The 921 LED Reverse Light Bulb Study

I wonder if it’s worth upgrading from HIR to XPR

 

I think that depends on preference and the housing. The HIR on my 2015 Tacoma is awesome, more even and higher output than LED's I have tried. Though I haven't tried the XPR's. In our Subaru Ascent, the HIR was absolutely better than the 921, but it was still lacking due to the small reflector. I tried some of the ones I had laying around and they weren't much better, just more white. The V6 Triton's made a huge difference though!! far better than either. If you have the space for the V6 Triton, I would choose those over the DD XPR any day. Especially since there isn't much price difference with the current sales. Not saying the XPR is bad, it just isn't on the same playing field as the V6 Triton IMO. The optics make all the difference. I'm hopeful that DD is working on a new line of accessory lights that compare to the VLED's V6 series.

 

The tritons look like a solid option for me although I'm wondering if upgrading to the V6 extreme's for the brake lights is worth it? I'll be using my stock 2017 tail lights and going with the 5000k reverse light color option. @crashnburn80 you mentioned you haven't tested the meso tail light kit and that light direction and output is limited based upon led chip location, which may not be applicable in this example and tail light housing design. (Less of a concern if you're out on the trail.) This set appears to be a step up in brightness and possibly quality. Thoughts?


https://www.vleds.com/featured-vehi...ns/3g-tacoma-vt-v6-tail-light-conversion.html



The V6 extreme's definitely look nice...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEwDKA2s3dQ

 

The V6 Extreme for the brake lights are incredible. Compared to other LED's for the tail lamp an/or turn signals the light output is much more even and fills the reflector better than other LED's. Some LED's you'll have a dark spot because there is no forward facing LED and some with forward facing LED's you notice an intense spot with a surrounding glow. Not the greatest look IMO. I think the V6 Triton is more than enough, but if you really want to make sure it is noticeable when you signal or brake then the extra $40 per pair are worth it! If I had a 3rd gen, I would absolutely tie the upper brake section and turn signal into each other. It looks odd having the top half solid while the lower half is signaling. It looks a lot better with both signaling or full brightness on braking.

 

Well, I went with the basic VLED tail conversion kit, 2 of the VLR-15 flash resistors and a couple of the 1 led 194 end fire bulbs for the license plate. I can always upgrade to the tritons if it's not bright enough for me.

 

For brakes and signals specifically, remember the goal is near stock performance levels. Communication lights without cut offs intentionally shine into the eyes of trailing drivers to inform them of your intention, it should not be significantly brighter than stock, despite what some uneducated/misinformed LED vendors would like to sell you on, this is just as bad as running blinding headlights to oncoming drivers. Reverse lights won't be used in a scenario where that matters. Ultra bright brake lights and signals are more likely to cause an accident than prevent one, which is why the SAE standards exist. So please use common sense and don't fall to the idiocracy of the aftermarket LED industry saying people need to see your blinkers and brakes from space, completely destroying/blinding the night vision of the person behind you causing them to be more likely to be involved in an accident.

 

VLED tail conversion installed and the basic kit is plenty bright. Maybe a little too much.

 

Man, the diameter on those LED bulb replacements is pretty painful to look at. Even for a reverse bulb, the optics are going to be sooo far off. The diameter of that product to work accurately should be about 1.5mm. It is an order of magnitude off, at least. Sure it will put out a bunch of light, but there is no optical engineering or understanding in those products in the slightest. I expected way better from Vleds, that is straight up Amazon/ebay off-brand china design quality.

 

Reasonable perspective. However, given the desire so many of us have, of amber turns, we're limited to an LED switchback to accomplish that.

In other words, tradeoffs are completely worthwhile in my opinion.

I do like the HIR reverse bulbs in my '05 and I might run them in the '02 (still on stock halogens for now b/c time is short)

You, yourself, are a fan of amber turns which you don't have in your Tesla so I'm sure you can understand.

Dunno much of anything about designing an LED switchback but I'd imagine it's somewhat difficult to make it super tiny. The 921 triton extreme reverse is smaller.

 

Amber turns are definitely preferred. No reason a switchback needs to be that bulky though. You can look at several of the cheap china blade switchback headlights that do it far closer to the appropriate size. Still doesn't work for a headlight of course, since you cannot position multiple pairs of emitters to support multiple colors in the correct optical location for a focused headlight pattern. But they are way closer to being correct than those bulky VLED units.

Like this dual color emitter LED




Definitely not a product I'd recommend, but this is an older product and easily shows switchbacks can be far smaller and more optically compatible than those dated bulky units by VLEDs.

 

I prefer amber turns, but I wish these were at the top of the tail light like the oem 1st and 2nd gens and not the bottom. I didn't install the 1 led 194 end fire bulbs for the license plate. I figured that would've required spending more money on a DIR harness from Dave.

Until somebody makes a replacement led tail light that I like these will have to do.

I wish Meso would hurry up with the limited edition ultimate tail lights.

 

True story, I got a batch of DIR done at the end of this week and now, of all stupid things, I'm out of cardboard shipping boxes.

Another 200 supposed to show up tomorrow. Just nuts trying to juggle the raw parts. Gonna call it a night I guess.

 

The VLED's V6 Triton series switchbacks are very impressive, especially the extremes. The optics and depth adjustability really make all the difference compared to designs with open chip designs. But they come at a cost and size of the heat sink can be an issue. The Xenon Depot Xtreme VF series has the right concept but they have their quirks when operating. Lightwerkz has a comparison video on a customer car that shows some strange behavior with how the XD VF operates.

I have seen this 194 switchback, but I have no idea if they are worth a darn. The site is odd, but they have some interesting designs on some of the bulbs.

Autolumination 194 Switchback 18SMD 3014 Bulb T10 Wedge Instrument Panel Gauge Colored Led Bulbs Lights Lamps 194 led bulb W5W led bulb 147 152 158 led bulb 159 161 led bulb 168 led bulb 184 192 193 259 280 285 447 464 501 555 558 585 655 656 657 1250 1251 1252 2450 2652 2921 2825 led bulb PC 175 led bulb 2886X led bulb Map light led bulb LED LEDs LED's L.E.D. L.E.D.s L.E.D.'s Alzetta Automotive Automobile Light Bulbs Headlights Fog lights bulbs lamp lamps Super White Xenon HID Festoon Dome Flashlights bulb usage chart bulb specification chart Colored Low cost Wholesale distributor Application Chart Luxeon III Luxeon 3 Watt Emitter Parking Signal Marker Stealth Chrome Instrument panel Interior LED Bulbs Light Bulb Colored Bulbs Replacement parts Replacement light bulbs Application charts Cross Reference Technical Data Lumens 5630 Optical Osram

 

Hands down this is by far the best lighting explanation anyone could ever ask for.
Thanks so much for posting.

 

Are you still using the VLeds for your truck?

 

yes, happy with it and would buy it again

 

Lack of brightness in the backup lights was my main gripe. Needed something more for the camera. All i did was add another socket/921 bulb to double the light output. Heat not a problem as backup usage is minimal. THe socket wiring was threaded through a 'vent' opening for that light and the second bulb/socket assembly worked through the opening and hangs there with the original bulb next to it.

 

Have you had a chance to compare the output to a pod light, like the DD Hitchmount or the KC Flex Era 1?

I have a 2023 4Runner with 5000K LED headlights and halogen reverse lights and I'd like to have more output, and have the reverse lights match the 5000K color temperature.

If I can get sufficient output from the tiny 4Runner reflectors, I'd probably go with the VLED V6 Extreme. If not, or if they're significantly lower performing than the HIR, I'd probably swap in some cheap 5000K Hella bulbs and put the money towards a pair of KC Flex Era 1s to mount below the bumper.

 

The only pods I can compare for reference are my DD Max selective yellow fogs and DD Pro selective yellow ditch lights. Not really a comparison. I'd say these are pretty close to factory led headlight hues. I wouldn't opt for anything brighter than the basic VLED tails kit imo.

 

Why's that? I don't really see a downside to brighter reverse lights.

I have a pair of SSC2 Sports in the rear bumper of my Forester and they're a significant improvement. I'm much more visible, and I can see much better.