I thought so too, LEDs are brighter and they "snap" on and "off" compared to filaments. I've experimented and find the following,
- you need to change the flasher to one that's load independent (comes with a ground) Grote has them and you can get it from your parts store
- the reflectors in the taillights are really bad silver paint and don't contribute much to the pattern so the more elements the better.
- I started with clustered red (regular) LEDs and they worked OK
- so I thought I'd up grade to brighter SMD's which have better directional coverage with mounts on the sides, but they were white ( not red) so although they appear bright in the open, the lens absorbed a bunch of the lumens and I switched back the red clusters. Red SMDs would be better but harder to find.
-Also, to improve the reflection, I lined the back with aluminum tape. Better, but not a permanent solution.
- cheap LED replacements interfere with the socket and won't seat the contacts
- they don't make 2057's, they are all 1157's with more or less brightness
- not impressed by the yellow ones for front signals, just don't have the brightness, SMDs should be better.
______________
DougAllen
Hot Rod Roy
