Has anyone swapped out their standard bulbs with LEDs? Is it worth doing? I googled this and came up with some results; but no actual statements from any owners and their perspective.
I put leds in my dome light and the forward trunk compartment, much brighter. I also put red leds in my instrument lights, I really liked the effect although the hvac controls still light up green because of the overlay panel. I ended up going back to stock bulbs in the intruments. I should mention this was in a 355.
I put them in the "third" brake light on the engine lid. They were plug and play and easy to do. I will be replacing all my bulbs with LEDs as I have the time. Mike Reading, PA
I also did the same as Mike and also did the center console and will be replacing the dash lights when I get to it. Very easy to do and alot better for the electrical. Do not mix and match www.superbrightleds.com Good luck
Someone from Superbright should come up with a kit(s) to replace all the bulbs with LEDs. Sort of like the kit from Scuderia Rampante Gold Kit. If they had a list of the bulbs I need I would buy the whole set and replace them as I had the time. Mike Reading, PA
You're thinking too hard on this one - there really aren't that many different bulb sizes and configurations out there, so all that you have to do is to pull each lamp in succession, write down the type, and then go shopping. I've done this on my 308. The --only-- incandescent lamps in the entire car are the headlights. EVERY other lamp (except for the gauge lighting, which is a work-in-progress) is now a LED. And it's all pretty much all plug-'n'-play. The only other thing that you need to do is to swap the turn signal flasher for a LED-compatible one, but once again that's very simple. One word of advise based upon experience - you get what you pay for, and there's a lot of cheap LED lamps out there which have marginal output. You will typically want the brightest LED's that are offered for a given size, so be prepared to do a fair amount of trial and error, comparing each new LED lamp to the old incendescent one that it will replace, so to compare light output. If you are curious, check my website for detailed pictures and the full play-by-play commentary of my LED work: http://www.ferrari308gtsi.com/ Cheers - DM
Thanks, I'm more interested in updating the exterior lights of my car with LEDs. When I'm stopped at a red light; I always worry that my tail lights aren't bright enough to todays standards. Maybe a little paranoid, not sure... LOL! I do know that my reverse lights look dated. I saw a 348 LED kit on here: http://www.v12s.com/ It may be cheaper to buy them elsewhere not bundled in a kit though.
Agreed! If time allows I will look and identify the bulbs needed and will post. They are probably listed in one of the PDF manuals that I have archived.
I did a full bulb swap on my 96 Mustang Cobra last year and you can't just go with replacement bulbs in your socket size. I have a few recommendations for you guys if you do it in F-cars with factory red/amber/white lenses as well. First off, if you replace your blinker bulbs, you MUST get a resistor and place it on the circuit for EACH bulb. Otherwise your cars will act as if you have a bulb out and have the rapid flash problem. The resistors are sold along side the bulbs. DO NOT mount the resistors on anything that can melt, they get a bit warm - not enough to cause fires, but enough to melt and deform thin plastic. You don't have the go the route of purchasing a LED compatible flasher relay as that might not work replacing ALL of the bulbs in the blinker/hazard circuit. Secondly, if you plan on putting bulbs in for tail lamps or marker lamps, GET WHITE. If you put a red bulb behind a red lense, it will be dim and act as if you tinted your lights. The red light spectrum likes to cancel out red light. White will show through as factory, but with LED, be a bit brighter and more pronounced. Third and last. DO NOT get one direction bulbs, order LED bulbs that say they cover 360 degrees of viewing angles. This will allow you to use your reflectors built into your lights to their fullest. I believe 1156 socket bulbs are the tail lamps in a 348 http://www.gorecon.com/product_images/product_photo-medium_image-509.jpg I HAVE NO AFFILIATON WITH THEM, But The place I get my bulbs from is RECON Truck accessories, they are mostly for diesel trucks and F150 raptors, but the bulbs work just the same in any other vehicle with the same sockets. They also sell the resistors there. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
