Superformance tail light bulb upgrade

[Goopie 18]

has anyone used LED bulbs in your SPF tail light assembly?

[Got the Bug]

I went with the SuperBright LED lights. Also try swapping the light sockets so that the that the brake light is on the top. There are other mods that people have done, but this is an easy plug and play mod on the SPF.

LED Brake Light, Turn Light and Tail Light Bulbs | LED Car Bulbs | Super Bright LEDs

Quantity: 2
Product: 1156-RLX3 Luxeon LED bulb $ 23.95 (each)
Options: Red

Quantity: 2
Product: 1157-RLX3 Luxeon LED bulb $ 23.95 (each)
Options: Red 1157

Also, don't replace the front turn signals with the LEDs, because you'll overload the flasher.

[chucks1]

Originally Posted by Got the Bug

I went with the SuperBright LED lights. Also try swapping the light sockets so that the that the brake light is on the top. There are other mods that people have done, but this is an easy plug and play mod on the SPF.

LED Brake Light, Turn Light and Tail Light Bulbs | LED Car Bulbs | Super Bright LEDs

Quantity: 2
Product: 1156-RLX3 Luxeon LED bulb $ 23.95 (each)
Options: Red

Quantity: 2
Product: 1157-RLX3 Luxeon LED bulb $ 23.95 (each)
Options: Red 1157

Also, don't replace the front turn signals with the LEDs, because you'll overload the flasher.

Okay, I'm an idiot, or something similar. I went to the above site, which goes right to the 1156/1157 LED bulbs @ $9.95/ea, but I cannot find the 1156-RLX3 or 1157-RLX3 bulbs. A site search on those part numbers turns up nothing. Web search doesn't bring up much information either. Any ideas?

[DanMartin]

I did this upgrade last year, and give it a big thumbs up. Very bright bulbs, and the upgrade takes about 10 minutes.

My only complaint was that the bulbs were a tight fit in the socket, and getting the pin on the bulb to seat into the socket was harder than it should have been.

Also, don't forget to use some dielectric grease on the connections.

[STL Mark]

I did the SuperBright upgrade. They were nice and bright. But, they didn't last very long. I took the burned out SuperBrights to Autozone and matched up replacements for WAY less - and they last much longer. Just saying after shipping, etc. I don't think the SuperBrights are worth the extra money - when there's better quality LEDs for less at Autozone.

[chucks1]

Originally Posted by STL Mark

I did the SuperBright upgrade. They were nice and bright. But, they didn't last very long. I took the burned out SuperBrights to Autozone and matched up replacements for WAY less - and they last much longer. Just saying after shipping, etc. I don't think the SuperBrights are worth the extra money - when there's better quality LEDs for less at Autozone.

So Autozone was able to cross reference 1156-RLX3/1157-RLX3 to another LED bulb? I'm not finding anything on their web-site either.

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by chucks1

So Autozone was able to cross reference 1156-RLX3/1157-RLX3 to another LED bulb? I'm not finding anything on their web-site either.

It looks like they changed their website. There was a button that said "change to classic website." It looks like those are the right bulbs and the price has dropped significantly.

LED Brake Light, Turn Light and Tail Light Bulbs | LED Car Bulbs | Super Bright LEDs

[chucks1]

Ahhh, gotcha. Sent them an email just to confirm. Would like to get some LED's in my SPF to make my lights a bit more noticeable. Thanks . . .

[347stroker]

Guys I have 12 led turn signals on my tractor trailer (it's good to be seen) and they don't overload a flasher. They don't create enough resistance to operate a mechanical flasher. Just go to your favorite parts store and get an electronic flasher. Tom

[Hydramada]

Originally Posted by 347stroker

Guys I have 12 led turn signals on my tractor trailer (it's good to be seen) and they don't overload a flasher. They don't create enough resistance to operate a mechanical flasher. Just go to your favorite parts store and get an electronic flasher. Tom

Actually, even with the electronic flasher, you cannot do all the bulbs without adding diodes in line. It seems there is enough bleed from the single indicator bulb on the dashboard to cause all four lights to blink if they are all LEDs. Just buy an electronic flasher and replace the 4 bulbs in the rears for a quick and easy upgrade to your rear lighting.

I did the (2) 1157 and (2) 1156 bulbs in the rear of 1867 and am very pleased. Oh I also swapped the bottom and top sockets to put the brake in the larger reflector.

[Blas]

Just a quick clairification...
That would be "Resistors" not "Diodes"....
The resistors you need are also available right from SuperBright LED's.
The original flasher unit is a thermal switch, heating up with the turn signal bulbs current draw then switching off and cooling, etc.... LED's current draw doesn't make enough heat to trigger the stock thermal switch... They do have flashers made for LED's, but the resistors work quite well too.

[347stroker]

Blas all I did to my truck was add the lights. All do not flash if I put on a turn signal. Looking at them they are complicated with sealed circuit boards inside the light. There may be resistors built into them! Truck Lite in Falconer N. Y. Would know for sure. The electronic flasher is a good idea and will outlast a mechanical unit by far. Tom

[Hydramada]

Actually Blas, I used a Diode at the dashboard indicator to keep it from bleeding back into the system. So for my particular solution, I used a diode instead of a resistor because I did not want to add back in artificial load.

[Blas]

Interesting.... I'll give this some thought.