led bulbs

i had a strange problem trying to install led bulbs in my turn signals the other day,as soon as the bulb made contact with the socket it would pop the t/s fuse!, went through 3 fuses, the last attempt the bulb's plastic began to get hot and smolder, now i did try to use a 3157 amber because the 4157 are low/high wattage for running parklights and turn signals, my truck does not have drl so these should of worked right? i reinstalled the incadescent bulbs and not a problem. what type(brand) of led do you guys recomend?

 

What year truck do you have? If you have a newer model 2nd gen with your turn signals integrated in with your running lights (toward the middle next to your grill), just simply replacing the bulbs with LED's won't work. If they are, you have to buy two modules to bypass the running lights

 

I use vleds.com for all of my leds. Turn signals are trickier than most other LEDs though because you often need to use a load resistor to keep from blowing fuses or getting that hyper turn signal flashing.

 

I have V-LED Triton Switchbacks in my 2013 for the front turn signals/DRL. You need to use the 3157CK base or you will blow the fuse as soon as the power is turned on.

 

I recommend these:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=271245336551&alt=web

They are very bright and $40 for switchback LED bulbs isn't bad. I have a set in my Taco. You will need load resistors to prevent hyper flashing!

 

The nice thing about the V-LED kit is the resistors are only running while the turn signal is activated. It's a really smart, well designed and thought out system. Their brightness is equal to or greater than stock. Far brighter than any LEDs I've seen or tried myself.

 

thanks guys, my truck is not equipped with drls, only lights up when turn signals are activated.

 

its a 05 prerunner v6

 

so it has to be the ck base? what does that mean?

 

It's a designer base made by Calvin Kline.

But seriously...the "CK" in the part number indicates that the "pin out"
of the wires at the base of the bulb are a bit different.

This link shows you the difference.

http://www.distantxtremes.com/blog/3157-vs-3157ck-what-is-the-difference

 

is this the same deal with the stop/tail lights?

 

I'm having the same issue. I have LEDs now with load resistors, no issues except the LEDs now aren't 360* LEDs so they only point forward. I replaced with 360* ones and as soon as the blinker was turned on fuse popped. I have DTRL but they are with a wire in the third hole which cause it smolder when turned on with new LEDs. Anyone know what's wrong

 

Look at the diagram in the link two posts up from yours.

 

The stoplights don't flash, you are OK with LEDs there.

It's the flasher that needs more resistance, which is the problem for the turn signal bulbs.

 

Why are your wires smoldering?!?!?

How exactly did you install your line resistors?

What LEDs are you using? Pix?

 

Resistor is wired on the positive wire like it's supposed to be. It fixed hyper flash on first set of LEDs. The second set came from Walmart. They were cheap so I figured why not. It's not the wire that's smoldering. It's the bulb in the socket that does. I should more clear there. It melted a little corner of the bulb plug. I returned them so no pictures.

 

i attempted to install my leds in the stop/tail lights and noticed the bulb would not seat and click in, would fall right out! looking at the base i saw that the "tabs" were slightly smaller than the filament bulbs, is there a certain brand that will seat properly and "click"?

 

for your tail lights, signals and reverse lamps, just buy those pairs from csjumper, he has the proper stuff for that. DTRL go with VLED.

 

Started up my Tacoma with both map lights on, why I don't know just did, one of the LEDs from Superbirght stopped working. Guess I'll read what if any warranty they have.