LED Brake and signals

[garyhaupt]

Any hints for a 1999 E 350 LED install for the brake and signals? It cannot be that easy....a plug n play?

Many thanks

Gary Haupt

[Ron3rd]

Chris Bryant wrote:
Might have to change the flasher to an electronic one, an easy swap, once you find them.

X2 Beat me to it

[Sam_Spade]

garyhaupt wrote:
Incandescent will typically output 5-15 lumens per watt of power while LEDs CAN exceed 130 lumens per watt.

While this is true, it is not very useful information.
Note the word CAN.

One should NEVER buy an LED that does not list lumens, as you likely will be disappointed and have no real good basis for comparison.

But that company is known for quality and just getting back an answer is a good sign. Not cheap though.

[garyhaupt]

I have received a positive response and am sharing it, should anyone wish to contact the company for further info. I will follow up once I am home...in a month.

Hello Gary,
Thank you for your interest in our products.

LED lights are almost always brighter and more efficient than their incandescent counterparts.

Incandescent will typically output 5-15 lumens per watt of power while LEDs can exceed 130 lumens per watt.

Most of our LEDs are rated for 30~50 thousand hours. All of our LED products come with a minimum two year warranty with many having extended warranties.

Many of our headlights come with lifetime warranties making them the last bulbs you have to buy.

In my personal opinion there is value in LED bulbs and fixtures, especially on an RV or camper where power consumption can be a concern.

As for cost, we almost always offer economical options and if you tell me exactly what you're looking for I can help you locate them in our catalogue.

Thank you,
Ross Burstein
Super Bright LEDs Inc
866-590-3533
sbl-support@superbrightleds.com
http://www.superbrightleds.com


Gary

[landyacht318]

3496 incandescent bulbs are said to be 25 to 35% brighter on the signal/brake filament, compared to 1157.

Same filament locations. Same BA15d base.
The glass portion is a bit narrower. The expected lifespan shorter.

2357 bulbs are also brighter than 1157 on major filament.
2057 is same as 1157 on major but dimmer on minor.

[whjco]

garyhaupt wrote:
Any hints for a 1999 E 350 LED install for the brake and signals? It cannot be that easy....a plug n play?

Many thanks

Gary Haupt

I had a 2000 E350 and an Excursion which both use the same taillight assemblies. I tried the LED bulbs but had to quickly remove them. They're not designed to work with the taillight lens and the visible light output just wasn't enough to be safe.

I'd stick with the incandescent lamps that have filament spacing and location to properly work with the lenses.

Bill J., Lexington KY

[garyhaupt]

At $10 US a piece...makes it $13 in CDN. Pretty steep, unless they actually are much brighter and last beyond 150 hrs. I shall inquire.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/tail-brake-turn/filter/Base_Type,1156,1,40:Base_Type,1157,1,41:


Gary

[craz_z]

I agree with power savings there is no reason at all especially if adding resistors net zero savings between the 2.

I haven't seen full failure on cheap led's but it can certainly happen usually a few chipsets go down and you get the annoying blink or fluttering of a few smeds.

The 2 biggest reasons for me changing over are what you said larger format LED lenses that REALLY brighten up whats going on back there (safety)

2nd reason was heat and cheap lenses like your typical bargman incandescents. My lenses had holes burnt all the way through from years of use.

On a full stock car or pickup there is NO reason to change at all in my opinion. Unless like stated buying full lens kits that have leds littered throughout the lens. Bulb conversion is not worth the hassle unless again you change out the relay and forgo putting in silly resistors.

They are wonderful inside the cab they really brighten up the night if you don't mind really super bright interior cab lights. I've been converting all of our cars to new interior LEDs

Headlights I say ABSOLUTELY not! would never even consider putting leds up front WAYYYYY to many quality issues to even think of it. the fans end up going bad in a month and can smoke your wiring harnesses and can melt your super expensive lens housings. Aside from that it can be illegal in some states. (off topic but still I wouldn't do it)

[hornet28]

burningman wrote:
They’re fine. But if you do want LEDs, the aftermarket lenses with the LEDs built in are usually a lot brighter than if you just screw in an 1157 replacement in the stock housing.

That was my experience also

[burningman]

In the case of vehicle tail lights, power savings isn’t the point at all. You’ve got plenty of power available and the amount of energy it takes to run the lights is an immeasurably tiny amount that won’t make any difference.
LEDs themselves are super reliable, but the Chinese garbage manufacturing isn’t. So they fail a lot, usually the cheaper they are the faster they fail.
We run them on big trucks at work because they look cool, but honestly time has shown the old incandescents to be more reliable.
I’d say leave your taillights alone. They’re fine. But if you do want LEDs, the aftermarket lenses with the LEDs built in are usually a lot brighter than if you just screw in an 1157 replacement in the stock housing.

[fj12ryder]

"or add a resistor (kind of defeats the purpose of LED's)." I guess you're talking about a power saving being negated? I don't know about that part.

[wa8yxm]

Step one Try it. (Replace existing lamp with LED lamp) odds are it may work.. or not. Do flashers now flash super fast? Well if so you have two options

New "Heavy Duty" flasher (They do not care how many bulbs. 1 or 20. where as normal flashers want 2 or 3 or 4 or whatever they are designed for).

or add a resistor (kind of defeats the purpose of LED's).

[craz_z]

Mine is a E350 2004 MODEL

I can confirm that you WILL need a LED specific flasher relay to stop hyperflashing.

The usual LED sites dont have relays that I found. I ended up searching high and low on the CEC relay website to find this relay.

Here is what I bought.
2004 E350 Led flasher relayhttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JXLHMB2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It really doesnt matter the bulb the problem with LED's are they dont have any resistance like incandescents. Your rig will then hyperflash and its trying to tell you a bulb is burned out.

You can do markers and parking lights without issue but 4 way, and turns will be a problem.

I just upgraded to the bargman LED and it was a awesome safety improvement over the incandescents.


The Flasher relay is under the dash pretty easy to find.

The only other option is to add a resistor its much more wiring and soldering and the fact that there is something in a small space creating heat they tend to be prone to failure I didnt want the hassle so went with the flasher relay way.

[garyhaupt]

fj12ryder wrote:
You may not get brighter LED's at AutoZone, but you can get brighter LED's online with some looking around. I've been running LED's in my bike's taillights/brakelights and they've been in there for about 5 years with no issues so far. And much brighter than OEM.

hhmmm..okaay...I will look for brighter LED's on-line.

Gary

[fj12ryder]

You may not get brighter LED's at AutoZone, but you can get brighter LED's online with some looking around. I've been running LED's in my bike's taillights/brakelights and they've been in there for about 5 years with no issues so far. And much brighter than OEM.