thais0n

I know there are a ton of sources for LED bulbs (and I am talking more accessory bulbs, not headlight bulbs). I pretty much figured for something like a cargo bulb - an LED bulb was an LED bulb, not really much performance difference, just different brands.

When I first got my truck, I heard of the melting 3rd brake light issue, so I quickly swapped the white cargo lights with LEDs I got from SuperBrightLEDs.com. I have a good friend that recommended that site and said he always got great stuff from them. I put their bulbs in, things worked great - nice and bright, and no more melting of the housing - I was a happy customer (I also got backup bulbs, license plate bulbs, and LED strips to add extra light to the bed).

Fast forward several months, and surprisingly one of my cargo lights goes bad. I had just purchased the ambient light kit from F150LEDs.com - product was good and their support was good so figured I would give some of their bulbs a shot since i needed a replacement - I got the white cargo bulbs, the bulb for the 3rd brake (for some reason I never got that the first go 'round), and the backup bulbs.

Here are the bulbs side by side...

Backup bulbs (SBL on left, F150LED on right) - the SBL is significantly smaller. The SBL has 5 rows of 3 LEDs each on the outside, and 3 LEDs on the end of the bulb. The F150LED has 4 rows of 9 small LEDs on the outside, and one LED on the end but it has that domed reflector. The F150LEDs bulb also feels more durable since it has a metal housing.





I didnt get a side by side shot of the cargo light bulbs - here are the F150LEDs bulbs. You can see they have a X shape, with each arm of the X having 3 LEDs on each side for a total of 24 LEDs. Note: the two-pack is the cargo bulbs, and the single pack is the brake light.






And here is the SBL bulb - 4 LEDs on the outside and 1 on the end:



I didn't do any pics/comparison for the brake light since I was going from halogen to LED.

My next post will do some more comparisons....

thais0n

For the backup lights, here are the bulbs in the housing...

First, this is the SBL in my drivers side tail light:



And here is the F150LEDs bulb in my passenger tail light:



It is extremely hard to get comparison pics of the actual bulb output, but I tried my best.

Here are a few pics of the cargo bulbs - F150LED on the drivers side, SBL on the passenger:





In this case, the F150LEDs is much brighter. As you can see in the pictures it has more of a "flare" to the light (on the left) - and this is the same you see in person. This makes sense since the F150LEDs bulb has many more LEDs than the SBL. Although I didnt get a pic, the F150LEDs put more light onto my tonneau than the SBL.

Now here is my shot at the backup light comparison.

First - and not the best pics - are facing the bulbs.

This pic is of the passenger side with the F150LEDs bulb:



And here is the drivers with the SBL bulb:



The drivers bulb (from SBL) appears much brighter when looking at it head on. I even called my wife out and she said the SBL was brighter. So at this point, I figured - "hey at least I got some good cargo bulbs." I sent F150LEDs a note and said the reverse bulbs just didnt cut it. He was super nice and asked if I had done any comparisons with the actual light that it puts out - which I hadn't. So I said I would give it another shot. Here is what I found...

I took pics of the reflection of the bulbs against my garage door. Note I have a LED strip beneath my tailgate, so you will see a slightly bluish light coming from that.

Here is the F150LEDs bulbs - the interesting thing to call out here, is you can see a ring of light:





For the SBL bulb on the drivers side - the light appears to be a bit more scattered:

thais0n

Then i took the truck in the driveway...

F150LEDs:



SBL:



My impression here is the light of the F150LEDs was more focused, while the SBL seemed a bit more diffused...I think you can see toward the edge of the light pattern that the light appears to break up more while the F150LEDs stays more consistent throughout the pattern. A few more shots:

F150LEDs:



SBL:



F150LEDs:



SBL:



Finally, its hard to get this pic - but when actually backing up - the F150LEDs had significantly more light when viewed through the side mirrors. I was pretty surprised by this conclusion - I thought the F150LEDs only had 1 LED on the end of the bulb vs the 3 of the SBL - but it seems that reflector really focuses the light. It also seems that the F150LEDs bulbs focus the light in the area where you need it whereas the SBL bulbs scatters it - so it may get a bit more light all over, but less light where you really need it. So in my case, F150LEDs won for both the cargo and backup lights.

I hope you guys found this helpful and that the pictures are actually useful - its so hard to get true representative pictures of light performance, so I did my best.

ChicagoJim

Agree... not all LED bulbs are the same (even if they say they replace the same incandescent).

BUT, it is miss leading to simply count LEDs.
Not all LEDs on a LED bulb are the same.... plus some have a projector on the end (great for backup, not so great where you need a "flood" dispersion in the cargo bay).

I spent $3.84 total (with shipping) for two great LED cargo bulb replacements shipped from China.

Yes, I know that no U.S. resellers/workers benefited from my cheap transaction (you remember that when voting in the next POTUS election).

Here's a link with photos and ebay posting: https://www.f150forum.com/f118/cargo...2/#post4910224

TexasFording

iTrader: (14)

Great writeup Ty. The F150LEDs look almost identical to the diode dynamics. I will definitely give them a call and order some dome interior and brake light bulbs.

Diode Dynamics

iTrader: (1)

Here's something to keep in mind when comparing their appearance:


Good vs. Bad LED Bulbs: Testing Current

They may look similar, but the performance is not the same.

Nick C.

thais0n

Awesome video - thanks for sharing. Is there a way for me to do a similar test on my bulbs or do i need a piece of equipment like you have in your video. I might be able to do a visual test - since the degradation in your video was so noticeable, I wonder if I could see what my bulbs look like when first turned on, then turn away for 30 seconds or so and see if I notice a difference in brightness.

Also, for the bulbs in your videos - I understand the point about performance degrading quickly with heat, but does this have any long term impacts? Would you expect your bulb to last longer than the other in the video?

Thanks again - really cool stuff!

Diode Dynamics

iTrader: (1)

We have quite a lot of equipment for measuring and testing, here's another example:


Design plays a huge factor in the output and longevity of the LED unit. The actual components also play an important role.

Nick C.

Ifallsguy

Want an easy way to check the output (lumens)? Find a light meter and check it. Set the meter up on a tripod and make sure the distance is exactly the same.
Also LEDs get hot as they said in the video measuring current. They can and do melt the lens of the 3rd brake/cargo light.

Something to keep in mind.

MagNitto

I've bought crap LEDs in the past from Amazon and super bright LEDs. Had them in my reverse and cargo in my last truck and both had a bulb go bad. I went with diode dynamics this time around and even tho I haven't installed them yet, I can tell the quality is top notch. Can't wait to install them one of these rare free summer weekends. The f150led you have appears to be a diode dynamics one. I bought their cargo lamp bulbs that are 210 lumens each! Super excited for those.