Hopefully this helps people when thinking about replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs, especially on the exterior.

I've tried a good portion of the leds out there right now and have been able to send 95% of them back for a full refund, so I haven't lost much.

All the stuff on eBay from China, anything by Samsung and all no name brand stuff is junk and it'll end up flickering, won't work right, etc. don't buy it.

Companies like JDM ASTAR and superbrightleds do make good products, however, none of them use your reflector in the stock housing properly and do not emit light in the same direction as your incandescent bulbs. Therefore, even if they're really bright, they still may not be as bright as the stock bulb.

After trying almost everything, I've come to the conclusion the only ones that work great are the Sylvania Zevo (and Probably the newer Phillips Vision that I haven't tried).

Both of those have led chips that face rearward and project light only on the reflective housing and therefore projecting the light in the direction it was intended.

I love the idea of the switchbacks, but because of how the chips are mounted, I won't use them. I've tried three pairs so far and end up sending them back and going back to my Sylvania Zevo.

I wanted to post my real life experience so others don't have to waste their time. Also, this is just my personal opinion, so take that for what it's worth.

That is all.

 

I have used the Philips in my interior and license plate lights and they are amazing. Do get expensive tho. I know TRS makes decent exterior LEDs but also pricey. And like any aftermarket light there can be problems

 

I'm pretty sure the new Philips and new Sylvania are pretty similar. One was a response to the other.

I run the 3157 Amber zevo as the front turn signals, 3157 red zevo for the rear tail/brake/directional, 3157 6000k zevo for reverse, 194 6000k zevo for tag lights, jdm astar 194 3030 Amber for side markers and the third brake light is from superbrightleds. It's been in there a while and I forgot which one it is.

You're right, they're not cheap (about $20 a set), but you get what you pay for.

 

I think imma try out TRS 3157 amber LEDs for the front. And I went with the Diode Dynamics highest lumen LED reverse lights. And love them. Well worth $90

 

How are their actual LEDs mourned? I tried looking up trs 3157 but didn't see anything.

 

They are forward facing, but the lens in the front redirects the light back to the reflector. https://www.theretrofitsource.com/le...157-bulbs.html

 

I'm really curious how bright those are and would love to compaire them with the zevo, but $45 seems a bit high considering I'm happy with what I have.

The zevo are definitely brighter than that stock bulbs and what I like about them over the cheap LEDs is they don't have an internal resistor. They use a set of LEDs for the running light and another brighter set for the brake / signal, so they work just like the dual filament incandescent bulbs work.

When I used the cheap LEDs, they just did the bright / slightly brighter type thing when you applied the brake with the running lights on. There wasn't enough of a drastic difference, which doesn't seem safe.

 

I have seen them in person and they are bright enough for sure.

 

The zevo or the ones you linked? Your link makes me want to try them, but I need to stop ordering LEDs and just be done with it haha. My girlfriend will kill me if anymore LEDs show up!

 

The ones I linked. My buddy and I share a whole sale account and be has them at his house. We fired them up and they were bright.

 

Damn. As far as the red tail lights, how much brighter would they be than what I'm using? Is there a legal brightness?

I recal driving behind a tow truck that had some high mounted brake LEDs that were so blindly bright that it hurt to drive behind him.

 

I haven't seen the red ones, just the amber ones. So that I can't answer

 

Any chance you could post a video comparing to the stock bulb when you get the new ones? I'd love to see.

 

I haven't ordered them yet. I've spent enough money on my truck lately. Just did depo LED tails and saving up for headers

 

Here's a brand new 3175 LL vs the zevo led. Similar brightness, but the zevo does project better.