I have a pair of Speedway Motors LED '39 Ford tail lights on the back of my Track T and they are not visible during the day time. I have had a few close calls where I was almost rear ended because the cars behind me could not see that the brake lights were on. They are mounted at a slight alngle because of the shape of the body. I noticed that there are not that many individual LED lights inside each light. Has anyone else had this trouble? It is not a wiring issue as they are easily visible at night.
Maybe because of the angle they don't project enough light during the day. You might want to do a couple of tests from behind, from a normal distance (looking at the light in the mounted position) and then looking directly into the light from the same distance.
I thnk FordCrager pretty well nailed it. The angle of the lights is probably such that they don't project well in the daylight. Sometimes we defeat our own purpose being cool. <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
Yeah, what he said, I've noticed most LED taillights are mounted so they're pretty well aimed perpendicular to the road surface, regardless of the shape of any outer lens or cover. Not sure how you can address that with these lights.
toss 'em out, and go back to incandescent bulbs. The angle of radiation is essential for light emitting diods, I have fooled around with them long enough and come to the conclusion to use them as warning lights or turn signal indicators in the dashboard at best.
I've wondered too, about putting a center mounted stop light "strip" at the rear edge of the passenger compartment, at eye level. Drivers are perhaps expecting a signal from there now.
I agree I would keep the tail light assemblies and replace the socket with the good old 1157 bulbs.The parts store carry the sockets.3 rd brake light is also a good safety item.The led ones mounted facing straight back work good. Joe blow public is too bizy on there cel phones text messaging while driving so you really have to get there attention when stopping.I think a paint gun mounted in the back of our cars would work great to get there attention,red splat on there windshield,YEA!
There's enough late model cars running those strips that before long you should be able to rob them from a salvage car pretty cheap.
Ive got the same lights on my '52, was disappointed that there is only a small ring of LEDs in the middle of the light. But mine are still visible because they are frenched and not at an angle. There are some higher quality ones that have lots more LEDs
Are the bulbs white or red? Believe it or not the white bulbs will barely shine through the red lense, where as the red bulbs emit much more light. Plus you did get them from speedy...
I use a led bulb on my hardtail motorcycle as normal 1157s break all the time. Found there are different lumen bulbs available so your set-up may just be too weak for daytime use.
How absurd this is. Taillamps sold with weak LEDs that won't show up in the daytime. Taillamps sold with LEDs and no instruction sheet specifying that they MUST be directed straight back and any angularity reduces their visibility tremendously. Go back to basics. Use 2357 bulbs rather than 1157s, the stop filament is much brighter in 2357s. Paint the inside of your taillamps gloss white, clean the lenses INSIDE and out. That simple redo will greatly increase the safety factor of your stoplights day and night!
LEDs themselves are directional and rely on prisms in the tail lights to redirect the light to all angles. Cheap LED taillight assemblies and cheap twist-ins don't have that feature and are thus extremely directional. If you've just got a small circle of LEDs there's probably not enough candlepower to insert a prismatic sheet into the lens and get by. So it's probably time for a good old fashioned tail light bulb. BTW, verify voltage as LEDs are voltage sensitive. They'll work just fine at night if you're delivering 11 volts but will be nearly invisible during the day. I honestly can't believe the crap the aftermarket sells for LED lighting, 3/4 of it isn't even useable due to the issues you're having. The products have gotten noticeably better in the last year, and should continue to improve. But still, most of it is total crap. good luck
I've got technostalgia 39 LEDs and they're really bright. They're expensive as hell but they work pretty well at an angle. There's an option to have them flash as they're activated too. I'm still going to add a 3rd brake light just in case, people just don't look low for the two lights anymore. I'm guilty of it sometimes- if the 3rd brake light is out I don't see it as soon..
I can sympathize with you! I was following Brokenspoke on the way to Austin last spring and was really amazed at the lack of lumens. It seemed to me a bit of spray paint would improve things, but you are dealing with a small tail light.
Paint the insides of the housings silver/aluminum and go back to standard bulbs - you'll be good to go for a 10-spot. Look for a small side-marker light for a third brake light, also paint the housing. You'll have the best peace of mind $20 can buy! Hi-tech ain't always better in some apps, so I keep with the KISS way of thinking and ONLY spend more if I need to... - Tim
LEDS are the "bulbs" of the future!But when they use them on new cars there mounted in a "chrome" housing & they are very bright! The jap shit that speedway is selling is just LEDs pointed straight out. I went back to the 1157 39 tail lights & used "aluminum" tape to line the light basket,much better. If you notice even if you replace your 1157 bulb with one of those "LED 1157 there not as bright because it on reflects out & not back & out. But in defense of LEDs they are replacing all the traffic lights everywhere with LEDs & they are much better, they can lose alot of them & still be visiable & hardly use any power!! The "walk over the hudson river" bridge has 180,000 LED lights under the hand rails for about 2 miles & only uses $ 1.80 an hour in power!1 can't beat that!!lol. JimV
Paint the inside of the cans white - reflects light much better than silver or do as I do and use this - a bit street roddy and you can set the angle as it mounts with suction cups and swivel brackets, but easily removable to hide your technoshame.... Mine are set up as turn signals too: jandlenterprise.com/products/products.htm
Jimy says, "But in defense of LEDs they are replacing all the traffic lights everywhere with LEDs & they are much better, they can lose alot of them & still be visiable & hardly use any power!!" The unintended consequences of using LED's for traffic lights is the fact that they won't generate heat and will load up with blowing snow! Any savings are out the window when you have to send out a boom truck with a crew to clean out the ice and snow so that the lights are visible.
I was following a semi with LEDs the other day and didn't see his turn signal or brake light afteer he pulling in front of me. For some reason some of them just don't show well in the day light. Wjhat I have been using is the qurts tail light bulbs. They plug into a standard tail liight socket and they seem to be brighter. Maybe they seem brighter because it says quarts on the package.
The common mistake with LEDs is that peole don't look at the viewing angle nor the lumen output. You can get super-bright LEDs with a 170 degree angle that works well. Also, it is VERY important to use RED LEDS behind a RED lens to get the most light. The white background will help to distribute the light better than silver does. Silver doesn't work because little if any of the light output from LEDs is directed toward the reflector as with an incandecent buld so the white provides a lighter background for contrast and distribution rather than reflection. In my 59 Skyliner, I have a super-bright red 1157 LED replacement bulb and then I fabricated a ring of red LEDs around it like a 4" halo. The ring lights up the perimeter for side visability while the bulb directs the light rearwards. The LEDs I used have 2 levels so runnig lights and brake/signal lights all work for all 40 or so LEDs per side. I have been told they are almost too bright at night. The setup looks cool and it very visable at all angles. Be sure to replace your flasher unit with an electronic one!
Amen to Technostalgia. I just recently installed a set of their '39s on my '32 coupe and, FINALLY, my visibilty problems are behind me-literally. I had tried the aluminum paint in the housings folowed by aluminum foil followed by some waffle pattern stainless. None of that made any significant difference and people following me were still telling me I had no brake lights or turn signals. There ain't no doubt now.
Old thread but I do agree with having a white background in any taillight or stop light housing rather than silver or other colors unless it is a silvered or chromed reflector. I made a big difference on both of my trucks by painting the insides of the housings white and going to the brighter bulbs. No matter what lights a guy/gal runs on the rear of his rod or custom one thing that he/she needs to do soon after getting the car on the road is to have someone else drive it down the road while he/she follows it in another vehicle. See for yourself how well your lights show up on your vehicle. Some guys position the lights where they are hard to see and some decide to run lights that are so small and hidden that only people who know the car know where they are at. Bumper guard lights are prime examples of that.
Not to hijack the thread, but on my coupe I'm using the factory Plymouth 48 glass lenses in the standard location with white painted buckets and standard issue 1157 bulbs. My tail lights still are not good. They are hard to see, even at night, if your more then 50 feet away. Brake lights are marginally better. Anyone have any suggestions? Gene
A company call United Pacific makes lots of LED lights for about every thing. 39 style, even 59 caddy. I use the 39 type on motorcycle cargo trailers that I mfg. They are very bright, day or night. Not a problem seeing them. I also have them on my roadster. Lee
3Q32, I think that you may have landed on an important point here like anything else I am sure that not all LEDs are created equal. I see some late model cars that the LEDs will blind you day or night and others that are probably just barley passable. Like the truck I was following, it probably past DOT but just barley, probably the same with whatever hot rod parts you are buying from whomever. Some good and some not.
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