LED direct replacement of bulbs...

[giuliot60]

I know this is an old post, but where did you get the LEDs from, and what type (code) are they?

Thanks.

[njoconnor]

There's been a number of posts on the LED switch, and I'd certainly recommend reading through a bunch of them. Since I just completed the swap, here's a few thoughts on the process.

Like several others (and on their recommendations), I bought the bulbs through https://www.superbrightleds.com/ . They often post a discount coupon code on the banner page of this forum, and I waited until I had the code before ordering. The site has a bulb conversion tool which allows one to enter the car's brand/year, and then displays a list of the equivalent LED bulbs for each bulb position. I had to be careful, since "72 Fiat Spider" resulted in several dual pole/filament bulbs, but when I double-checked my car, I found that its lights were in line with a 73 Spider, using single pole/filament 1156 bulbs all around. That resolves a reverse polarity issue frequently mentioned in the posts. I'd recommend carefully checking your lights before ordering.

I replaced everything on my car with LED's except the license plate lights (a very bright white light at the rear might confuse folks) and gauge warning lights. The gauge illumination lights, all parking/turn bulbs, side marker, back up and stop lights were converted. I took Baltobernie's concerns about stop light bulbs into account, and made sure all the bulbs in the tailight fixtures were 360 degree (15 LED) bulbs. More expensive, but a test with Pat's Cherokee showed that the lights were quite visible from the average SUV driver sight line. I also bought/installed the three pole LED flasher can Superbright sells. In a prior post I mentioned the standard can flashing the LED bulbs; it was because I hadn't converted the front bulbs from incandescent, and that left just enough current draw to flash all the bulbs. Once all the LED's were installed, I needed the Superbright can, and now everything works as needed (except the hazards, and I'm suspecting it's the switch; testing and tracing resumes this weekend!). If you decide to install LED's in the front parking/turn lights on early thin bumper cars, you will probably have to Dremel out a small metal tab at the 3 o'clock position; this tab prevents the LED bulbs from fully seating. Once ground down, no issues with the bulbs.

I'm pretty happy with the swap. In the "originality" vs "safety" debate, safety wins for me. The increased visibility of the car is clearly obvious, critical since I will be using it for semi-regular runs to very rural outreach locations for work (during beautiful summer and fall days only!!!). Hope this helps.

Neil