[Review] Plug'n'Play Brake Light Upgrade - 1157 - 45 Red Dual Intensity SMD LEDs per bulb

[YKnot]

I have done this upgrade to two cars so far. One upgrade took place because the voltage regulator kept blowing out bulbs, and the second one was because the first one went so well. When trying to figure out how to make my brake lights on the NT brighter, quicker to engage, and more noticeable during a "strobe" situation; this upgrade seemed like a no-brainer. I am definitely not disappointed.

When replacing a filament bulb with a LED equivalent, there are three important things to consider:

1) Color: LEDs use directed light patterns. A white LED (6000K Wavelength) or a warm white LED (4500K Wavelength) will shine intense light directly through the filter/diffuser. This will cause the color (red in this case) to wash out. That is why in this case I chose a RED LED color (635nm Wavelength). This makes the light color look as close to the stock bulb as possible.​

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2) Light Pattern: The design of most LEDs can only "shoot" light in a 20-45 degree arc. This is great for a low level flash light, but it does not lend itself to be well suited for a brake light. A brake light (using a filament bulb) uses a large area of reflective surface to concentrate the scattered light of a filament bulb into a concentrated area or areas. This makes a small bulb produce quite a bit of light in over a larger surface area. That is why in this case, the 45 SMD LED tower has LEDs on the end for direct light focus and several more around the circumference of the bulb to cast a nearly 290 degree light pattern. This utilizes the reflective surface as a filament bulb would and provides an even pattern for uniformity of the light output. In other words, I didn't just install a red spot light on the back of my bike.​

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3) Light Intensity: Lumens, Candle Power, and relative intensity - these can all describe the "brightness" of a bulb and still mean nothing to the average Joe... or average Mark. Obviously you want the brightest you can get, right? Well that depends on what you want to do with it. To save typing up a dissertation of how DOT standards affect the visibility of vehicles without hindering the ability of other drivers to safely operate their vehicles (and keep my wife from being mad at me for not taking her to bed an hour ago); lets just say this: At the wavelength that you will be using for brake lights, just get the brightest you can find. After being reflected inside the housing and filtered through the diffuser, you aren't going to blind anyone with these. They just aren't that much brighter than the stock bulbs.​

...but they are brighter.

This is a direct bulb replacement from the standard 1157 dual filament bulb (white halogen).

Here is a link (good as of 2013/09/29) to the bulbs I used... http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/tail-brake-turn/1157-led-bulb-dual-intensity-45-smd-led-tower-/814/

And here are some pictures of what they look like in real life...

And finally, here is a quick video to illustrate the difference. One of the bulbs used in this video is a stock filament bulb. The other is the 45 SMD LED Tower bulb. Can you guess which one is which?

[video=youtube_share;dWKxsEaqWdU]

As you can see, the LED Tower bulb lights up much faster, and is slightly brighter than the filament bulb. My wife has followed me twice since I changed these bulbs. She commented both times that it was very noticeable when I hit the brakes. I attribute this to both the brightness, and the lack of a "warming" affect when you engage the higher intensity (aka - hitting the brakes). With an advertised 30,000 hour life cycle, I do not intend to replace them for quite some time.

Next I will be adding a strobe controller so that I am no longer pulsing the brakes manually.

Cheers!
-mark

 

[artemedes]

Thanks for posting this. I tried a similar LED replacement in my DR650 and it wasn't much difference in running mode, but certainly not as bright when the brakes are applied. I think I just bought a LED replacement that wasn't bright enough. I see your link says 220 lumens which might be double the one I have now. I will give this a try in the DR. IF it doesn't help I can get a second one and put them in the NT.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I tried a similar LED replacement in my DR650 and it wasn't much difference in running mode, but certainly not as bright when the brakes are applied

Kevin, I have to agree with you about the ineffectiveness of your LEDs as brake lights. I couldn't always tell if you were braking when I rode behind you down to Marble.

 

[Mellow]

Very nice!.. Heck, I always thought the NT had a great looking tail light - the entire lens lights up and lots of surface area but never hurts to make something even better.

 

[charlie b]

I did the same replacement in my Guzzi. Got the bulbs at Autozone. The reason for me is current draw. The LED's take less than half the current of filament bulbs, very important when your alt does not charge much while idling.

 

[YKnot]

Thanks for posting this. I tried a similar LED replacement in my DR650 and it wasn't much difference in running mode, but certainly not as bright when the brakes are applied. I think I just bought a LED replacement that wasn't bright enough. I see your link says 220 lumens which might be double the one I have now. I will give this a try in the DR. IF it doesn't help I can get a second one and put them in the NT.

Kevin, I have to agree with you about the ineffectiveness of your LEDs as brake lights. I couldn't always tell if you were braking when I rode behind you down to Marble.

I did the same replacement in my Guzzi. Got the bulbs at Autozone. The reason for me is current draw. The LED's take less than half the current of filament bulbs, very important when your alt does not charge much while idling.

You will notice that I chose a bulb that has both direct and radial firing LEDs. More specifically, the SMD LEDs with the higher output. This makes them much brighter in a reflector based light assembly. The bulbs that you get from most retailers either only have LEDs on the end for direct light or have very few radial mounted lights. When you see these in a reflector assembly, they look like a light dot in the middle of the assembly since they do not utilize the reflector to its fullest.

With these bulbs that I review here, the difference is significant compared to the less expensive bulbs. The video in my first post shows a halogen bulb on the left and the LED on the right. The LED bulb is brighter, more noticeable, and quicker to engage/disengage without the "dimming" effect of a halogen bulb.

 

[charlie b]

The Autozone bulbs I bought look just like that. Same number of LED's, on end and radial. Didn't look at lumens rating. They are brighter than the incandescent bulbs that they replaced by quite a bit.

 

[YKnot]

The Autozone bulbs I bought look just like that. Same number of LED's, on end and radial. Didn't look at lumens rating. They are brighter than the incandescent bulbs that they replaced by quite a bit.

Well that's a bummer... The Autozone here doesn't have a comparable bulb. I would love to pick these kinds of parts up locally.

 

[artemedes]

Thanks again. I ordered the exact bulb in the first post. It came in today and I popped it in the DR. Much better than stock amazingly better than the first LED one I tried.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I've got a Back-Off brake-light modulator, an Admore light bar, and the light kit in my Givi Maxia. If I were to replace the stock bulbs with these, would there be enough draw to make everything that's tied to my brakes work. Or would I need a different flasher like their website suggests?

 

[Rmcapozzi]

I've got a Back-Off brake-light modulator, an Admore light bar, and the light kit in my Givi Maxia. If I were to replace the stock bulbs with these, would there be enough draw to make everything that's tied to my brakes work. Or would I need a different flasher like their website suggests?

Reducing the wattage on the running and brake lights will not cause any problems with the brake lights working. It is when you reduce load on the turn signals that you run into issues. If you leave the turn signal bulbs as the OEM incandescent bulbs, you'll be just fine.

If you wish to switch the turn signals bulbs over to an LED, THEN you will need to look at adding a load equalizer to increase the load so your OEM flasher will not think a signal bulb is burnt out OR you'll need to replace your flasher with one that is not load dependent. If you don't, you're flasher will think a bulb is burnt out (why else would there be less draw on the system?) and will flash at an accelerated rate from normal.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Thanks, Rob. My understanding of electrical stuff is still at the "Don't let the smoke out of the wire" stage.

 

[RedLdr1]

If you wish to switch the turn signals bulbs over to an LED, THEN you will need to look at adding a load equalizer to increase the load so your OEM flasher will not think a signal bulb is burnt out OR you'll need to replace your flasher with one that is not load dependent. If you don't, you're flasher will think a bulb is burnt out (why else would there be less draw on the system?) and will flash at an accelerated rate from normal.

Another option is purchasing LED replacements with a resistor already built in to the bulb assembly to act as the load equalizer. Less wiring to deal with and no stand alone equalizer unit.....

 

[charlie b]

Or just get a new flasher unit made for LED's. That was what I did.

 

[RedLdr1]

Or just get a new flasher unit made for LED's. That was what I did.

There you go spending extra money, I'm too frugal, okay cheap, :rolleyes1: for that......

The downside of LEDs in new vehicles is one bad LED usually means a entire light assemly replacement as manufacturers do not replace individual LEDs or even the circuit boards they are mounted on... If you look closely at the pictures of my Flex on the Tail Of The Dragon you'll see the lower right rear light assembly has three LEDs out on the bottom row. Ford replaced the tail light assembly under the New Car Warranty at no cost to me when I took it to the dealership. However, if the car was out of warranty that tail light assembly is over $300!

 

[charlie b]

Too cheap for a $6 flasher unit?

New vehicle designs are horrible again. We went through this once in the 70's. Bump a Pontiac grill and it cost $500 to replace. Caused the federal 5mph bumper mandate. Car had to withstand a 5mph bump without signification damage.

Now we still have the bumpers but costs to repair have skyrocketed again.

I used to lament the old headlight standards. But, you could get a replacement for less than $20. Now it costs $500 if you break one. Good thing some of them are made out of lexan

 

[kenstone]

I run #2357 in most 2 element applications for some additional brightness for cheap, more draw though:redface:
Here's an interesting article/chart about common bulbs, both single and double element:
http://www.run-n-lites.com/bulbspec.asp

 

[RedLdr1]

Too cheap for a $6 flasher unit?

I can't mix and match "old bulbs" and new LEDs if I replace the flasher. I carry an old bulb as a spare....

Now we still have the bumpers but costs to repair have skyrocketed again.

Yep, you can't even see the damage to the rear bumper of the Flex, caused by an inattentive tourist, in those pictures I posted. Yet it was close to $800 to remove and repaint the rear bumper! That is at an independent USAA 5 Star Shop, not the dealer's body shop. In fairness the trailer hitch took most of the hit, and punched a nice square hole through the front bumper of the car that hit me, but the scuffed paint still required a repaint....

 

[charlie b]

Four LED bulbs and a flasher unit. Or not.

Mine was easy. I needed new turn signal units to fit the new fairing and in the space where the new panniers went. $30/pair for the LED's was cheap compared to factory replacements at $50 ea

And the bonus is my alternator now has excess charging power instead of being near it's limit most of the time.

 

[YKnot]

If you look closely at the pictures of my Flex on the Tail Of The Dragon you'll see the lower right rear light assembly has three LEDs out on the bottom row. Ford replaced the tail light assembly under the New Car Warranty at no cost to me when I took it to the dealership. However, if the car was out of warranty that tail light assembly is over $300!

This is why I stick to an incandescent housing/reflector and add a LED replacement bulb. $20 for a single plug-n-play part versus $300 for an entire assembly is a no-brainer in my book. I had over 200,000 miles on my 2004 Golf TDI with LED bulbs in incandescent housings without ever having to replace one of the LED bulbs. That being said - I did keep the old incandescent bulbs for a "just-in-case" scenario.