I tend to see a double vision of the LED's on tail lights and they make a blurry streak from the double vision. Like having two sets of LED tail lights and a blurry streak going from one set to the other. They Screw With My Eye's and after they blind me I Can Not See for up to ten minutes or longer those back LED tail lights should be Outlawed... They are just as bad as a flickering fluorescent light in the freezer section at the store. They make me have what my Doctor calls "Mini Strokes"... Night time driving use to be fun for me in the summer with my Wife and our 63 C10 but now that car's and truck's have those LED's I can not enjoy an evening cruzz anymore... I understand other's liking them LED's for "safety reasons" BUT I'm sure I'm NOT the only one that those LED's screw with... 1Nimrod
When younger here in Michigan I use to get a ticket from Ol'smokey for having more than one set of "head lights" Turned ON and I could not run "Fog lights or Driving lights" at the same time as my factory low beams. But know a days car's and truck's have factory "Fog and Driving lights" like you said on the bottom lower front of the vehicles that are like "Extra Bright" even brighter than some High Beams and Ol'smokey does not pull them over. But if I put "Fog lights" or "Driving lights" on the front of my 63 C10 Ol'smokey will pull me over and give me a ticket. What's up with that ???? 1Nimrod
Or like the Ol'smokey told me one cool Summer night when I was pulled over. "Maybe you should not be driving at night Sir if the bright head lights and LED tail lights bother you that much"... There you go what's a person to do... 1Nimrod
So last year I put in Sylvania 1157ST silver star bulbs in. An upgrade on the brake lights from regular bulbs but not as bright as led. A nice balance between for $9.95.
I had a Chrysler 300M once which has a big back window. I got sick and tired of all the lifted 4X4's coming up behind me blinding me, so I used some solar reflecting film that was easy to install and remove. That pretty much took care of 'em..their bright lights got bounced right back in their face, haha...
I also strongly dislike LED tail lamps and resisted for many years. I've tried every trick in the book to get stock '40 Ford passenger tail lamps to be visible, but the angle of the bevels in the lenses direct the light upward and not directly back to the line of sight. After being nearly rear ended MANY times, and pulled over by the cops several times, I finally "converted". I really disliked the '40 Ford LEDs that had the plastic trim around them. I did find that United Pacific sells LED lens only with an 1157 plug to be a direct replacement for the glass lens in a stock fixture. When it came to building the '40 panel truck, I chose some crusty '41 Ford tail lamp fixtures and used United Pacific lenses in them. They are mounted just below the belt line, so I am sure I have folks who don't like to follow me at night.
1971BB427, Cut down a front coil spring and put inn your parachute pack. When they hit you......BOING!!
A lot of cars for the last couple of decades have dash lights that are on high intensity for daytime running but as soon as the headlights are turned on, the lighting drops down for nighttime running. If that feature could be applied to the old style, nostalgic looking but undersized taillights, the ones we want to keep because of style and tradition, that might solve a lot of issues. The benefit of having the small-ish tails/brake/turn signals bumped up bright enough in the daytime but then automatically dialed down into the sweet spot at night seems like it could be workable. LEDs may be the best answer available in most cases for now. One other benefit, that hasn't been mentioned yet, is that LEDs illuminate much faster than incandescent bulbs. This can help following traffic likewise react faster and shave a couple of feet shorter stopping distances. The negatives of LEDs mentioned so far seem to mostly be about their appearance. The fact is, LEDs are not bulbs and don't look like bulbs or act like bulbs. They don't have a filament that glows. Instead, they have an array that dazzles and can be offensive to many folks. One possible fix for that could be some type of 'frosty' filter to soften the harsh dazzle into a softer glow. I don't have any appropriate taillights myself at the moment but I wonder what simply spraying some clear flat paint on the inside of glass taillight lenses would do??
Well my car is very low! Top of the roll bar is 42” above ground and middle of taillights about 20” above ground. I run LED taillights, a LED third brake light mounted on roll bar, LED front turn signals and halogen headlights. In addition the taillight blink three time in rapid succession (similar to some motorcycles) before going a very bright red when the brakes are applied. When I had a safety inspection by our local police department I pointed this feature out thinking it could be illegal the officer commented he thought it was a great idea. A lot of the time even during daylight hours I drive with parking lights on. In this day and age of distracted driving and people relying on lane control to put them back into their lane or automatic braking when thy get too close all the time while dialing their phone I’ll use any advantage I can. I don’t like to piss anyone off and think some of the resistance to LED’s has more to due with “traditional” rather then how bright the lights are. As I said here many different times if I have to choose between traditional and safety I’ll take safety every time.
I likewise dislike all the LEDs out there. Thats not to say they don't have good applications, but my experience with the big-truck-idiots in south Texas is that they all follow the same school of thought, "It makes it easiest for ME (the driver) to see....." and every other driver on the road can go to hell. Its not just automotive though. People love to swap all kinds of lights with LED or halogen due to their brightness or energy savings, but never consider how those lights look along side incandesents. I love florecents in the shop, but they really throw your eyes off when you turn on an old incandecent work lamp (or visa versa). I think a little more consideration of how these lights fit in in the big picture does everyone a favor. Brighter dosn't automatically equal better. If everyone had those extra bright halogens, I guarentee the rednecks would look for something brighter.
For those of you that don,t know LED Light are directional & can be tipped away a bit if too bright.. Gene
When I had my semi, I used aircraft landing lights for fog lights. I wired them into the low beams. If someone didn't have the courtesy to dim their headlights, I'd hit switch, and they usually got the message.
LED briskness can be controlled by reducing voltage, i.e. resistors or adj pots. That's all there is for tail light/brake light difference.
The issue is partly with the "lights" being used, especially on modern cars/trucks, and the aftermarket lights added to older cars/trucks. The other issue is with the EYE itself; the retina has two kinds of cells called rods and cones, and the cones have three separate types of cones that respond to small, medium, and long wave length light. Rods "see" better in low light (scotopic vision), while cones "see" better in high light (photopic vision). I won't go into great detail here, but basically we see "differently" in light and dark, now throw in excessively bright lights, and you have "artificial daylight". Frankly, the eyes can't handle it! So, look up rods and cones of the eyes on Google or Web MD. I too wish the manufacturers, and all the people who update their vehicles to excessively bright lights, would abandon the practice in the name of true safety. Too bright in the front, and too bright in the back, and people are literally BLINDED; where's the real safety issue here anyways? Now, don't get me started on glass that you can't even see in through; that's got to be a real safety issue for the police not being able to see what the occupants are doing/have in their hands, such as weapons. They used to have laws about these things; do they just not enforce them any longer? That's all I've got to say on it. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
56sedandelivery, thanks for the science. It helps explain my dislike for the LED tail lights. So it is part of the aging process that affects my eyes, not the aging process that makes me an opinioned grumpy aging fart. I knew my wife was wrong. Steve
In total agreement with you about those low-mounted taillights in today's traffic. I try to find "bright bulbs" for my '39 lights on my Deuce. They are mounted on the panel below the deck lid so are a bit more noticeable than the original location of them on '39 Fords. We don't have quite the restrictive laws that you guys are subjected to, so it's up to each rodder here to make sure our rides aren't unsafe. I actually attempt to not drive when traffic is bumper-to-bumper (since I don't run bumpers) or in fog or mist. In Texas, those are not a big problem but texting and bullshitting on cells are a real problem.
Sometimes I find our rules in Australia to be to restrictive, but often there is logic weather flawed or not. There are a lot of things like cast I beams and welded steering components that get discussed here that are not allowed. There is a push to adopt overseas rules as we don't have a car industry anymore. Only time will tell if this is good or not. Steve
When eyes' retinas contract to accommodate brighter lights, it also reduces the eye's ability to "see" dimmer, less brightly lit objects. Newer police and fire vehicles in Dallas have lights that illuminate an area so brightly you cannot see past the lights. It is virtually impossible to see responders that have been hidden by the bright lights. All you can see is the glare. It creates an unsafe situation at night. (Then there are the spinning red and white light discs on the front of fire vehicles that make them look like circus clown cars.)
Man, I don't know a thing about cast I beams, but forged beams like Henry used on his Fords have been absolutely proven to be bullet proof. I feel good about my CE forged axle under the Deuce. It's cheap insurance. Personally, I'm afraid of welded components on steering systems. Double D rod and Borgeson U-joints are the way to go !
Obviously this has never happened to you. When the person behind you is brain dead, then LED taillights might just wake them up. All my cars now on have LED's, your annoyance is my life.
Yep, thought this might take the wind out of the sails of the nay-sayers...................................
I hope nobody was seriously injured in that one and that someone was able to repair the damage. I did notice that there is a third brake light above the hatch; sometimes you just can't get people to pay attention to their driving no matter what you do.
The guy that drove through us told the cop “That car didn’t have any taillights!@. Then admitted he was looking at his phone. Then he tried to assault me, but the cop intervened. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
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