LEDTronics LED Tail Lamp/Turn Signal Replacements
Posted on Jul 21, 2004 by Josh Merva in Product Reviews
We here at GM-TC are always looking for the latest and greatest mod to put on our trucks. When we saw a way to convert our “plain old” stop lamp bulbs into high tech LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs, we jumped at the chance! LEDtronics, out of Torrance California makes LED replacements for just about any type of regular incandescent (with filaments) bulb out there. Including household bulbs, but since this is GM-Trucks.com, and not the Christopher Lowell show, we’re sticking with the automotive bulbs. We “called them up” and they were happy to provide us with samples to test. Thank-you LEDtronics!
So, what makes an LED “bulb” different from the bulb already inside the outside housing on your vehicle? Actually, more than you think. Regular “incandescent” bulbs are made with a filament (that small piece of wire you see going from one side of the bulb to the other), but LED’s are not. The filament is the reason bulbs burn out, and stop working. Its also the reason they are very susceptible to shock and vibration. If the filament breaks, the bulb is dead. LED’s on the other hand do not have a filament, but instead are almost entirely comprised of two “terminals”, a small piece of silicon substrate, and a epoxy covering lens that encompasses the piece of silicon. The piece of silicon gives off light when excited by electricity. There is nothing to burn, nothing to break, and therefore LED’s typically last over 10 years of continuous use. That’s right, 10 years! Just think about never changing a bulb again, and you’ll begin to see one of the reasons LED are coming into the automotive industry with force.
Another aspect that ties into the long life aspect of LED’s is safety. Not having a bulb burn out provides reassurance that the person behind you will always know when you’re going to brake. Another factor that we haven’t mentioned yet is the difference in the times it takes for the LED bulb to fully light up vs. a regular bulb. If you’ve ever looked at the brake lights on a vehicle turn on and off long enough, you know that regular bulbs don’t simply turn on and off. They “ramp up” to full brightness, and then “dim down” back to darkness. What your not seeing is the time it takes for the regular bulb to light once the first bit of juice hits it. It’s a lot longer than you think. When you hit the brakes, your taillights may not be lighting up for another 200 milliseconds after you touch the brake. It’s just a side effect of regular incandescent bulbs. LED bulbs are different though, because they light up in 100 nanoseconds compared to 200 milliseconds. To the human eye that is almost instant on/off. Doesn’t sound too impressive? Well, think of it this way. When your traveling at 60mph on the highway, the difference between 100 nanoseconds, and 200 milliseconds is approximately 17.5 feet (according to General Motors). That means, a car with LED taillights, has its taillights turning on 17.5 feet faster than a car with regular bulbs. That’s enough to be the difference in whether you have an accident or not!
First Impressions
When we first received our package we were very excited. What’s better than testing on the forefront of automotive technology? Our first impressions as we tore into the box were that these new lamps were a lot less fragile than we thought. A thick looking plastic shell covered the 24 LEDs. The bulbs were clean looking, and had no hint of anything but professional quality. This is something we cannot say about any other LED taillight we’ve seen (more on that later). The absolute best part of this upgrade is the plain and simple ease of installation. Its no more work than changing a regular bulb, because frankly your not doing anything but that! The LED version uses the same exact terminals, fits in all the same sockets, and has no clearance/fit/finish issues at all. “Very impressive”, came out of our mouths more than once. The only small hitch is that some older vehicles require you to change your thermal turn signal flasher unit to a newer electronic version for the LEDs to work. The replacement electronic version cost us about $13, and took no more than 10 minutes to install. (Click here for our full tech article on installing electronic flashers for more information) When installed side by side with regular bulbs you can see a huge difference. The LEDs come on and off with a crisp appearance. When viewing the bulbs side by side with regular bulbs, you can really tell a distinct difference in how fast the bulbs light. We find the instant on/off effect cool, and yet reassuring when you factor the safety aspect in.
Install and Quality
As mentioned before, installing these LED bulbs is nothing more than just replacing a bulb. Just follow the same procedure as you would normally replace a burned out bulb with. Also mentioned before is the quality of these bulbs. Compared to any other LED bulb we’ve seen on the market, these are king. You get top quality red and yellow LEDs, with clear lenses. Every other manufacture uses colored lenses LED which are less expensive, and do not give out nearly as much light. Brightness is also another quality worth mentioning. Not only do you get more LEDs in the LEDtronics product, but you also get LEDs pointing in multiple directions, giving a more natural and uniform light. With over 4 years of experience in LED light design and engineering myself, I can vouch for these being top quality in both design, and manufacture.
Pricing compared to regular bulbs is the biggest downfall to LED lights. While a normal long life bulb may cost a few bucks at the local auto parts store, these LED lights run at a tad over $48 apiece. That’s right, apiece. While other LED bulbs run at $24 and less, we really feel that we need to reiterate the extreme difference in quality and design in these bulbs over the competition. There is simply no match to these bulbs. Because LEDtronics is so confidant that their product is superior to any other LED bulb on the market, they give a full 3 year warranty on the bulbs. Although only bayonet style bulbs are available(older style vehicles), we expect wedge style bulbs(newer style vehicles) to be on the market within a month.
The Pics
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