'39 La Salle LED Tail lamp bulb upgrade

[NH LaSalle]

For the benefit of the person who may be driving behind me (and is presumably paying attention) and my relative peace of mind, I wanted to increase the visibility of the tail lamps on my `39 La Salles.  A few years ago, I replaced the incandescent bulbs with halogen bulbs.  With the recent advent of LED bulbs, to reduce the current drain I would like to make the switch from the halogens to LEDs.  I purchased LEDs from a reputable company but find, once they are installed in the cars that the do not illuminate.  The incandescent and halogen bulbs worked fine.  Double-checking the LEDs they are the correct replacement for the incandescent bulb number. with the correct offset locking pins and contact configurations.  Bench-checking the LEDS, they are indeed 6 volt with the correct polarity (pos. grnd.) for the cars  Any thoughts as to why they are not working and any suggestions as to what to do get them to do so??
Thanks

[39LaSalleDriver]

What type of bulbs specifically do you have? Pics would be helpful. I have done this conversion on my 39 with these direct drop ins (the red version) and had massive success. No funky wiring or anything else should be necessary if using your stock setup. Unfortunately, it looks like they have been discontinued but surely there is another source out there somewhere.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-and-subminiature-bulbs/1156-led-bulb-19-led-forward-firing-cluster-6v-and-24v-dc-car-classic-car-bulb/511/12710/

Because I wanted to add turn signals, I had to fabricate new cans to accommodate a second bulb so I did have to go through some gyrations to get it all to work. For the other bulb I used an 1157 replacement in the 6 v version which I see no longer listed.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-and-subminiature-bulbs/1157-led-bulb-dual-function-19-led-forward-firing-cluster-bay15d-retrofit-car/156/

Guess I'll have to start looking for replacements myself to have on hand for potential burnouts later down the road.

If these bulbs or similar can be found again, I cannot strongly enough recommend them for any of us with vintage cars. The difference in illumination is incredibly remarkable.

[NH LaSalle]

Thanks for your response.

Attached is photo of the LED bulbs that I obtained.  They are a combination of red/white.  As you may be able to detect in the photos, the LED around the perimeter of the central circular area (that faces the lens) is red while the LED around the perimeter of the bulb's waist are white.

These are the correct replacements for the incandescent 1154.

[J. Gomez]

One possible reason maybe the shape of the light bulbs socket not making correctly with the older type sockets. 

I know folks have had issues with LEDs lights when they plug them into the older sockets, the LED lights are slighter smaller and do not make a good contact around the older socket. Even the two locking pins are not enough to get a good contact on the socket.

Try to clip a wired from the chassis + ground and touch the light bulb socket and see if that make a different.

Good luck..!

[39LaSalleDriver]

J may be onto something there. I didn't encounter that issue because I mounted new bayonet sockets into the tail light cans. I literally made new "cans" by raiding the cabinet and finding soup cans that were close to the diameter needed and fixing a flange to them. Then mounted the new sockets to the bottom with a rubber grommet to feed the wires through. Also make sure your grounding point is very clean, makes a world of difference.

[bcroe]

Certainly do connect the LEDs with shell grounded, directly to
your battery, to check they are the correct polarity.  If there is
rewiring of the sockets, do check with a meter that the correct
polarity has been maintained. 

LEDs must have correct polarity Bruce Roe

[las39]

Another reason is voltage drop. LED are volt specific unlike incandescent bulbs. Mine had 5.7v due to old wrings.
To cure this I got a cheap ebay Chinese adjustable regulators for constant 7 volts.
Your flasher relay will not work if you also change the fronts to LED.
My tail lights have the original bulb in the middle, surrounded by flat chip leds. Plenty of light and standard flasher relay.

[39LaSalleDriver]

Just thought I would update folks who are considering using LED bulbs for their tail lights, which I highly recommend. The company I offered as a solution in my previous link (superbrightleds.com) discontinued their bulbs for 6v systems. However, I have located another company who offers more or less the same bulb. I just ordered some, but I expect they will work just fine.

https://www.ledlight.com/24-led-light-s25-6-volt-dc-positive-or-negative-chassis-non-polarity-sensitve.aspx

I won't mention any names, but let's just say that $5+ change per bulb vs. $30+ for a bulb from a car oriented vendor is a lot easier to choke down too.

[LaSalle5019]

I updated my '39 LaSalle with bulbs from Restoration Supply Company (https://www.restorationstuff.com) and am very happy with the results:

Head lights - 6 volt halogen prefocus bulbs (ELE135)
Tail lights - 6 volt LED pos ground (ELE457) - dual element tail / stop lights

Tail lights are so much brighter.  Since I like driving my car, I did supplement the LED tail lights with an LED stop light bar in the rear window (https://www.brakelighter.com/).  Too many people not paying attention and even with the additional brightness those little lights are a bit hard to see in full sun.
Scott

[Mabruntan]

Hi! A very interesting topic. Now I'm thinking about replacing my halogen lamps with LED ones. But I haven't decided which LEDs I should use yet. I want to order a smart led bulb and try to install them as the rear dimensions of my car. But like the author of the topic, I am afraid to face the problem that they are not suitable for such purposes. Has anyone come across a similar question? Have you replaced the car lighting with smart bulbs? Maybe someone can give me some sensible advice. Thanks!

[LaSalle5019]

Hi! A very interesting topic. Now I'm thinking about replacing my halogen lamps with LED ones. But I haven't decided which LEDs I should use yet. I want to order a smart led bulb and try to install them as the rear dimensions of my car.

I've never found an LED pre-focus bulb that would work for the headlights so your choices are changing to a sealed beam LED or staying with a halogen pre-focus. I prefer incandescent bulbs on my headlamps as they have a broader display of wavelengths.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Mae,

You have an email from the Moderators that requires your attention.

Thanks,

Bruce.

[Nemikon]

What method did you use to install the headlights?

[cfedsasd]

Installation of diode lamps in a headlight with an H4 base in 99% of cases will significantly increase illumination, usually 2-3 times. The whole problem is that the LED itself is made competently and efficiently; it gets into focus and has chips with a small area, not a large one like cheap LED lamps.
The increase in lighting is because the H4 halogen itself was designed quite a long time ago, and its design is not optimal. Therefore, it turns out that the efficiency of the lamp is small. However, a lot depends on the machine. For example, I installed an LED strip in the cabin without any problems — https://www.vont.com/product/smart-strip-lights-led-strip-lights/.
But my friend has already failed, although we have similar models.