New guy with LED brake light question

Just got my 2020 TRD Off-road, and want rear blinkers, and tail/brake lights converted to LED. Do I need to add resistor to brake lights like I do turn signals?

Thanks in advance,

Scott

 

I’ve seen some need resistors and some don’t. Amps vary from different leds. Other mods maybe vary with side mirror led upgrade and front turn signal upgrades.

easiest way to go For what you might want it mesocustoms.com. Look for the stage 1 / 2 total tail lights. Also check the dealers on the homepage For stock availability as they might have them in stock as well

edit: just reread your post. No resistors needed for brakes

 

That’s interesting stuff. Right now I have the headlights converted to LED and came with a canbus inline that the salesman bought me that he said Toyota parts guys recommended. I installed LED back up lights(with no resistor) haven’t tried CC to see if it’s affected, and installed JDM amber LED fog lights and have had no issues, but again, have not tried cruise control to see if those are causing any issues.

 

Several lighting pointers.

Your LED lights are likely a downgrade unless you are running the Hikari Ultras. See this thread, specifically posts 1-3. Most all replacement LEDs create more short range foreground light and less distance light, yes it looks brighter immediately in front of you, but the light doesn't go as far.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

Reverse, consider the HIR swap. Cheaper, brighter and better pattern:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/gy6-35-hir-921-reverse-light-upgrade-vs-high-power-leds.474996/

The JDM fogs are cheap Baja knock offs, which are very poor performing. They are not SAE compliant and not actually street legal despite what JDM says, note how Baja 'fixed' their fogs due to them not being SAE compliant (legal), bug JDM did not update their knock off design. All the SAE fogs are in this thread below. The best by far are Diode Dynamics SS3s linked at the top.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/

 

Noticed you are located in Kirkland. I'm in Wenatchee.. Cheers.

 

I pass through there often on my way to Chelan.

 

Well, it sounds like the LED's I installed in my new Taco is not the best for light output and overall PNW use. I will probably look at an HID for headlights. As far as the front signals and rear brakes/signals, I might just send what I have back and stick with OEm bulbs. Seems like the benefit to cost is not that big a deal. Thoughts??

 

these are what the salesman bought for me and said were so good according to his parts guys.

https://www.amazon.com/Fahren-Headl...eywords=XD+Phillips+hid&qid=1597942518&sr=8-2

 

Check out post #2 and #3 in that thread. You can get significant gains with an H9 swap or using performance GE/Tungsram bulbs, and if wanting LED/whiter light the

$80 Hikari UltraFocus H11 H8 H9 LED Bulbs,18000LM,32W Prime ZES LED Equivalent to 120W Ordinary LED,High Performance LED Kit,Halogen Upgrade Replacement,Canbus Ready,6000K, H16 Foglight

Hikari Ultra are the best tested. The halogen projectors allow uplight to light overhead street signs, HIDs are extremely bright and because of the uplight allowance they will produce excessive uplight/glare to oncoming drivers.

I haven't tried those but they don't look promising. In post #3 of that same thread I tested output from similarly priced Amazon LEDs and they were far worse than stock to the point they would be dangerous to drive with, but the person recommending them swore they were better. Foreground light from poor LEDs can be very deceptive.

 

Appreciate the assistance. As you well know, we get our fair share of winter conditions over here and the ice melting capabilities probably outweigh the (proper) LED performance .

 

Right! LED headlights will freeze over and if you see post #2, the Philips H9 low beam swap is actually brighter in output intensity than replacement LEDs anyway. I'd definitely go with the H9 swap in that environment. I've driven through plenty of snow storms at night on Hwy 2 heading out there and wouldn't run a non-heated LED headlight (there are no heated LED headlights for 3rd Gen).

 

if I may pick your brain on the front and rear turn signals and brake light, would it be ok to go with LED's and resistors for them, or what ya think? Thanks again..

 

Crashnburn80, sorry for all the novice questions, so then do I need an adapter for the H9 Extreme Vision bulb?

 

You won't need resisters for the brake lights, for brakes you only need those for CANBUS vehicles (which tell if a light is out). The Tacoma is not CANBUS. You will need resisters if using LEDs for the turn signals to prevent hyper flash. Resisters work by converting power to heat, in other words their purpose is to waste power by getting hot so the low power LED + the resister uses about the same power as the incandescent and therefore doesn't cause hyper flash. But because they get hot, they do eventually fail. Personally I'm not a fan of any swaps that use resisters, as you have introduced a failure point and it may fail before the OEM bulb would. So I would leave the signals as stock.

For brakes one could argue LEDs illuminate quicker and therefore give fractions of a second more reaction time to the driver following you, so there could be some benefit. And the brakes don't have the resister issue drawback. You do want the replacement LED to uniformity light the entire brake housing, which can be more challenging than it would seem with LED since they are a very directional light unlike the stock omni-directional incandescent bulbs the assembly is designed for. For example if you put a replacement LED bulb in that pointed directly back like some, it might look bright to the driver directly behind you, but if a driver is following you around a sharp corner it won't be nearly as visible to the following driver. Also, a 6000k LED in a red taillight with tint optimized for a 3000k incandescent will make your brakes appear a bit pink. Personally I'd just leave the stock brake light bulbs as well, the OEM long life bulbs should easily last 7+ years. If wanting to use an LED brake light, look for ones that emit red light specifically for a brake light application (to avoid being pink), and are designed to use the reflector for the side/tail lights.

To be clear it is the Philips H9 standard bulb that is the recommended bulb. You can use an adapter, or just trim the internal plastic tab off the bulb with a small knife/tool. Very simple.

Different H9s, unmodified on left, trimmed on right.

 

Your help is much appreciated!

Cheers