Tail light out ..

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Liquidity
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Post by Liquidity »

the reason that these lights arent legal, is because even an ultrabright led (And a bunch of them) cant match a regular bulb for OMNIDIRECTIONAL light output yet. You'll notice, most "factory" led lights nowadays...have a clear lense over the led, and the led itself is coloured. On an fto, with tinted plastic.....

Put simply, coloured leds produce VERY specific wavelengths. If this doesnt match up with your tail-lights plastic colour, quite closely, then your going to filtering out a lot of that light. Strike two.

Its probably best, if your putting leds into a coloured lense, to use WHITE ones.

Also....might not be a problem at night, but if someones following you, with the full sun behind them, they probably wont see led tail-lights. Doubly so if your using any sort of "niteshade" gear on them to black them out.

As mentioned, from directly behind you, it might be fair bright....but if someones merging lanes behind you and doesnt see your tail-lights come on...

Some laws i dont agree with, modifying your car, and some i kind of ignore because the consequences are minimal (eg, insurance might not cover the replacement of a clear side indicator, big deal) but this one....

well....i thought i'd point out the cons.

A Luxeon led (bright enough to leave spots for hours if you look straight at it) would be the goods. The el cheapo 21 led servo specials....dont go near them.
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FTO338
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Post by FTO338 »

Is there a post missing? Because it seem to me liquidity was answering someone question. But i can't find the question.

I know two other members in Victoria had LED brake lights installed in their FTO too, i never have a problem when i was behind them. One of them even passed the road worthy and engineering test with them too.

And that test was the strictest i've know in the history of FTO in Australia, thanks to the ADR rules, he end up have to get another set of indicators at the front, , which he now called them "Dog's ball" :lol:
DISCLAIMER: The above text is the personal opinion of the author and does not represent the indisputable truth. The author is not responsible for any deaths, injuries or mental illness caused by the above statments.
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Liquidity
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Post by Liquidity »

FTO338 wrote:Is there a post missing? Because it seem to me liquidity was answering someone question. But i can't find the question.

I know two other members in Victoria had LED brake lights installed in their FTO too, i never have a problem when i was behind them. One of them even passed the road worthy and engineering test with them too.

And that test was the strictest i've know in the history of FTO in Australia, thanks to the ADR rules, he end up have to get another set of indicators at the front, , which he now called them "Dog's ball" :lol:
Sure, you probably didnt have a problem when you were behind them. like i said, leds are fairly good in one, specific direction.

Passed the roadworthy? Lucky. If it was *really* strict, they'd be out, purely on a point of law. There are some very good led tail-lights out there, no argument, but there's also some really crap ones.

But yeah, thought i'd provide some facts on leds lights, and some potential hazards.

By the way, while lasting longer, they dont save power. They have resistors in them so the net effect is the same current draw. Theres really not too many *pros* to me, is all i was trying to point out.
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FTO338
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Post by FTO338 »

I think you should do a search on "dogs balls" or the user name "tarkus" and you can see for yourself how strict that test was. It wasn't lucky, they went through everything with a fine comb.

I never had a problem with them, no one rear end me after i changed to LED. If you seen them in a FTO before, you know people can actually see the light at all 180 degree angle, even with direct sunlight.

One point you missed is, LED react faster then halogen, which mean in a way they are safer.

If there isn't much "Pro" about them, car manufacturer wouldn't start replacing halogen brake lights and tail lights with LED. But then again, i guess you mean aftermarket and not OEM.

I do agree to some of your points, but only to certain extend. :D
DISCLAIMER: The above text is the personal opinion of the author and does not represent the indisputable truth. The author is not responsible for any deaths, injuries or mental illness caused by the above statments.
JOeJOe
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Post by JOeJOe »

Ok, I bought the wrong set of lights. The wedge LED's don't fit.

However, the other set that I got fit's into the reverse light. Now, during the day you can't see much but it's pretty darn bright at night.

I'll be sending the wedge set back and get the proper one now that I know what i'm looking for.

Easy to do, takes about 5 minutes.
JOeJOe
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Post by JOeJOe »

I put the LED's on the indicators and it blinked really fast, any idea's why??
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FTO338
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Post by FTO338 »

Your answer to that is on the website you bought it from. :wink:
DISCLAIMER: The above text is the personal opinion of the author and does not represent the indisputable truth. The author is not responsible for any deaths, injuries or mental illness caused by the above statments.
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