not happy with my LEDs
not happy with my LEDs i got street glow brand 194 LED bulbs and put one in place for my license plate lamp. it may be bright enough for the DOT spec, but its definitely dimmer than an incandesant (sp?) 194 bulb.
what are some other LED options for the stock mount/housing? if nothing else gets bright as an incandesant light, i'll just have to go back to the regular bulb.
what are some other LED options for the stock mount/housing? if nothing else gets bright as an incandesant light, i'll just have to go back to the regular bulb.
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
Where did you get them and what do they look like? Are they the ones available at AutoZone & Pepboys that just have a few regular LEDs pointed straight out? If so, those are overpriced weak performing replacements.
For the License plate location, you can probably get away with "straight/directional" replacement. something like this:
That's assuming the License Plate bulbs are "down-firing" (or facing down). Otherwise, that wouldn't work for you either. I haven't looked at how the license plate bulbs are mounted to verify. If they plug-in on the side, then you need a "tower" LED replacement (see below).
But if you put any in reflectors (like tail lights), look for "tower" ones that have high brightness LEDs facing in all directions to get a fuller/wider light to use the reflector. Something like this:
There are shorter ones for shallower housings as well. You might need shorter ones for the side markers. I'm not sure because I haven't tried yet.
I bought them on ebay for a good price. Took a couple weeks to arrive though.
When buying LEDs, make sure to buy the same color as the lens that they will be behind. Red LED behind Red Lens, Amber LED behind Amber Lens, etc. For the License plate you can use White.
[EDIT: Updated pics]
For the License plate location, you can probably get away with "straight/directional" replacement. something like this:
That's assuming the License Plate bulbs are "down-firing" (or facing down). Otherwise, that wouldn't work for you either. I haven't looked at how the license plate bulbs are mounted to verify. If they plug-in on the side, then you need a "tower" LED replacement (see below).
But if you put any in reflectors (like tail lights), look for "tower" ones that have high brightness LEDs facing in all directions to get a fuller/wider light to use the reflector. Something like this:
There are shorter ones for shallower housings as well. You might need shorter ones for the side markers. I'm not sure because I haven't tried yet.
I bought them on ebay for a good price. Took a couple weeks to arrive though.
When buying LEDs, make sure to buy the same color as the lens that they will be behind. Red LED behind Red Lens, Amber LED behind Amber Lens, etc. For the License plate you can use White.
[EDIT: Updated pics]
Last edited by VIP1; Nov 14, 2011 at 12:35 PM.
I put a 8" long led strip on mine. Glued it to the underside. Got from superbrights
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...8/CIMG2366.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...8/CIMG2366.jpg
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
I put a 8" long led strip on mine. Glued it to the underside. Got from superbrights
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...8/CIMG2366.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...8/CIMG2366.jpg
I've seen a few people use a LED Strip like that. I'm thinking of doing that too.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Flexible-Car...ht_2748wt_1037
Cheaper than the SBLED Bulbs....
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I have a LED strip as a license plate light. Works fine. No problems.
My only concern is that the LEDs will crap out on me because they are the over-priced-lower-quality ones from Autozone. I got them for basically free (had a credit) so not a huge loss, but so far they've held just fine, with no issues.
Bright as heck too.
Camera makes the light look alot more blue than it does in person.
My only concern is that the LEDs will crap out on me because they are the over-priced-lower-quality ones from Autozone. I got them for basically free (had a credit) so not a huge loss, but so far they've held just fine, with no issues.
Bright as heck too.
Camera makes the light look alot more blue than it does in person.
OP- can you post a pic of what yours looks like?
Also, a single bulb will produce what you're looking for, it's just a matter of finding the correct bulb.
ZexGx found a bulb that works:
Also, a single bulb will produce what you're looking for, it's just a matter of finding the correct bulb.
ZexGx found a bulb that works:
I've tried a few LED lamps from the various LED suppliers and they all were too long for the small lamp housing. I still want to convert mine.
I had a led strip once too, in fact someone that went by Brian...(sp?) out of Texas made/sold them, but like these pics above show; 99% of that light floods the ground and in my case I have a clear cover on my plate and you got reflections from the leds so I sold it. Still looking for 1 good led 194 bulb that works correctly on fbody plates.