LED turn signal review

Those are pretty bright. Do you have them installed in the rear as well? Would love to see a video of it if you do.

 

I had some of those Cree 5w + 12 5050 SMD LED lights with projector lens in the H11 flavor installed in my OEM foglights used as DRLs (amber color). In the bright noon sunlight (Hawaii), they were difficult to see.

When I took them out, the projector lens had some melting/haze on them, so the lenses must be plastic not glass. But my Crees were burning for extended periods and not used as flashers like yours will, so you should be OK in that regard.

The other thing about those Cree LEDs with projector lenses was they were highly directional, with the brightest light thrown out at a narrow angle due to the lens. The 12 5050 SMD LEDs really didn't put out much light. So I suspect that only people directly in front of the bulbs will actually see the light output, and that they really won't see much from the sides or from a wider angle that's not covered by the 5W Cree LED.

Edit: I just watched your vids. You can tell that the incandescent bulbs put out a lot more light than even the HO one. You can see a lot more "flare" in the camera's lens from all the light hitting the lens with the incandescent lights. You'll just have to take it out in the sun and see if the decreased brightness is acceptable to you.

 

Wait where do I get the ones that cost 3x as much? Are they much brighter?

 

That's the thing, I had the amber colored LEDs. Here's some pics:

This one is taken in late afternoon with the Prius shaded in the garage. The 5w Cree LEDs look pretty good:


This pic was taken midday in full sun. The LEDs look brighter to the eye in real life than they show up in the pictures. However, the pic shows how the sun washes out the lights and you can see in this pic how the projector lens on the light is illuminating only the central portion of the outside lens cover.


This pic is of some H8 35w halogen yellow bulbs I modified to fit the H11 mounting holes (stock H11 = 55w). Pic taken in full sun, you can tell the sun was much more intense in this pic than the previous pic by seeing how much more glare is reflecting near the front emlem. Notice how much brighter the lights are, though the color is very light yellow in appearance. Again, the lights look brighter in real life and doesn't show up well in pictures:


Just trying to keep it "real" for everyone... don't expect the LEDs to be anywhere near what incandescent bulbs give you. They'll look ok in the evening, and maybe on overcast days, but they are definitely not as bright in full sun.

 

Thanks, I agree, here's to hoping that light output from LEDs can someday rival incandescent/halogen bulbs while producing less heat and consuming less power. Hey, we can dream right?

 

LEDs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs. Unfortunately, a 5w LED is expensive and needs serious heat sinking, while a 20w incandescent is dirt cheap and needs no heatsinking.

For select exterior applications, LEDs make sense.
I replaced the license plate bulbs in my PiP with a 4 led 5050 bulb that puts all the LEDs on the right side.
I replaced the 4 front 5w bulbs with LEDs for my PiP.
I replaced some 1057 bulbs in my tacoma with a 20 led 5050 array.
I bought a 5w cree backup LED for my tacoma; hopefully it will be bright enough.

LEDs today are most efficient with a 'cool' white color around 6000K. Red and amber LEDs are less efficient.
It will take a while until you can replace turn signals with LEDs that are reasonably bright and inexpensive :-(

 

Here's what appears to be a 25W 7440 turn signal bulb. It looks like 5W Cree LEDs along the sides and one on top.

2X CREE Q5 LED 25W SMD Car Reverse Backup Turn Signal Brake Stop Light Lamp Bulb | eBay

Kinds steep though at $50 a pair.. its also kind of ironic that an LED thats potentially brighter than stock also consumes more electricity.

 

I kicked myself for not getting the equivalent in the H11 bulbs when shopping around for my foglight DRL project. I decided to buy from a seller in Canada vs. one in China. The Canadian seller only had the H11 with the 5w Cree on top and the 5050 LEDs at the base. I paid about the same price as the ones you linked to.