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I switched out my back up light bulbs to LED a few years back with what was supposed to be the incandescent equivalent but 6000k. Although I'm happy with them I find with the tinted glass they're just not bright enough. Anyone switched out theirs to the new, supposedly much brighter, LED bulbs available? Looking for reviews and recommendations.
Maybe something like this?
I have all LED in the exterior rear and front, interior, and dash. I have the woodypeck exterior front light set, and I'm not impressed with the pattern on the H4 headlight bulbs. I just want to replace the backup bulbs and since they're standard 1156 bulbs I don't feel I need to get too fancy.
Windows. And they're pretty dark. When it's not being repaired I drive the car to the train station almost every day where it sits for 13 hrs or longer a day. Been doing that for 14 years. With the exception of some minor cracks in the dash the interior looks pretty good. I attribute that to the window tint so I don't want to remove it just to help see when I occasionally drive in reverse
Windows. And they're pretty dark. When it's not being repaired I drive the car to the train station almost every day where it sits for 13 hrs or longer a day. Been doing that for 14 years. With the exception of some minor cracks in the dash the interior looks pretty good. I attribute that to the window tint so I don't want to remove it just to help see when I occasionally drive in reverse
Ah ok, maybe a reversing camera is what you need if you can’t make the lights bright enough.
Have the same issue with my 84 that has lightly tinted windows when trying to back down my lower driveway at night.. Thanks for bringing this up and pointing me toward the JDM A-stars. Just ordered a pair and will see how they do.
I have LEDs in both my front bumper lights, but stayed with the chromed incandescent bulbs behind my clear lenses for the turn signals. Being a Euro, my parking light bulb is in the fog light and have an amber LED in those too.
Didn't want to mess with LEDs for the brake lights or the turn signals since those are monitored and didn't want to add heat producing resistors into the wiring.
Amber LED Parking Lights
White LED Fog Lights - they overpower the amber parking lights so just look white
Same LEDs in the aux High Beams. Headlights are an HID kit but I'll need to change the bulbs to a better 6000k color match now that I've switched the others.
Chrome Amber bulbs for the turn signals - invisible behind the clear lenses when not illuminated. No fast flash as they're incandescent.
Chrome Amber bulbs for the turn signals - invisible behind the clear lenses when not illuminated.
You have that separate little bulb in your housing? I do too (French lights)..not sure what to wire them to...how they should operate.
They should be wired already. The Euro cars only use the outer corner bulb for a turn signal and it's a single filament bulb (1156) not a double filament bulb (1157). The Euro fog lights have 3 prongs on the connector - one ground, one for the fog light, and one for the parking light.
When you turn on your parking lights, do the corners of the car light up? If so, that's what happens on US (and maybe other country cars) but on my two euros it has been the small bulb in the fog lamp that is the parking light. If you wanted to, you could wire that unused prong to the wire that's running to the corner parking light so the bulb in the fog light comes on as the parking light either with the corner light or if you put an 1156 bulb as the turn signal it will only light with the turn signal and not the parking light.
Euro fog lights have this 3 wire connector
Parking light bulb illuminated
Fog light bulb illuminated.
AEuro fog light retrofit into a US car or one where the parking lights is in the corner lamp would be a really easy way for someone to enable DRLs. Just install a current sensing DRL module to an SPDT relay, supply power to the relay and then power those connections in the fog lights from the relay - instant DRLs whenever the engine is running.
They should be wired already. The Euro cars only use the outer corner bulb for a turn signal and it's a single filament bulb (1156) not a double filament bulb (1157). The Euro fog lights have 3 prongs on the connector - one ground, one for the fog light, and one for the parking light.
When you turn on your parking lights, do the corners of the car light up? If so, that's what happens on US (and maybe other country cars) but on my two euros it has been the small bulb in the fog lamp that is the parking light. If you wanted to, you could wire that unused prong to the wire that's running to the corner parking light so the bulb in the fog light comes on as the parking light either with the corner light or if you put an 1156 bulb as the turn signal it will only light with the turn signal and not the parking light.
No..I have a US car, but French housings..not wired for the extra lights.
When I go first turn on the lights the corners light up, and that is it.
i have the same question....i've been looking for some that are directional (i.e pointing all light directly through the plastic lens...my reflective material inside the housing isn't so great).
and a suggestion for back up camera...I bought a rear view mirror on ebay that has dash cam/back up camera, and the mirror is the display. it can be toggled off. the back up camera is crazy good...super light sensitive. I think it was about $75. I mounted the back up camera above the license plate and was about to route the camera wiring through the hole that is there from the factory and squeezed it through the grommet in the back passenger corner under the panel, and routed it to the rear view mirror inside the headliner....pretty easy.
Have the same issue with my 84 that has lightly tinted windows when trying to back down my lower driveway at night.. Thanks for bringing this up and pointing me toward the JDM A-stars. Just ordered a pair and will see how they do.
I have LEDs in both my front bumper lights, but stayed with the chromed incandescent bulbs behind my clear lenses for the turn signals. Being a Euro, my parking light bulb is in the fog light and have an amber LED in those too.
Didn't want to mess with LEDs for the brake lights or the turn signals since those are monitored and didn't want to add heat producing resistors into the wiring.
Amber LED Parking Lights
White LED Fog Lights - they overpower the amber parking lights so just look white
Same LEDs in the aux High Beams. Headlights are an HID kit but I'll need to change the bulbs to a better 6000k color match now that I've switched the others.
Chrome Amber bulbs for the turn signals - invisible behind the clear lenses when not illuminated. No fast flash as they're incandescent.
8 Chrome Amber bulbs for the turn signals - invisible behind the clear lenses when not illuminated.
Pete,
Unless I have it wrong you refer to the outer lights as "fog" and the inner as "aux"? Is that how your lights are wired and hence switched? I thought the inner fixtures were the fog lights?
Also, do your aux lights come on with your high beams?
Pete,
Unless I have it wrong you refer to the outer lights as "fog" and the inner as "aux"? Is that how your lights are wired and hence switched? I thought the inner fixtures were the fog lights?
Also, do your aux lights come on with your high beams?
To not add confusion, let's cover all the front bumper lights.
There are the outermost corner lights. On my Euro those are turn signals only, but on others are turn signals and parking lights. These are amber chromed incandescent bulbs and in one picture I caught it when it was blinking, so lit yellow.
The outside pair rectangular lights on my car have the small parking light bulb inside (yellow LEDs in illuminated photos) and are the front fog lights (white LEDs) and when they are on they visually drown out the amber LED parking light bulbs but both are illuminated at the same time.
The inner pair of rectangular lights are the aux lights with white LEDs. These flash when the headlights are reclined and the stalk is pulled and they illuminate when the headlights are up and the main high beams are activated. That's what you see in that one photo where all the front lights are on.
11-13-2022, 12:01 PM
Upgraded (Brighter) Back up Reverse Lights
