Towncivilian Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I'm contemplating replacing my brake/tail lights, reverse lights, license plate, and front/rear turn signals with LEDs due to their inherent safety benefits (instant on/off), brighter light output, significantly lowered power consumption, cooler operation, and longer life. eBay has bulbs significantly cheaper than anywhere else. I'm just wondering if they're of decent quality and will last relatively long compared to more expensive options such as SuperBrightLEDs, V-LEDs, or Autolumination. I converted my interior and instrument cluster bulbs to LED using SuperBrightLEDs and only had one start to flicker and eventually fail (I replaced it with another from SBLEDs, with a different, brighter bulb this time). Every other bulb is still working fine and I am happy with the quality, light output, and color temperature. Of course, all bulbs I'd get would have a 360 degree light output angle to hopefully avoid "hot spots" and better imitate a conventional incandescent bulb for proper appearance in housings designed for incandescent bulbs. Here is a tentative list of bulbs I'd get from eBay: 2x 7443 42 SMD LED red bulbs (tail/stop lights) 10x 168 20 SMD red bulbs (center high mounted stop light) 2x 1156 42 SMD LED amber bulbs (rear turn signal) 2x 921 25 SMD LED white bulbs (reverse) 4x 168 5 SMD LED white bulbs (license plate) 2x 7443 42 SMD LED amber bulbs (front sidemarker/turn signal) This adds up to $59.04 shipped. Of course, I'd need to obtain and install an electronic flasher unit to avoid "hyperflashing" turn signals, but this should be relatively inexpensive as well. Any thoughts? Has anybody used eBay bulbs with success? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwipete Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I have done the side marker and lisence plate lights and if I recall correctly the side marker are the same as the lisence plate ones. (didn't affect the flasher rate either.) I too am toying with the idea of doing the same as you too and I think Tex has done this conversion to his truck already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 (edited) All of the bulb numbers are correct for my year R50. I will need an electronic flasher. I will also need to keep one incandescent bulb in the brake light circuit to prevent the cruise control system from thinking all of my brake lights are dead due to extremely low current draw; I'd keep one bulb in the CHMSL, obviously. It shouldn't be too noticeable since there are 9 bulbs total. Edited July 29, 2012 by Towncivilian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Tex (TerranoNZ) did a full led swap I finally got some LED's fitted. All indicators Brake and tail Reverse Front park Map lights Front indicators with clear lenses thanks to RedPath88 I added some strips of BA Stainless steel to reflect a little more light The difference between incandescent and LED Map lights Tail lights LED Tail lights incandescent I like the LED's colour and the fact that they don't build up heat. Sealed my front lights....hopefully they wont get water in them. (copied from his members rides thread, page 3) My nozzle nut neighbor changed his 3500 Chevy over to leds from ebay, you can see him coming for sure and he likes them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I do recall that I helped Tex get some and they didn't turn out as intended/expected so I'd get first hand info before you order. Considering I've only changed 1 bulb in almost 20 years of driving Nissan trucks, I can't be bothered with the trouble or expense... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I have done a few swaps using the eBay LED lights. Had good results, and they are certainly cheap. I agree with B tho, I would talk to Tex and see what he says, or worst case scenario simply get a pair of bulbs for one set of lights, IE markers, signals, etc and see how you like them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 LEDs won't work well everywhere for a few reasons: They have a narrow beam so you need a larger array to spread out the beam. Larger arrays of LED lights can make the beam way too bright for DOT approved use. The plastic reflectors were not designed for LEDs so the beam pattern will be focused into a certain spot. They will make the flasher blink too quickly because of a lower load. Also, you won't know if you have a signal that's out if you use a solid state flasher. LEDs will work in a housing designed for them. Unfortunately, the most LED you can do on a Pathfinder is installing them into the corner marker lights and on older trucks possibly switching to the HB grille style and using LED sealed beams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 (edited) Something else I forgot to mention... When I swapped the incandescent bulbs for LED units initially I utilized an amber color behind an amber lens light fixture (front bumper Honda) and red LED behind a red lens light fixture (brake light Honda). The lights worked fine, but were kind of too intense color wise. Hard to explain and I cannot provide pictures of what I mean, but what I ended up doing was swapping them with a buddy who had white LED's of the same nature. This to me operated more like the fixtures were designed, and were not screaming "hey cops come stop this ricer" as bad as they were before.. Yes I had a Honda, best gas mileage I have ever had... Edited July 29, 2012 by tmoore4512 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 The best style fixture for LED is one where the LEDs are actually laid out in an array like this: The final result after the housing will be this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I do recall that I helped Tex get some and they didn't turn out as intended/expected so I'd get first hand info before you order. Considering I've only changed 1 bulb in almost 20 years of driving Nissan trucks, I can't be bothered with the trouble or expense... B Agreed, I've only changed headlights and one taillight bulb in 5 years and well over 400k on my old pathy. I don't understand the concern about power consumption, would you really notice a difference? Maybe if your alternator was weak or something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 (edited) The main reason I want to switch to LEDs is the instant on/off safety benefit. I will probably get a set of white 7443 bulbs from eBay to see how they do in the brake lights. If they are satisfactory I will upgrade the turn signals and reverse lights. Advance sells Sylvania 168 LED bulbs so I might try them in the license plate bulbs. Edited July 30, 2012 by Towncivilian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 The main reason I want to switch to LEDs is the instant on/off safety benefit. Really? How much longer does it take the incandesent bulb to illuminate? Do you want a faster, brighter target for the next DUI to fixate on? Not saying you shouldn't do it, just questioning the instant safety part... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I have to agree with B and Adam tho... I have only changed one break light bulb and my headlights I always change as a pair, but that was due to the headlight relay mod. I like the concept of LED lighting, and I went through a phase in my Honda... But I'm ok with incandescent bulbs in my old slow beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 Yeah, I guess you guys are right. It's probably not worth the trouble or cost. I've only had to replace both license plate bulbs and a front sidemarker light; as far as I know, all of the brake bulbs are original. I've replaced the headlights just for the hell of it with the cheapest Sylvania bulbs and noticed a small increase in brightness. The trusty OEM ones are in the glove box. Maybe I'll change the license plate bulbs to LED at some point, but everything else I'll just leave incandescent. Thanks for your input everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Personally I prefer the look of incandescents... you can get 'warm white' LEDs but I dunno if they're what the car kits use. I can see using them for interior stuff though, the stock dome light is pretty dim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Hey man I wasn't against the idea... I'm going to do my interior lights led after seeing the pics of tex' ride. Form your own opinion... That's what an instructor once said... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted August 14, 2012 Author Share Posted August 14, 2012 (edited) Well, I ended up getting 2x 7443-R45-T bulbs for the tail/brakes and 2x WLED-WHP5 for the license plate lamps. I installed them today, and used NAPA Syl-Glide silicone grease on the bulb wedges. (no flash, just tail running lights) In daylight, both tail and brake are brighter than the 7443 bulbs I had installed. And of course, they are instant! I'm quite happy with both sets of LEDs. The camera makes the license plate bulbs seem overpowering and making the decal sticker unreadable, but it's fine in person. Edited August 14, 2012 by Towncivilian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreus009 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 (edited) I'm planning to do LED's for my motorcycle. They say they light up about 20% faster then incadescent bulbs. As I recall that at 60 mph this amount to like 10 feet. Sorry i can't find the specifics again, but basically it could be the difference between a collision or not. Plus with LED option I can turn my turn signals into brake lights as well, and still have a ring of amber for turn signal. Edited August 14, 2012 by andreus009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Hey man, they look great!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 my damned dome light keeps blowing out so I have a little 12v LED cluster I'm going to wire in to replace those frucking little bulbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 I have a salvaged red/clear LED dome from a wrecked cruiser I am going to put in one day. Been meaning to do it for some time... just haven't found THAT TIME... haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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