Led lighting

[PICKUP6772]

The other day, I bought a pair of 1157a LED bulbs from AutoZone (I'll wait for the laughter to die down). I replaced the L/F park/turn bulb, and was very disappointed with the results. It was like I replaced the bulb with a dim candle. I thought LED's were supposed to be brighter than incadescents (SP). I've since reinstalled the old bulb. Are there any good LED's out there that will actually be brighter than the stock bulbs? BTW, it's for my '89 GM.

MIKE

[85crownHPP]

Last I looked, autozone etc. still only carry the 1st gen LED bulb replacements that use the older crappy 'bullet' shaped LEDs.

You want the kind that have most of the LED's shining outward to try to fill up the lense - try to find the ones with LED's that look like little yellow dots.
I have the middle-generation ones in my 85 - they are great at night/dusk, but they are hard to see when direct sunlight is on them. They only reason they are still there is because I supplemented them with an OEM LED 3rd brake light from a different car that works great.

The problem is that LEDs need lenses specifically designed to collect and project their light. Some of the newer bulbs are pretty intense and probably work a lot better, but they draw a bit more power and make me nervous because they are all made in China and definitely not DOT approved (or UL listed...) Some newer LED bulbs actually use MORE power than the incandescent bulbs!

Also, make sure you color match the LED to the color you want. 'White' LED behind a red lense definitely does not work.

[PICKUP6772]

I got the amber ones, and I was not happy. I've seen some on E-Bay where the LED's go around the bulb instead of just the front. I don't know how those are, and I don't want to keep wasting money on something that's not going to work.