The 921 LED Reverse Light Bulb Study

Not those! Not good would be the answer.

In looking for high power LED reverse lights, you want fewer higher power chips. Many smaller low power chips is an older and much lower output design. See this post here for the reverse lights you linked:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/led-lighting-conversion.436865/page-141#post-17816879

These are the JDMs I was talking about:

$18 JDM ASTAR Super Bright Error Free 921 912 3035 Chips White LED Bulbs For Backup Reverse Lights

https://www.amazon.com/JDM-ASTAR-Ex...D=51zIu2zFzDL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

 

Thank you for the link showing that comparison. I ordered the set from your link and will report back when installed. Thanks again for the information.

 

Thanks for the review and allowing us to participate.

Please everyone interested in purchasing our reverse use code "REV20" FOR 20% OFF - they will run this code for awhile.

LISTING:
http://deautokey.com/product/bright-15-chip-reverse-leds-194-921-wedge-error-free-fits-toyota-tacoma

We feel these are the brightest in terms of light spread - this spreads light far/wide vs many on the market
-Color is clean white and not yellow
-NO modifications required - simple plug and play
-Error Free

We feel this places light where you need it: far on sides so others can easily see you - the photo in the bottom shows how much light is shining on top/bottom where others can easily spot it. You can also see a lot of light behind you where you need it.
We always felt any light beyond this point is not helpful as you are only going to be looking where you are reversing. You don't need light spread 30 feet away as you are only going to be looking 10-15 feet at a time. We find this important to have more concentrated light 10-15 feet.

We have many happy customers running this setup so we hope you give us a try:

 

I have a pair of the DeAutoLED reverse lights, and I really like them. The light output is amazing. After reading the reverse light thread by #crashnburn80 , I bought the GY6 HIR bulbs. I got one of them installed and ended up breaking the prongs on the other bulb. The LEDs were plug and play which really appeals to me. Buying an expensive bulb only to have it break while trying to modify it to fit is a bummer. #DeAutoLED has great customer service and a lifetime warranty.

 

Thank you for the feedback. We had many people contact us and said they switched from the HIR bulbs to our LEDs because of the install process and because they are too yellow. We feel the brighter clean white light and brightness outweighs the bit more brightness you achieve from the HIR so it is up to the consumer at the end and that is fine but wanted to share some feedback we received through email and much is like what you are saying: -easier install plug and play -no errors -bright white vs yellow light

Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback we do appreciate it.

 

https://www.xenondepot.com/921-T16-Xtreme-LED-bulb-p/xt-led-921c.htm

@crashnburn80 I’ve just bought these , Based on pictures I have seen, they seem to do pretty well. The rest of my LEDs are from the same company, owner Steve Klein is a vender here as well @XenonDepot

 

I did not try those but they have a similar rear facing reflector based design as Philips and are rated at the same output, though the XD bulbs have a slightly lower (better) color temp at 5500k vs 6000k.

I’ve spoken with Steve on the phone a few times, very upstanding nice guy.

 

This is a great 921 for $15. Much brighter than the Philips 921 inverted cone style led (the older Philips 921). Huge improvement over stock.

SiriusLED Backup Reverse Light Canbus error free LED Bulb Size 921 Super Bright 3030 SMD Xenon White 6000k Pack of 2

SIR IUS LED 921 LED Reverse Backup Trunk Light Bulb for Car Truck Canbus error free Super Bright 3030 SMD Xenon White 6000k Pack of 2

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D9DFWGM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_4nIGCb0CX364F

 

@crashnburn80 , thanks so much for this highly detailed writeup on 921 bulb substitutes. I actually came here because of that review.

Just one concern though. I haven't yet found anything mentioned about heat build-up with the OSRAM 615905 35W 12V GY6.35. Clearly 35W from an incandescent / halogen bulb must produce some serious heat. So it does beg the question of how much heat tolerance does the 921 taillight socket have with a bulb like this. Granted, the reverse lights are usually not used for more than 20~30 seconds at a time (maybe closer to a minute in some cases). But, if heat generation is hot enough, it may cause a very slight amount of softening to the plastic in the housing... that upon repeated enough times could cause a noticeable deformity and possibly circuit failure. I once had a car where something like this happened, but in a different scenario. It was the license plate lights and the light unit (combined with release button), somehow didn't have sufficient heat venting. After 5 years, the unit had been exposed to enough heat that it melted and caused a complete failure of the license plate lights. Of course, this is a lower intensity bulb and it was on for at times several hours during nighttime driving. But, it demonstrates that it's plausible for light bulb socket mount plastic to deform from sufficient heat exposure.

So my main question is -- has anyone here who installed these 35W halogen bulbs done any kind of heat tolerance test? For example, putting vehicle transmission in reverse, engaging the emergency brake, then going to the rear and hand-sensing heat from the taillight? And better yet, partially taking out the taillight unit bulb holder where it's still connected but easy access to bulbs, and after running reverse lights for about a full minute, remove the bulb carefully (e.g. use towel or glove) then check the housing to see if it's warm or too hot to touch.

(FWIW, it's only summertime when I occasionally run into scenarios where much brighter reverse lights are desired. So, I have been tempted to just go with a good quality LED replacement that puts out around 500 ~ 800 lumens... still about double or more than cheap incandescent 921 bulbs. Still, for about the same price to have a whopping 1200+ lumens per bulb with the OSRAM is tempting, as long as heat management is fair.).

 

Heat resistance testing is covered in the HIR thread, they are safe in a 2nd Gen Tacoma tail light:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/gy6-35-hir-921-reverse-light-upgrade-vs-high-power-leds.474996/

I put the truck in reverse and set the parking brake and had it sit for 20-30min and took IR temp readings with the HIRs, the details are in the above thread. I've also had to back out of hairy tight trails for nearly that same amount of time with no ill effects on the reverse lights for a 2nd Gen Tacoma. In my girls Ecoboost Escape which has very small reverse light housings, I run the 30w Philips HIRs. Haven't done a 30 minute test on them in the small housing, but the Escape is not going to be getting into situations where it is backing up for 30+ min like I am likely to do in the Tacoma.

 

The 20% off code is still good btw =]

And thanks for the super thorough review @crashnburn80! There are sooooooo many bulbs out there, and I’m pretty skeptical with online store reviews, it just became overwhelming. Your information gave me the info I needed to make an educated decision. I appreciate the extensive testing and detailed reports!

 

Thanks for the verification. I validated it myself with the bulbs installed and there's no appreciable heat build-up. I'm VERY glad I went this route, rather than overpaying for LED's that will do a similar job.

In order to get a proper fit, I bent the prongs using 2 pliers to ensure the glass receives ZERO stress (to avoid any cracking). This is the shape I achieved that worked well for my application:

 

I just installed these last night and what a difference. Light is right were it is needed and white not amber.
They work great out the side mirrors and don't overload the backup camera like some added reverse lights I have seen.

 

@crashnburn80 Again, another fantastic write up. Thanks a ton for your hard work. I was looking at the Westinghouse brand gy6.35 35 watt @ 600 lumens from a local hardware store. They’re only $5.99 to boot. What are your thoughts on these?

 

Nothing wrong with that option, but it isn't as high output as the Osram IR version which are 860 lumens and only $1 more on Amazon.

 

Should have read this thread before putting in the Sylvania led's available at local auto parts store...epic fail, no better if not worse performance than stock halogens. They look better but that was not the goal

 

Honestly, this is a big improvement for $15.

after installing and seeing results, I have no desire for something brighter. It’s plenty bright.

 

The bulbs in the comparison fall into two general categories, more efficient or brighter. The more efficient bulbs consumer much less power but lux output is between 50% and 120% compared to stock. The HIR bulbs produce 3x the lux but require 167% of the wattage.

Power consumption may not be a big deal one way or the other with infrequently used backup lights but are there any bulbs that have a more balanced compromise between output and wattage? For example an 18w HIR bulb that produces 2400 lux or a 10w LED bulb that produces 3000 lux. Someone mentioned the VLEDS White Platinum bulbs that are 7.5w which in theory could produce 3000 lux but they are pricey and I would not want to get them without having an idea of the actual output.

 

There is a 20w Gy6.35 Osram eco HIR bulb. Stock 921 is 18w and 264 lumens, 20w HIR is 20w and 375 lumens. Maybe that is more of the balance you are looking for. Diode Dynamics has a new 921 LED that is 720 lumens. I haven't tried it, but you can see in this thread that LEDs don't all light uniformly the same way as the incandescent, some do better than others. Note that extreme high output LEDs quickly drop in output as the LED heats up to less than half or even a quarter of the initial output spec. And many high output LEDs are overdriven such that if they remain on for an extended period they lack the ability for adequate cooling and will overheat and fail. Even some of the popular LED bulbs from this thread had that issue and would fail in under a year.

 

@crashnburn80 I have yet to read this whole thread, but didn't see quickly if you discussed the Diode Dynamics 921 XPR. They sale for $90 and I was wondering your thoughts on this.

https://www.maperformance.com/produ...1-xpr-cool-white-backup-led-bulb-pair-dd0394p