LED Lighting Conversion

So.... I've scanned thru this thread and also looked at another incredibly detailed thread https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-921-led-reverse-light-bulb-study.490137/ and still have not decided on LED bulbs for TAILLIGHTS. Especially looking for increased light output and avoiding hyper flash


JDM - mixed reviews. Inexpensive. Need for resistors??

VLED - pricey. good reputation. light output not significantly brighter? Need for resistors?

Diode Dynamic - have not seen too much opinion. seems like a quality brand. Need for resistors?

 

I have loved everything gtr lighting I've ever bought

 

Well it’s somewhat complicated.

Doing only the rear turn signal bulb I didn’t need any resistor with the VLED. Headlights on or not.

They are bright, for sure. Not insanely bright. With my standard Pro tail lights, they are absolutely bright enough, brighter than stock by my eye. I did the reverse at the same time, and those are insanely bright so maybe that kinda makes the tails look dim compared. The tone of the red is also good.

The main reason I went VLEDS is I started in the interior, had zero problems like many were having and loved the K options in the bulbs. Everything matched and looked great so I was happy. I wanted to stick with a good product.

I ended up doing nearly the entire truck. I also like things, lighting etc to be consistent so I wanted to stick with bulbs that match.

DD is supposed to be good as well, but I have zero experience with them. I’m happy with what VLEDS has to offer I guess.

I drive 100+ miles a day on my commute and something that can handle continuously being lit without damage is critical to me. I don’t see why a quality company makes a product designed to last @ 320 max and a much cheaper product is 4x that. I just don’t know. Also, why didn’t VLEDS go white. Maybe that’s why they are dimmer, they aren’t white. Maybe in coloured bulbs that’s not a fair measuremt. The housing has a red lens so maybe you lose a ton of light when the light passes through it?

 

Thanks for your insight!

I was also wondering why some offer Red LED when clear should be fine on brake lights and turns with the colored tint already.

I am going to call DD and maybe VLED tomorrow to try and educate myself more.

 

Feel free to share anything you learn!

From my understand it’s like this.

The colour you see when you see something is the wavelength of light that is reflected, not absorbed by the object you are looking at.

So if you are putting a white light behind a red lens, you are efficiently wasting all the light that isn’t visible red spectrum that will pass through the lens and not be absorbed by it. So you waste a lot of energy, and create a lot of unnecessary heat by making a ton of light that is immediately wasted.

So by using a red LED, the vast majority of the light that the LED outputs gets through the lens without all the unnecessary heat. This should put much less stress on the electronics of the bulb.

So it’s possible that a red led can put more light through the lens while making a lot less heat compared to a white bulb that makes a lot more total light.

I don’t represent any company here nor am I defending any position. Just giving you my speculation and some thought that went into my decision.

 

What VLED kit did you go with? Thanks

 

And to expand on my own decision...

I paid tens of thousands of dollars for this truck.

So why worry about the $35 difference between the High vis red 7440/7443 vs the Triton V6?

It comes down to this. The Triton V6 has much better heat dissipation while creating about 8% more light.

However the straight replacement bulb uses 100% factory wiring and plugs, which retains 100% of my factory sealing. Should anything ever go wrong, I can simply pull the housing, replace the bulb and be up and running in minutes. All 100% sealed. Even going back to stock. There is only one turn signal visible from the rear and the rear housings are exposed so this is import to me.

If I go Triton, I have to risk an aftermarket seal on the housing, and then I have to deal with the connection between the factory socket and the aftermarket plug which is 100% not ideal for me. It’s impossile to casually inspect that weatherproofing whatever the choice may be as it’s hidden behind the housing. So for the 8% light gain, it’s not worth it.

However on the front there is tons of room, and it’s easy to inspect. Also, if I use the Triton there, I can use the resistors VLEDS offers that work inline with the Triton maintaining thier aftermarket weatherproof plug. It effects both front and back turn signals as it’s a shared circuit. So this way I only have one thing to deal with, sealing the factory socket to Triton plug using heat shrink and tape. If I did straight replacements here I’d have to tap into the wiring to put resistors on which means altering the factory wiring and more splices or something to monkey with and waterproof.

So by using the direct replacement in the back and Triton in the front, I get 100% factory wiring, very easy to replace bulbs, the ability to use resistors to prevent hyperflash and units built for thier specific application, which hopefully translates to a longer life. I do realize that just because they LEDs are rated to 30,000+ hours, some components might not be.

So that’s just my opinion.

 

I didn’t buy any kits, just replacement bulbs for each application.

I don’t think they actually have any choices for kits.

I’m happy to give you any info on specific bulbs I chose if that would help.

 

The reason I asked is because I have the VLED's in my '12 Tacoma for the front. They are the switchbacks that use a bright white daytime running light and would change to orange when signaling. I have ordered a new '18 TRD Sport and I'm thinking that the VLED's from the '12 may work with a bulb change. I remembered when I ordered that the balast/controler was separate and then you would choose the type of bulb.

 

My ‘17 Pro has LED driving lights, so the amber turn signals are only activated when indicating a turn or the 4-way hazards are on. So I ordered Triton V6 in Amber. Partially to remove the way that part of the headlight looks Amber with all the stray light bouncing around in there when the lights are off. And partially to work on completing my LED conversion.

Wouldn’t your ‘18 Sport also have LED daytime running lights?

 

So I called DD today and found them to be helpful and knowledgeable. Given some of the feedback, I opted to just go with them for my taillights. Sounds like the saying, "you get what you pay for" may apply here. Plus they are having 20% off for Cybermonday!

They have several options for the brake lights and turn signals. Again, given that I smoked the lens I wanted them to be BRIGHT. DD said the middle option (310 lumens) is definitely brighter than stock. I went ahead and opted for the 510 lumen option on both. Bit pricey at $90/pair but with the sale and only $30 more than 310 lumens I thought a good investment.

Oh, I also asked why stock bulbs are clear but I see so many red LED options. DD said basically the light diffuses better when the bulb matches the color of the plastic lens.

Should be in a couple of days - excited to post some pics!

 

Yes the 18 sport will have the LED running lights.

 

For what it is worth I have been running VLED Headlights, Fogs, Clearance Lights, Interior Lights, Triton Turn Signals and Triton Brake Lights in my 2016 Limited since I bought it in 2015 and am completely satisfied.

The Triton Turn Signals and Brake Lights are the V2.5s and are bright enough that it hurts your eyes if you look directly at the Front Turn Signals. The Red Brakes Lights and Turn Signals are on par in brightness as well. The V6 Triton's are even brighter...

About 2 months ago I dumped the HIDs I purchased from VLEDs for the Low Beam Headlights for the Micro LEDs from VLEDs. Again totally satisfied, and got rid of a ton of wiring that came with the HIDs...

Everything matches the OEM LED DRL's perfectly and gives the truck a very clean look not to mention the impressive light pattern.

Very clean cut off with the projector low beams as well. When I am behind someone at a light I don't nuke the interior of their car with light, very distinct cut off line for the light at the trunk line.

The high beams are totally impressive, they throw out pure light and light up an impressive area in front of you and sides of the road which is important to me because of the wildlife around here.

They feel solid and well built in your hand.

VLEDs are pricier than some of the other suppliers but in my humble opinion you get what you pay for.

 

So did you order the latest gen micros, in H9/H11?

5K or 6K?

What wattage was the ballast on your HIDS?

Thanks!

 

H11 for the Micros from VLEDs.

5K all the way around.

Not sure on the wattage of the HIDs. I will have to dig them out of a box to check, bought them from VLEDs quite awhile ago, not using them anymore.

 

I am running VLED Micros in my Low Beams and installing the VLED Micros in my Fogs today (hopefully) they just arrived this AM.

 

Ok thanks,

I see they are rated around 3000 lm so I’m wondering if they are any brighter than my 35W HIDS which I doubt, and the HIDS are only a few months old.

If I had halogens I’d be all over the micros but I’m kinda hesitant in that what I have is very likely better output and is still quite new. I even have a pair Phillips 4300k bulbs new as backup as well.

 

Sorry for just getting back to you. I tried Opt7s in the fogs after 1 day they failed. Tried the Phillips led and again failed.... so opted to replaced the whole fixture with the Morimoto XB LEDs. Just put those in over the weekend. They are only slightly brighter than the halogen but with the whiter light things seem to be much clearer. If you really want bright I would go with the supernova v3.

 

The Micro LEDs from VLEDs are definitely not brighter than the HIDs I replaced with them.

Don't seem to be any dimmer either, seems to be just a different light pattern.

A techie with metering equipment may be able to give you the exact difference in output but for me I see no difference in light quality just a difference in pattern.

Very happy with them and glad to be rid of all the cabling and connectors that went with the HIDs.

 

Has anyone replaced the tiny light in the little Qi charging cubby? Would like to change it to a blue color to match the rest at night