Good LED backup lights

[Rmay635703]

Do any local stores carry brighter exact fit LED 168 bulbs?

My Honda Insight has little round parking lights that are barely visible with little 168 bulbs inside and I would like to replace them with something like this

https://sealight-led.com/product/sealight-j5-t10-led-bulbs-white

but local stores no longer have gimmicky lights like these on the shelf. (15 years ago sea light were at one of the independent “truck” stores)

When ordered online a vast majority of the bulbs are garbage either overheat, fail or not water resistant, it’s hard to know what is extremely durable, long lasting and the brightest without buying a bunch.

 

[buck91]

I put "Auxito" brand 921 bulbs in the reverse of both trucks and they are truly impressive. Seems the link to them is broke on amazon now, though.

 

[researcher]

I put "Auxito" brand 921 bulbs in the reverse of both trucks and they are truly impressive. Seems the link to them is broke on amazon now, though.

Most of those links can change as the seller or Amazon changes the amazon stock number aka ASIN.. searching for auxito 921 it still comes up.. $14 for 2 921 type bulbs. I ordered something similar from another "no-name" been working for a long time.. no issues, and VERY bright!

For me, reverse lights are for getting attention! And with LED's they definitely do that!

 

[johnmyster]

Oh lookie, another lighting thread. I had these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08THDCM3L?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

They're brighter, but meh. Returned them. (They make them for a 921 base as well.) I switched to these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SLW43C?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Sticking with incandescent keeps me legal. One less thing to revert annually at inspection time.

Agreed. Reverse lights are indicators and not illuminators. I'm 50/50 on the GY6.35 trick vs just adding a pair of reverse mounted LED floodlights on the bumper, tied into trailer reverse circuit. The reflectors in the housing are optimized for signal lights (light goes out) and not as area illuminators (light goes out, down, up, etc.)

 

[Rally2045]

I just installed Auxito 7440 bulbs in my truck, they are used as DRL’s, forward facing, probably twice as bright as the stock bulb.

They definitely throw light all over which is a issue for LED’s in housings designed for incandescent/halogen but since they turn off when the headlights turn on it’s not really a issue.

 

[KevinMalone]

After the success of the 921 LEDs I mentioned before, I started looking for P21W/1156 LED bulbs for the back up light on another car. I was hoping to find LEDs where the emitters would be oriented horizontally to maximize the light output on the reflectors, but it seems that aftermarket LEDs don't really follow a fixed orientation on a BA15S base.

Eg: emitters seem to be oriented differently relative to the pins on each bulb:

On the incandescent bulbs, the filament appears to be nearly perpendicular to the base pins:

So far, the only LED I've found that follows this orientation is the Osram/Sylvania ZEVO:

Perhaps I'm overthinking it and it doesn't make a huge difference. Or I should just get a LED with 360 degrees of emitters.

 

[Carmudgeon]

After the success of the 921 LEDs I mentioned before, I started looking for P21W/1156 LED bulbs for the back up light on another car. I was hoping to find LEDs where the emitters would be oriented horizontally to maximize the light output on the reflectors, but it seems that aftermarket LEDs don't really follow a fixed orientation on a BA15S base.

So far, the only LED I've found that follows this orientation is the Osram/Sylvania ZEVO:
View attachment 261632

Perhaps I'm overthinking it and it doesn't make a huge difference. Or I should just get a LED with 360 degrees of emitters.

Not al all.

The Christmas tree style bulbs try to compensate for their lack of focus by flooding the fixture with light.

That's not how incandescent fixtures are designed to work; they rely on a point source, in a specific position relative to the reflector to have proper focus.

The Zevo pictured above comes closest to emulating the point source of the original bulb, and provided the angular orientation of the bulb holder relative to the reflector, and its overall shape, is compatible, will have the best performance.

Philips was the first to make such a design, the X-treme Ultinon LED, and a second generation using the same principle, but they've discontinued them in favor of the Xmas tree junk. They both direct the light output where it should go, not in a haphazard scattershot, as well as using good quality Luxeon emitters, not a smattering of the cheap SMD emitters.

They weren't cheap, at $30/pair, but they worked, and the ones I have are all still working 8+ years later.