VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Electrical - 6 volt tail light up grade

I am about to upgrade the tail/stop/turn signal lights on my 52. Have not made up my mind on going to Halogen or Digital. Any thoughts out there.

LED is bright and does not take a lot of power to operate.

It's possible that the 6v LEDs have improved. My experience with LEDs made to replace the 1154 is that they aren't any brighter and don't work well. I bought mine through Highspeed Motors five or six years ago. They are VERY expensive and not worth the money.

I can tell you that the 12v LEDs work very, very well... I love 'em.
But -- some people need to change their turn signal flasher to a different one to account for the lower amperage needed to make them "flash". On my '66 Corvette, my original flasher works just fine with new rear LED taillights... although they do flash just a tad faster.

As for 6v, I used TFS ones for my '31 Chev... and they work great!! But it's a board board replacement with multiple LED's.

I don't have experience with the single-bulb 6v LEDs and I know that that is what you're seeking.... But - I would agree with others, that if they aren't up-to-snuff by now, they will be shortly... The technology is just working it's way down to the lower-demand uses of LEDs, such as 6 volts.

Please let us know what you find out. We're all interested!!

Bill,

The Flasher you mentioned is an "Electronic Flasher" - needed when using LED bulbs. They work well with all incandecents, a mix of incandecents & LEDs or all LEDs. They are readily available at parts stores and directly replace the old type flashers (2 0r 3 spades). Use it to flash your LEDs properly.

So, I actually bought an electronic flasher when I bought my new LED taillights... but after I installed the taillights and they seemed to work okay, I haven't bothered to replace the flasher.... I guess that I'll just carry it as a spare for now.

I have assumed that I won't need it until I also replace the FRONT turn signal lights with LEDs too. Then the total load will be insufficient for the original flasher.

Okay?

--Bill

I bought the 6 volt LED bulbs for my '50 convertible. They plugged right in to the factory socket, and required no further changes to the flasher.

I think the bayonet base leds have the loading unit built into the base to trick the flasher can.
Dont use the led headlight globe replacements they arent much brighter than a match.
Tony

the tail lights on my 50 were dangerously dim. on some cars iv'e added a second bulb in the can but there is no room to do so in this case. I'd seen instances where a led bulb had been used, but with little gain. I contacted filling station. they didn't list a 6 volt led conversion to fit my application but they made a pair of 23 led bulb conversion boards to fit my 50 in 6 volt. seems like it cost about $135 but when I'm gliding along the interstate at 60 mph and others are approaching from behind much faster I think its worth it.

Putting a slight bend in the stock bracket will allow you to use a brighter stop light bulb. Use a #81 for the tail and #1129 for the brake. You'll be brighter than an 1157 tail and nearly as bright brake. Paint the inside of the housing gloss white & use a plastic lens.

The bulb socket in a 1950 is built into the housing so there is nothing to bend. Also a 1154 bulb is used so there is no other choice. The 1950 housing was painted white from the factory and they had plastic lenses.
I tried halogen bulbs in mine but they caused more problems. A 6 V led bulb would be ideal.

Glyn, you can find what your looking for at www.rodworx.com for
$ 26.95
1951-52 Chevy LED Tail Light Lens - Each
(#CTL5152LED) New release for the 1951-52 Chevrolet! Insert features 16 super bright, dual-intensity LEDs which provide superior visibility, lighting performance & full function as tail/stop/turn light. Use with LED flasher.

When did they get away from the two socket setup Gene? The housing looks the same. Sorry for any misinformation.

For cars 1939. For trucks 1954.

Now you have me confused Gene. If the '50 referenced in the thread has the two socket bracket how does the recommendation to bend the bracket not apply?

I was refering to a car. From what I recall the original post was for a passenger car.

Indeed, it pays to slow down and read more carefully.