.

I really just wanted the nice crisp LED look, and a little brighter - I plan on swapping out to crystal clear front directionsla, and maybe better taillights which now I have to do as I broke my taillights when I took them out- the stupid tabs that the clips hang on just twisted off when I took the screws out GRR.

The reduction in power consumption is not why I decided to switch, all though I may add some more running lights to my truck on the rear of the cap - I really always wanted to do running lights all over like a Semi truck, but I am not sure I want to do it to this truck though...


So what I really wanted to know, what has your experience been with LED bulbs? Are there some out there that so not cause rapid flashing without the need for ballast resistors? I thought maybe the Pilot ones would work, as they say they don't cause trouble codes...

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let me know your experiences, what would you buy? What have you bought both good and bad..

Also, I was looking at these taillights- Any one bought these before?

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[someotherguy]

For starters, almost all the cheap LED bulbs are not worth buying. Not bright enough. Even when you start getting into the expensive and bright ones, quality isn't very good across the board, as all of this crap is coming from China. I had good luck with bulbs from V-LED's in the past, but that was before they started their "Triton" series which I don't like. I tried SuperbrightLED's and ironically, they don't have anything bright enough. Then Autolumination which has some very bright bulbs (50W, 80W Cree) but I've had more than a few go bad. Finally I started buying similar ones from DDM Tuning because at least they offer a better warranty.

Practically all LED's you swap into your truck will hyperflash. It's not the fault of the LED. It's the design of the flasher. You can buy an LED-compatible flasher, or do a totally easy no-cost hack to your existing stock flasher. Or you can add load resistors but I view that as a last ditch effort when nothing else can be done. On these trucks the flasher is way easier and smarter.

The CANBUS compatible bulbs have nothing to do with hyperflash. They're for cars that have more advanced "bulb out" warning systems that will give you error messages with some LED bulbs. Same basic reason behind it as hyperflash but the CANBUS-compatible LED will not solve your hyperflash. And those Pilot brand LED's are junk by the way.

For the middle bulb on your rear lights - in other words the combination tail/brake/turn bulb - you need a special SRCK-compatible LED instead of just a regular 3157 replacement. Gotta be SRCK. This is to work correctly in these trucks (and a few others) that have unusual wiring of that socket.

Flasher hack: cut pin 7 on the IC. No more hyperflash.

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Richard

 

[99'Subourbon]

Great info, Richard!

 

[GT_80]

awesome reply! I will look into better bulbs and that hack on the flasher is awesome. IMO they flasher won't work because its Siemens, and I work for Honeywell. LOL Bad blood lol JK BTW

will that flasher fix also fix the rapid flash on switchback bulbs?

 

[GT_80]

I think I may have a 552 thermal flasher in my truck- mine is a 1991

 

[someotherguy]

It fixes hyperflash, regardless of standard bulbs or switchbacks.

Switchbacks often bring a whole new set of problems though in getting them to work correctly. Most expect to be used in a circuit where you have only 1 front bulb per side, not 2 like a GMT400 has. I discovered that although I'd done the flasher hack to cure the hyperflash, once I installed the switchbacks (as well as an LED corner bulb) that the switchbacks would not work at all. It required putting a load resistor back in the circuit for them to work properly. That was my experience with the ones I used (V-LED's from way back in the day); your mileage may vary.

The thermal flasher is typically for the hazards. Look on the convenience center under the dash near the park brake mechanism for the signal flasher. If it's not the type pictured, you could grab one for nothing from a junk truck and hack it, or just cash up for one of the ready-made LED flashers.

Richard

 

[sewlow]

Ready-made flasher unit for LEDs = EP29. It's a digital flash circuit based on 'time' as opposed to load.

 

[88GMCtruck]

I have these in the front signals of my 98... They work great. I tried some of the "7w cree" ones and they were not as bright between parking light and signal. I've found that a common issue is not enough distinction between the two brightness levels. Another issue I had with a set it is didn't have a internal diode and would backfeed into the parking light circuit.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261497687622?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[GT_80]

I have these in the front signals of my 98... They work great. I tried some of the "7w cree" ones and they were not as bright between parking light and signal. I've found that a common issue is not enough distinction between the two brightness levels. Another issue I had with a set it is didn't have a internal diode and would backfeed into the parking light circuit.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261497687622?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

did you have to hack the flasher with these or did they work without the hack?

 

[88GMCtruck]

You have to modify your flasher or buy an timed one with almost every drop in bulb. It's not expensive or difficult to swap.

I tried the hacked flasher and found the speed of it faster than I liked and went back to a timed one.