Are there better back up lights than OEM?

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted By: NJ_Car_Owner


Take a look at: https://www.superbrightleds.com/ and you'll see LED bulbs with various lumen outputs. Also keep in mind that some cars may have issues with LED bulbs to to their low current draw the little I've read up on it it seems that some cars will tell you when any bulb is out ... don't know how true that is.


This is true and applies to many cars that monitor the resistance of the bulbs such as BMW, Volvo etc.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Changing the backup lighting is probably illegal. The OEM has to test for compliance to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) which mandates the illumination angle, height, and brightness of backup lighting.

 

[901Memphis]

Just because there is a lack of enforcement doesn't mean the laws don't exist.

 

[Colt45ws]

There is so much other dumb stuff that people do, that someone putting brighter bulb in a back up housing is not even in the top 1000 of things Im worried about when I drive around.

 

[Roger]

No, no trailer hitch. Aint worried about cops inspecting my light bulbs either. I just want to see better in the dark backing up without wasting money trial & error-wise buying new bulbs until I find one that works. The back up camera is pretty low resolution anyway as even day light images are blurry.

 

[901Memphis]

Have you considered upgrading to a higher quality aftermarket back up camera?

 

[Roger]

Actually I have. Part of the problem from what I've been able to find is that the display screen on the dash is only WVGA (800x480)resolution. Which led me to wonder about the back up light bulbs, basically settling for getting almost un-viewable night images up to par with poor, fuzzy daytime images

 

[NJ_Car_Owner]

If you have the space in the bulb housing, one of those supebright bulbs may be brighter lumen wise than a stock bulb. LEDs can either be brighter or dimmer which is why the lumen output is important for more light. If you work on cars (I don't) apparently you can turn off the burnt out bulb warning which will be helpful with any LED if it pops up. I've bought landscape LEDs from these people: http://eversale.com/ they seem to be cheaper than supebright. The LEDs I bought have been in the fixtures about 8 months and are on about 10 hours a night and so far so good.

As an example - in my home I have pretty much turned to all LED lighting to save money. I have 4 different 60 watt equivalent type of bulbs, it depends on the bulb on sale at the time. I have Philips circular bulb (looks like an "O") and a Cree standard bulb in hanging fixtures - they produce the same output but the Cree has a dead spot in the top of the bulb in the way it was designed - looks stupid in a fixture that it projects that dead spot. And I would imagine if I needed it to project light outward it would be horrible. I have standard bulbs in my hallway fixtures - looks just like a incandescent bulb. And I have clear bulbs outside in the front house fixtures - these are rated 60 watt equivalents but they only produce around 500 lumens - standard 60 watt equivalent bulbs produce close to 800 lumens.

The above is not automotive but just an example of the difference in LED bulbs.