Re: LED versus halogen bulbs

Posted by RogerDetroit On 2012/2/2 10:01:14

Hello David:

There are several things you need to know about LEDs before you install them. First, they are polarity sensitive - check to see if your car is positive or negative ground and if that matches to the LED bulb. A mis-match and the bulb will NOT work.

Next, the bulbs should be RED to match the color of your tail light lens. A white bulb will make your tail light look a bright pink - not good.

LEDs are directional - each LED points in ONE directon. If you need side lighting, then you need what is called a "festoon" bulb where some of the LEDs point to the side.

You can read more at this web site:http://www.highspeedmotors.com/Webled.html

This LED topic has come up on a vintage motorcycle website that I read and the conclusion of one rider who did a test is that $5 to $7 LED bulbs he bought were NOT as bright as the stock 1157 tail light bulb. Maybe he did not buy the "right" LED bulbs to test as some bulbs have more LEDs than other.

What would be good if someone would buy a batch of different bulbs and write a comparison test for the rest of us that are interested.

--Roger--