beetlevegas

Looking to upgrade the tail lights on my 05. Looking at these LED smoked lights. Just looking to see any one has used these or know any real information on them. Like how well are they. I found one thread on them but it was really no info on it that helped. Just want to make sure they are not junk. Thanks.

Mod (Ret.)

Ask the seller if they come with "load resisters"; needed in order for your cruise control to work.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Actually...those are good lights... I have had my set for 4 years now...no problems at all...I did swap out my reverse light bulbs for LED’s though.

beetlevegas

Why would my cruise control not work?


I have LEDs in the reverse lights now. Was it the same bulb?

Thanks for the info guys.

MGD

These are less expensive - and brighter:

http://www.vleds.com/v3-triton/bulb-.../red/v3-r.html

There is also a sale going on: http://www.vleds.com/promo

Smoked tails and decent output are a non-sequitur, IMHO.

BTW - you don't need resistors - use a Tridon EP-27 SS flasher instead.

MGD

sdatrlp23

iTrader: (2)

Those VLEDs are a nice choice^^

The cruise control issue is only with the 3rd brake light. Most sellers have addressed that issue by now, but some haven't. So just keep that in mind if you end up replacing that one, too.

Mod (Ret.)

Nope; if you add an LED bulb to the rear taillight brake/turn signals, that too will kill the cruise from working. Some of the LED taillight assemblies built early on did this as well. I had a set back in 2006 that killed my cruise.

To the question of why: the cruise circuit "ON" triggers off of the brake circuit. In early days, a switch was on the brake pedal to detect when the brakes were applied, and this would deactivate the cruise. Today, the brake light circuit is used. With a conventional bulb, the resistance is detected by this circuit (brake lightsd on/off). It expects a certain amount of resistance. With LED's, they have a low current draw/resistance, and this disables the cruise from being activated. The manufactures place load resister circuits either in an LED bulb now, or you have to solder them into the brake wiring.

sdatrlp23

iTrader: (2)

My truck must be an exception then, lol.

Almost every one of the aftermarket tail lights/brake lights/turn signals come with resistors. But a lot of the manufactures don't include any sort of resistor on the 3rd brake light, so that's typically where the problem stems from.

Good information, though.

Mod (Ret.)

Just in case someone buys an old used set...they should be aware. The new stuff has the loads resisters built in.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Yes...same bulb