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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Tail light question

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Tail light question     BERTHA 08-28-2011 @ 4:43 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 129 Joined: Nov 2009 "Somewhere I read that if your tail light lense is red, then you need a red LED bulb. To me, I would think that a white one would be better." I've used LED's extensively in our RV, if you want more red use red, amber, amber and clear.clear it does make a big difference. Notes Concerning Conversion to LED Car bulbs "PLEASE READ BEFORE ORDERING LED CAR BULBS" "Which Color LEDs should I use? For best results the LED color should be the same as the lens color or if bulb is behind a clear lens, use the appropriate color for turn and brake light functions. As an example: a red lens will filter out all but the red portion of the light so if the light is all red, none or very little light will be blocked by the lens. The light from a White LED contains very little light in the red portion of the visible spectrum so most of the light would be filtered out by a red lens." Bob This message was edited by BERTHA on 8-28-11 @ 4:49 AM TomO 08-23-2011 @ 6:44 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7250 Joined: Oct 2009 Check the bulbs to be sure that they are 6 volt bulbs. Make sure that the lenses are clean. Check for resistance in the circuit to ensure that you are getting at least 6 volts to the bulb. Look for lenses that are more orange in color, they let more light through. Take apart each connection and clean the bullet, then add a corrosion inhibiting grease to the connection. Then take a flashlight reflector and cut it down to fit in the housing. You will also need to enlarge the hole for the bulb. This will help some. Here is a link to a site that sells the superbright conventional bulbs. He says that he is out of stock on them at this time. http://www.taillightking.com/light_bulbs.htm All of these will help some, but there is no fix for the drivers that follow too close and don't pay attention to the traffic. Tom planojc 08-23-2011 @ 6:29 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 42 Joined: May 2010 Thanks 40, that's the setup I want but didn't know how well they worked. What color do you use? Somewhere I read that if your tail light lense is red, then you need a red LED bulb. To me, I would think that a white one would be better. 40 Coupe 08-23-2011 @ 4:25 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1674 Joined: Oct 2009 I have them in two 6V cars and like them. You have to have the bulb socket with the off-set pin for the 1157 style of bulb. http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=/specs/1156_57-x12-24V.htm ford38v8 08-22-2011 @ 6:29 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2758 Joined: Oct 2009 I haven't seen one for the teardrop, but I do know that LED's do not disperse light like a regular bulb does, so you're likely to wind up with 8 or 9 bright spots on the lens. Alan planojc 08-22-2011 @ 3:23 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 42 Joined: May 2010 Has anyone used a LED tail light bulb? It has a cluster of LED's mounted on a standard bulb socket. supereal 08-22-2011 @ 11:50 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Brighter bulbs usually don't make much of a difference, nor does adding reflection to the housings. The main problem is the size of the lens. Today, we have to compete with modern stop lights that are huge and bright, and drivers just don't see small ones. Many of us have installed LED light bars, which really do the job. Mine comes on flashing, then goes "solid". Some can be wired to also function as turn signals. I wouldn't take an old car into traffic without one. Getting rear-ended by an inattentive driver once was enough for me. It resulted in $3,000 of damage to my convertible! planojc 08-22-2011 @ 8:54 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 42 Joined: May 2010 My 39 std tail and brake lights are hard to see in the day light. I grounded the sockets by soldering a wire to it and bolting the other end to the frame with a star washer. I know the LED's work better, but was wondering if a higher candle power lamp is available. Thanks

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