It's not a dumb question at all Jaho. and the answer makes sense once it's explained.

Stock bulbs are clear since incandescent filaments put out "yellow-white" light and we want to pass all of it. LEDs, on the other hand, can emit "pure" colors - "White", "Yellow", "Red", and so on.

Our tail light lenses are red and they filter out (or pass only) the red wavelengths from our stock bulbs. In effect, they "cut" the light output by eliminating all but the red component. If we put "White" LEDs in there too, the same thing would happen. The lens would "cut" all but the red component, giving us a red glow, but the light output would be reduced.

If we put a red LED behind a red lens though, almost ALL of the light is passed through. So, red LEDs are brighter behind red lenses, amber LEDs are brighter behind amber lenses and so on.

Make sense?

And, just so we don't get confused, incandescent bulbs like halogens, xenons and the like are simply brighter. They often are then filtered through a "bluish" lens to filter out the yellow component.

What you say about your proposed setup with your line of fire strip sounds right. The LED flasher will work with the LOF.

Hope this helps!

- Jack

 

Thanks for clearing that up, it does make sense once its explained.

Now...where is the flasher located?

 

turn your hazards on and look under the steering wheel above the brake petal and look for a small relay that is clicking. Hold on to it to make sure it is clicking. There it be. As far as colors behind colors, you shouldn't lose too much lumens with red/red but I would think white behind red might be a little brighter, not much.

 

Sorry j2h1, unless the white LED is MUCH brighter than the red LED to begin with, and it really won't be if you look at the lumin output for different colored LEDs with the same nomenclature, the filtering action of the lens is going to cut virtually ALL of the light that is NOT red. So, the intensity of the light beyond the lens is reduced. Red/red is going to be brightest.

One source for LEDs, www.superbrightLEDs.com, tells you the luminous intensity of many of the bulbs they sell. This makes it easy to compare bulbs you're thinking of buying. They ship fast, using USPS and their prices are only slightly higher than some of the "bargain" places.

You're right on though about the location of the flasher. At least that's where it is on my truck.

- Jack

 

Darn, you beat me Jack!

 

Looks pretty good.

 

I stand corrected, yes your right, I realized this after doing more reasearch after posting. Sorry for the wrong info.

 

Nothing to be sorry about j2h1. The only way we get to the "truth" of things is through open discussion. Forums give us this opportunity if we don't blow it.

- Jack

 

i never thought about the red/red vs white/red LED setup

 

It's not intuitive, is it? The secret lies in the fact that to get "color" from "white" light, we have to subtract all the light having the wavelengths we don't want, and of course, this reduces the intensity. We simply don't think of the red lens being a "subtractive" device. We want to think of it as a "coloring" device, as though it adds the red color to the light. But, it doesn't.

- Jack

 

not to drag this out but here is a comparison. You pick which side has the red bulb and which has the white. Same style bulb btw.

 

Unless my limited knowledge of the physics of light is all wrong, I'll have to stick my neck out and say the left light has the red bulb in it and the right light has the white one.

It's interesting how the left light looks "whiter" (actually, more "orange"). I'm going to guess here that it's simply the way the sensor in your camera interprets and records a brighter red-colored light.

So, am I right or wrong in identifying the red bulb's side? (Inquiring minds want to know!)

- Jack

 

I hope you're right, I just ordered some red LED bulbs!!!

 

Me too, now! But, everything I've read, and my educational background (what I remember of it) says I'm right.

As a side note: I put a pretty bright white LED into the high brake light behind my cab (since it's hidden by the bed cap) and the result is a fairly dim brake light. I put the bulb in there because I thought maybe the PCM would throw a "brake light out code" if I simply removed the bulb. (I had the LED bulb from another failed experiment). I don't have an equivalent red LED to compare with, or I would have tried it too.

I think you're safe, but the suspense, waiting for an answer from j2h1 is killing me!

- Jack

 

sweetness