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LED Bulbs for Tail Lights

Old Apr 18, 2015 | 10:23 PM
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Default LED Bulbs for Tail Lights

Hey everyone,

New here and just wanted to share my experience with putting LED bulbs into the stock housings. Here is a link to a video demonstrating turn signals/hazards on the new bulbs. I got everything from Pep Boys for $70 ($50 after a 30% off coupon - hence why I shop there lol).

Outermost bulbs - Pilot Automotive 194 White LED Part #IL194W5
Two inner bulbs - Pilot Automotive 3157 White LED Part #IL3157W15
Turn signal/hazard flashers - Tridon Long Life Flasher Part #LL552C

My Video:
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Old Apr 19, 2015 | 10:04 PM
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No reverse?
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Old Apr 19, 2015 | 10:44 PM
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You should put the same color LED as the lense, so you should have bought red LEDs instead of white. Plus everything looks bright at night. Daytime in the sun is when you really see if the LEDs are worth having.
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Old Jun 2, 2015 | 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by _JB_
You should put the same color LED as the lense, so you should have bought red LEDs instead of white. Plus everything looks bright at night. Daytime in the sun is when you really see if the LEDs are worth having.
I was told red inside red housing would be really dull.
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Old Jun 2, 2015 | 04:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Joeyofblades
I was told red inside red housing would be really dull.
Lenses are essentially filters. They let pass that color. So a Reddish-Orange or Pure-Red LED will pass more light through the lens than a White LED since LEDs produce a narrow color range.
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Old Jun 3, 2015 | 06:45 PM
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Originally Posted by BlackCowl
No reverse?
Nahh, reverse doesn't come on enough for me to spend money on it. I regret spending money on the tails because it didn't make much of a difference for $50. If I had gotten red maybe it would be better. But at least I don't have to worry about tails going dead for a long time.

If I change my front bulbs, what are good ones to get? I have stock housings so I don't think HIDs are a good idea because reflector housings. But I'd like some good bulbs to increase visibility at night. If someone does HIDs that you can use with pop up headlights then inform me of this, I'll be running underdrive pulleys though so idk if you can do that with HIDs. Also, I don't like the clear housings that replace the pop up headlights. Thanks!
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Old Jun 10, 2015 | 12:26 AM
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I did the hella projectors and hids, it's an easy install took me about 15 min per side.

Give me a few minutes and I'll get better pictures of the cutout. I'm at work at the moment so it may take 30min

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Last edited by alexcoreas; Jun 10, 2015 at 01:39 AM.
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Old Jun 10, 2015 | 08:23 AM
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That's awesome, where did you get the projector housings and how much were they? What kind of bulbs do you have in the fog lights? Is there a write up for installing the projector housings? Dont want to break anything.
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Old Jun 10, 2015 | 08:01 PM
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Blackbird Lighting Solutions (BLS), a sponsor, sells a kit. You can find out more about it on their website and other options in the Lighting FAQ.

BLS website: http://www.blackbirdlighting.com/

LS1Tech Lighting FAQ: https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...hting-faq.html
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Old Jun 10, 2015 | 08:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Joeyofblades
That's awesome, where did you get the projector housings and how much were they? What kind of bulbs do you have in the fog lights? Is there a write up for installing the projector housings? Dont want to break anything.
Here is the write up

https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...on-thread.html

(non-sponsor link removed)

(non-sponsor link removed)

The fogs are 880 leds from ebay

Last edited by WhiteBird00; Jun 11, 2015 at 07:06 AM.
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Old Jun 10, 2015 | 09:28 PM
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Originally Posted by VIP1
Blackbird Lighting Solutions (BLS), a sponsor, sells a kit. You can find out more about it on their website and other options in the Lighting FAQ.

BLS website: http://www.blackbirdlighting.com/

LS1Tech Lighting FAQ: https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...hting-faq.html
That's overpriced, I did mine for 160
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Old Jun 11, 2015 | 09:21 AM
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Thanks guys. Yeah that looks pricey, I'll research it but I have a lot to do and cant justify the price of better headlights right now. Stock work fine for now.
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Old Jun 11, 2015 | 10:05 AM
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Originally Posted by Joeyofblades
Thanks guys. Yeah that looks pricey, I'll research it but I have a lot to do and cant justify the price of better headlights right now. Stock work fine for now.

You won't regret spending the money once you upgrade. Obviously when money is available
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Old Jun 11, 2015 | 10:14 AM
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I believe you. I just need a tune, gears, and the rest of my suspension. And I'm about to go pick up this ram air hood.
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Old Jun 11, 2015 | 11:34 PM
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The Lighting FAQ has alternatives of various prices.

I just added HibachiZ28's thread to the Lighting FAQ. There were others like it there as well.

True, technically, you can assemble most of the BLS kit for less money. $150-$200 will get you a low beam setup of the Hella 60mm Halogen Projectors, a HID Kit, and brackets wiring etc. These projectors are small so stick with 35watt HID to prevent damage.

You won't have the front lens cover of the BLS kit unless you make that yourself as well, but that would require vacuforming. If you google it, you'll find info on making a vacuforming rig. I think there was a thread here on that a while back.

Buying OEM or better aftermarket projectors will cost more but you'll get better output. However, they aren't sealed like the Hella so you'll have to make a housing to contain them.

Last edited by VIP1; Jun 11, 2015 at 11:59 PM.
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Old Jun 12, 2015 | 10:15 PM
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I'd sooner spend the money on a blackbird kit. Ill keep an eye out for sales or group buys although I doubt there are any since it's probably made to order or rarely purchased. If I'm wrong please correct me and let me know if you've seen any sales or anything.
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Old Jun 13, 2015 | 03:40 PM
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Group Buys / Sales pop up a few times a year.
There was on a few months ago.
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Old Jun 18, 2015 | 04:13 PM
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I too put hid Hella projectors in my low beams and then led's in the high beams. It costs a bit of money but it is very, very worth it. I could never be comfortable driving with stock headlights after having done this.
The hid projectors were easy to do. The led's were a pretty big pain. They are bright though!
Here is a writeup I did on my installation including prices:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...eadlights.html





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Old Jun 19, 2015 | 10:16 PM
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What was painful about them? I don't use high beams much anyway I might do the lows and not the highs. Probably dumb but depends on if I'm capable of doing the high beams myself.
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Old Jun 23, 2015 | 02:17 PM
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The tough part was that the headlight bucket had to be cut and modified for the leds. Honestly the projectors are the way to go. I love them
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