Has anyone been successful with led blinker swap?

Like the thread says, before I spend money has anyone done the swap for our front blinkers? I've done the parking light mod where the third filament is on with the parking lights (the low beam if the blinker) and I think the final result would look really good with led's. I've read a lot about load resistors and just trying to get a feel if it's worth it.

 

There are flashers designed just for LED's don't fool with resistors.

 

Any suggestions about which flasher relays work and where to get them?

 

The flasher relay in a Tacoma isn't like the old-school plug in job. I doubt you'll get one designed for the purpose.

Another problem is if you are just using LED replacement "bulbs" (not an actual LED retrofit), it won't work as well as the filament bulb. Others won't be able to see the lights as well, just because the housing isn't designed for it. LED's have a much different output pattern (more directional).

 

That is why replacement bulbs, when properly designed, include multiple LEDs oriented to mimic the light distribution of incandescent bulbs.

 

yes, the older 3mm and 5mm LED's are very directional....but the SMT towers are 360 which fill out the housing area very well.

 

I tried a few different styles of LED but none were bright including one with the diodes all over it.
Some just wouldn't work in the socket. I wasted some money buying and then returning them all.

I tried this because I have DRL and wanted to prevent any melting or scorching of the lens.
I stuck with regular bulbs eventually and don't have any lens melting problems anyway.
I did use a type "5702KA" bulb which has a slightly cooler running temp than the factory bulbs.

 

On a side note, I installed 3ohm load resistors on the rear turns only. I mounted them on a bracket for heat isolation and used the high quality heat sink type of resistors, not the cheap eBay ones. I like this setup because I didn't need a separate pair of resistors for the front after I disabled my DRLs and wired to use Switchback LEDs on the front. Now I am looking at the Red / White style Switchback LEDs to modify my rear turn signals to act as reverse supplement lighting (just for the heck of it).

 

anyone used these for to replace the DRL/turn signals in front?

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-...tion=DispPage&Page2Disp=/specs/315x-x45-T.htm

 

do you like them better than the stockers? Are they significantly brighter?

 

^This, how do you like them?