LED Taillights yay or nay?

[W8TVI]

Hey thank you. I've never done that before so I'd have to look deeper into how it's done before attempting. I noticed that it only kills the cruise when running lights are on or I use my right signal. Maybe same with yours?

With mine, the cruse won't turn on at all with the LEDs installed. It could also be a factor in how each different model of aftermarket tails are designed.
I didn't bother to go back and check that reinstalling the stock lights fixed the problem, but the day before I installed them, I used my cruise, and then the morning after I installed them, it didn't work.

My educated guess in how it works is the cruise pulls it ground through the brake light circuit, and when the brake light comes on, the lit filament interrupts the path to ground.
This is guesswork based on how someone explained how the alternating flash on the front side marker light works.

The way yours acts, sounds in line with most everyone else here.

Mine don't work the same way as most people are using.
Mine have the entire LED array lit up at reduced brightness for parking lights, and then the top three rows light up full bright for turn signals, and the bottom 4 rows light up full bright for brake lights. I liked the idea of having more lit up for parking lights.


Here you can see how they work:

I have a few more pictures in my build thread if your are interested in finding out more.
I got lucky and found a set I like that cost less than $100.

 

[DPGDirk]

I decided to just go ahead and buy these and then add the LED reverse lights. Thanks guys for all your suggestions.

View attachment 75313

Those are the one's I went with. Perfect choice. No resistor needed. Very nice lights.

The instructions kind of suck, but there is a real good video online if you need it...

 

[igell]

is there a way to add brighter reverse bulbs to the stock tail lights? with tinted windows i cant see anything when reversing at night.

 

[mmeachem]

is there a way to add brighter reverse bulbs to the stock tail lights? with tinted windows i cant see anything when reversing at night.

Yes purchase led bulbs from amazon/ebay and install them in the stock housing. Pretty sure the size is 3156/3157.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[W8TVI]

is there a way to add brighter reverse bulbs to the stock tail lights? with tinted windows i cant see anything when reversing at night.

Yes, buy a set of these 1200 lumen LED reverse lights(amazon link):


And then for extra visibility, but any sort of aftermarket tail lights that have clear reverse bulb windows:


In fact, I would get the new tail lights first, because those make a HUGE difference in the light behind the truck, even with the stock bulbs.

This is what it looks like behind my truck with both:


They are shining about 50 feet down the road in this picture.

 

[BADRIDES]

Get the 3157's from Amazon. I have them in my 2002 Tahoe oem tail lights and also have a set in my son's 2004 oem Trailblaer tail lights.

 

[igell]

got it.. i take it they are plug and play.. no additional resistors needed