LED tail bulbs

[tman4024]

So I've seen a ton of threads about using LEDs and resistors. Has anyone tried these bulbs, they say they can fix the problem of blowing the bulbs/fuse.

http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED/Brake-Light-LED/Red-LED/V-LEDS-RED-SPECIAL-TAILBRAKE-p5168711-1-2.html


I've also read people were thinking of adding ventilation holes in their tails to keep the temperature differential down. Has anyone done this and had success in keeping their tinted tails from warping?

[robpp]

you need those for the rears 07+ but you also need the resistor.

Connect 6ohm resistor to black and outer white wire of OEM harness

[AcidCold]

I bought some from Ebay with 63 leds and stuff them in the front, they are very nice and bright enough, 6ohm resistors are required.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z216/Acidcold/DSC01433.jpg
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z216/Acidcold/DSC01434.jpg

[Scottina06]

^^^^those are cool

[TimmyB]

I bought 13 watt red 3157 LEDs for the rears, all four, and they work great for the parking and brake but I get the hyperflash with the turn signal.. i have the 3157 dual white/amber led in the front with a 3 ohm 50 watt resistor, on vleds they state only one 3 ohm resistor is needed per side with all leds installed, but thats obviously not the case.

I have an 05 laredo, and the tail lights have only one harness connected to the assembly and it appears there are metal bands running to the different bulbs. Anyone happen to know the colors for the blinker wires back there? Im assuming the all black is ground, but there are 6 other wires all striped back there.

Oh, and I have to hawk these 13 watt leds I have, they are f-ing awesome, so bright and the red color is awesome. Got them on ebay from warden_jp, two for 18 bucks. Great quality, has 13x 1 watt leds on the bulb.

[TimmyB]

Im confused, why drill holes in the tail lights? The LEDs dont get that hot.

[tman4024]

I've got regular bulbs with tinted tails.

[TimmyB]

Yea, but when I installed my LED bulbs in the tails I mounted the 6 ohm resistors to the body itself behind/under the tail light housing then put the tail lights back. Only thing is I kept blowing the brake fuse, so I gave up and put everything back to stock. Read on another site that the swack or whatever leds worked on an srt, but im not about to spend another 50 bucks just for led bulbs, I can live with stock.

I have 4 red 3157 13 watt LEDs if anyone wants em cheap. They are almost twice as bright as stock, but it almost seemed they were on full power then hitting the brake made the fuse blow, 3rd brake light no longer worked.

[NHWK05]

I've used similar bulbs to them before, They look just like those, but you still need the resistor. Wire in the resistor and plug in the bulb and i never ever had an issue. I will do it eventually but its $20 a bulb and $12 a resistor for the signals.

[TimmyB]

I've used similar bulbs to them before, They look just like those, but you still need the resistor. Wire in the resistor and plug in the bulb and i never ever had an issue. I will do it eventually but its $20 a bulb and $12 a resistor for the signals.


So you have installed LEDs in a WK tail lights with no issues?? As I stated above I tried it and kept blowing my brake light fuse. I wired in a 7 ohm 50 watt resistor (not 6 ohm like i said above) to the ground and turn signal wire and it fixed the blinker issue. If someone has installed LED bulbs in there WK tails let me know exactly what you did so I can get mine working..

[TimmyB]

And 12 bucks per resistor is steep, you should look around for better prices. I got 5 resistors for 8 bucks shipped on ebay, I think the seller still has alot left too.

[08Hemi]

Can someone post a pic that shows how to install a resistor? I want to led my tail-lights but have not clue how to put a resistor on the factory harness...thanks for any help!

[NHWK05]

So you have installed LEDs in a WK tail lights with no issues?? As I stated above I tried it and kept blowing my brake light fuse. I wired in a 7 ohm 50 watt resistor (not 6 ohm like i said above) to the ground and turn signal wire and it fixed the blinker issue. If someone has installed LED bulbs in there WK tails let me know exactly what you did so I can get mine working..

Sorry i should have specified, ive used similar ones on other vehicles w/o issue. I was going to try with my WK but i am too Cheap.

And 12 bucks per resistor is steep, you should look around for better prices. I got 5 resistors for 8 bucks shipped on ebay, I think the seller still has alot left too.

I have been buying all my LEDs and resistors from a local Big Rig supplies and accessories shop thats local. I dont normally feel like waiting for shipping or wondering if i have the right thing off ebay so i just go by and spend a few bucks more.

Last time i only used these in the tail lights on my XJ, they were for turn signals only. i got 2 bulbs and 2 resistors. they are really nice resistors with cooling fins and everything. Then i decided to do the tail/stop bulbs, but i was never really satisified with how much brighter they got when the brakes were applied. it was deff noticible but to me it could have been a brighter lightup when braking.

[TimmyB]

Can someone post a pic that shows how to install a resistor? I want to led my tail-lights but have not clue how to put a resistor on the factory harness...thanks for any help!


Its very simple, find the ground wire and turn signal wire you want to tap into then clip on the splice taps. heres a thread showing the install.

http://jeepgarage.org/showthread.php?t=7

But dont be so sure its as simple as swapping out bulbs and wireing a resistor in. If you read my posts I have an 05 and keep blowing my brake light fuse. Looks like you might have a newer model, where i remember reading someone ended up useing the srack type LED with a 3 ohm resistor. But dont quote me. My point is do some research for your exact year to find out what someone else did to get it working, before you end up with a huge headache and wasting money trying diff things that dont work. I have 4 led bulbs and 2 resistors sitting on my coffee table because I couldnt get them to work properly. Good luck.

[TimmyB]

Sorry i should have specified, ive used similar ones on other vehicles w/o issue. I was going to try with my WK but i am too Cheap.



I have been buying all my LEDs and resistors from a local Big Rig supplies and accessories shop thats local. I dont normally feel like waiting for shipping or wondering if i have the right thing off ebay so i just go by and spend a few bucks more.

Last time i only used these in the tail lights on my XJ, they were for turn signals only. i got 2 bulbs and 2 resistors. they are really nice resistors with cooling fins and everything. Then i decided to do the tail/stop bulbs, but i was never really satisified with how much brighter they got when the brakes were applied. it was deff noticible but to me it could have been a brighter lightup when braking.


If you read my posts above you will see my brake light fuse keeps blowing, trying to install all four red leds with resistors. Im stumped. And vleds.com has 2 resistors for less than 20 bucks shipped and i got them in 3 days i wanna say. I have awesome 13 watt 3157 red LED bulbs, very bright when on, but no idea whats happening with the brake fuse.

[tman4024]

If you're blowing a fuse, there's too much current flowing through the circuit thus you would need a higher resistance.

[TimmyB]

If you're blowing a fuse, there's too much current flowing through the circuit thus you would need a higher resistance.


Makes no sence though, LEDs use less power so why would the cuircut be drawing more than 15 amps? Resistors are used to trick the cars computer into thinking more current is going thru the cuircut. My interior LEDs dont make my fuses blow. Usually fuses blow because of a short somewhere, grounded out power wire. Plus keep in mind when adding resistors you are bypassing the LED, from the power to the ground wire before the led, but the path from the positive to the negative (ground) is still open thru the led bulb.

[tman4024]

Looking online a stock 3157 bulb is 7W

Assuming
V = 12 volts
P = 7 watts
I = current
R= = resistance

P = IV
7 = 12 * I
I=583 mA <--Acceptable current

P = I^2 * R
13 = (0.583)^2 * R
R = 38 ohms <--Resistor needed to obtain acceptable current

With your 13W bulb:
P = IV
13 = I * 12
I = 1.083 A

[TimmyB]

Looking online a stock 3157 bulb is 7W

Assuming
V = 12 volts
P = 7 watts
I = current
R= = resistance

P = IV
7 = 12 * I
I=583 mA <--Acceptable current

P = I^2 * R
13 = (0.583)^2 * R
R = 38 ohms <--Resistor needed to obtain acceptable current

With your 13W bulb:
P = IV
13 = I * 12
I = 1.083 A


Haha, holy shit, in english man.... What am I supposed to do with that info, I have no idea what that means. From my research the 3157 bulbs in a WK is 28 watts, 2.1 amps and 12.8-14 volts.

Just tell me what to try and i'll do it. I just want these things working instead of sitting in a box on my coffee table. lol

[tman4024]

Haha sorry. What I'm trying to say is that based off the values I used for a stock bulb the current through the wire should be around 0.583 amps the current. With the LED you have an estimated 1.083 amps which would be why your blowing a fuse. Based on my calculations you would need a 38 ohm resistor to get the same current as a stock bulb.

[TimmyB]

What value for wattage would I need with the 38 ohm resistor? And is that wired into both brake light wires on each tail light harness?

And I just looked again on http://wkjeeps.com/lamps/wk_lamps.htm and it says the brake light bulbs are 28 watts each.

I wonder if why my dual color front turn LEDs are not working properly because I have the wrong resistor in there, I have a 3 ohm 50 watt.

[tman4024]

What value for wattage would I need with the 38 ohm resistor?

The 38 ohm resistor was based off of my calculation of the stock bulb only being 7 watts and your new bulb being 13 watts. Based on the stock being bulb being 28 watts, a 3 ohm resistor should work.

And is that wired into both brake light wires on each tail light harness?

Yes

[TimmyB]

The 38 ohm resistor was based off of my calculation of the stock bulb only being 7 watts and your new bulb being 13 watts. Based on the stock being bulb being 28 watts, a 3 ohm resistor should work.



Yes

I have 2 25 watt 4 ohm resistors laying around, think those might work? When I hooked up a 50 watt 7 ohm resistor to the rear LED blinker it worked perfect, except for the brake fuse blowing so I gave up. I can also try the other 50 watt 7 ohm on the brake wire also to see what happens.

[tman4024]

I'm not sure if the 4ohms would work or not. My guess is probably not.