Just wanted to make a post with a review on my new VLED's 92 LED 5000K Type 2 switchbacks. These were out of stock for several weeks as they were revising the switchbacks because of some issues with the previous version. So its good to know I have the new ones that dont have any of the previous issues (or so they claim anyway). These are my second set of VLED's as I have the all amber 92 LED towers as well. If you want OEM amber look and probably the closest in brightness to stock filament bulb those are the ones. They look great!!

As for the switchbacks they are sweet. I wanted the Type 2 so that when you put the turn signal on it turns off the white, then when signal is done it puts the white parking lamp back on. Looks pretty neat because I wasnt a fan of the type 1's that alternate white/amber which I thought is kinda goofy looking. The brightness of these is very good the white light is very bright but not overwhelming and tacky looking. When the turn signals are used the amber is better than any other LED I have tried, but obviously not as bright as the 92 LED all amber tower.

I took several pictures showing the LED's in all configurations. Some will probably disagree with me but for some reason I love the look of the white parking lights with the stock DRL's on. I know they dont match but something about it just looks cool to me. So please dont tell me to get LED DRL's because I dont want them :-)

I know the pictures are from the day but this gives you a nice idea on color and output.

 

Nice color! I know you cant always capture the actual color well on camera but yours look much better then some of the blue almost purple ones i've seen. Does the amber match your mirror signals? The OEM leds in my mirror are like 580nm on the spectrum more toward yellow then orange.

 

Yes they match perfectly. In the last picture I posted its hard to see but I captured that picture while the amber signals were on. You can kind of sorta compare them to the mirror LED's and yes they are identical.

 

Looks good! I was on the fence about switchbacks for the same reasons as you, but now you have me thinking...I have also upgraded to 5000K DRLs...hmmm

 

Yeah I hear ya, im gonna leave these in for a while and see if I like them. If I dont no big deal I still have the amber 92 LED bulbs that I can throw right back in if I want.

 

Looks good! and like the fact it works the amber turn signal that way.. what is the part # for it? looking on the VLEDS website but it is just pissing me off in taking so long to search

 

Ever thought about getting white LED DRLs?

 

Nice James-I might get these when I need new switchbacks. Mine are the white/amber, not the amber only (when the turn signal is engaged). I like what you've got.

Brian has your next mod idea (by the way)....

 

Except I forgot to type in red text

 

Join the club.

I got over switchbacks a long time ago and have been running amber only leds for quite sometime now (a year?).

I'm running 120SMT autolumination amber LEDs. (Bright as HELL, even in direct sunlight).

Only, I cancelled the running parking light, so that the amber is NEVER on, only when it blinks. So when the headlights are on, the headlight HIDs are the only things that are on in the headlights. When the turn signal is engaged, it blinks amber/off/amber/off.

 

They'e up to 92LED already? Wow switchbacks have come a long way. Surprisingly a lot of redesigns considering it is such a niche product. I remember the sucky 1st Gen model with flux LEDs that I bought a long time ago that burned out with any voltage fluctuations, these are way better. Switchbacks are still rare, I've seen them on cars on the road maybe a couple times, thats it.

 

These will hyperflash unless you add load resistors or do Roger's mod, correct?

 

 

That is correct. I used bought those from VLED's as well and they work great too.

 

Looks great!

I wish my garage flooring looks nice as yours lol

 

It can for less than 200 bucks. I did that floor myself using a DIY kit believe it or not. I used the Rustoleum 2 car garage epoxy floor kit then used their high gloss epoxy clear coat on top of that. Some people say the DIY kits are junk, however these newer epoxy kits seem damn good if you ask me. The coating has been there for 2 years now so its been through 2 summers and 2 winters and its been perfect!!! Super durable, very easy cleanup, and looks great! Granted my house was built in 2007 so my garage slab was like new, but if you have an older floor that is cracked and chipped and dirty as heck the results might be different. The kit comes with the concrete cleaning stuff needed then the rest is basically like painting a wall. Absolutely no signs of peeling up and I dont see it doing that for a loooong time if ever at all. The main epoxy kit along with the high gloss makes for a very thick coating.

James

 

Hey James thanks so much for the tips.

My house was also built in mid 2007 but from all the winters up here and some oil spots I hope I can fix everything and make them look nice again =)

I noticed your flooring has "sections", whereas my garage floor is just all poured concrete so there's absolutely no sections or anything. I kinda like the sectioned look lol

 

That's good that your floor is pretty new it should be a easy prep job. As for the slab it sounds like it will be a bit more difficult since you won't have 4 sections to cut the job into. I basically did one section at a time as this stuff does take a long time to dry. Since I didn't wanna leave anything outside overnight I did half the garage at a time then once one side cured long enough to place stuff on I moved everything over then completed the other side. It's a longer process if you do the gloss epoxy coat as well. Since you have one large unsectioned floor I wonder if you would have to do the entire floor all at once. You could as it's not hard to apply, but the problem is you can't even place stuff on it for approx 24 hours.

 

bforbrian, how did you cancel the running parking light? in the socket or in the bulb?

 

There are three wires that go to the bulb. (Ground) / (+ running) / (+ signal). You clip the running light wire bam no running light!

 

Thanks so much for sharing this, bud...been curious, myself. Any chance you have any pics of the 92 amber laying around? I've been thinking about getting it since my chrome dipped bulbs are not very bright.

 

I can get you some pics tomorrow funny thing is later the same day I took the pictures of my car above with the switchbacks, I "switchedback" to the 92 LED ambers LOL. The switchbacks are cool, but im going to keep it more OEM looking and keep it all amber. So far VLED's 92 led amber bulbs are the brightest, closest to stock output LED's I have tried. They arent completely there, but are acceptable, and for sure better than any other bulb I have tried. At night they are plenty bright, its during the day that any LED bulb seems to lack. Again, they are good, just not blaring amber during the day like the standard filament bulb. I will get some pics tomorrow for you.
I hate to keep buying and having to sell all these different LED bulbs that I have been trying, but I guess its the only way I can find out whats best. Another pair of bulbs I want to try are autoluminations 5 watt cree bulbs. I wish someone on the forums have tried these. I heard 5 watt cree bulbs are incredibly bright, but I just need to see how they work in the TL's reflector housing to see if it utilizes any of the reflector. Here is the picture of it. $25 bucks a pop so its not too expensive.


James

 

Ah thanks man.

Seems like a project for me before the winter.

I'm going to assume cleaning out my garage and preparing everything is going to take up a very long time. I don't know where to put my huge freezer, my winter rims, toolboxes, storage units, etc.

I suppose I can move most things into my backyard but the freezer I have to find a place because the stuff in it will go bad =(

As for amber LED bulbs, I'm really interested in seeing them too!

I have my mind set on autolumination's 120 LED amber bulb.
Bforbrian said it's ridiculously bright even in the daytime when the sun is hitting it directly.

Seems convincing to me

I heard the best led bulbs for reliability are elefs. These are the bulbs Roger555 have.
They're the top stuff for build and reliability. They're bright too but Bforbrian said the 120 LEDs are even brighter. I was gonna buy the elefs but honestly, I'm looking for brightness lol. They don't even ship to Canada so I can't get em.

Autolumination 120 LEDs are still the ones I'm gonna order.

I asked Bforbrian for pics but he didn't have any and reassured me that they are hella bright.

 

^^^I'm feeling the same way, myself. Bright during the day caught my attention. At 120 SMD, that's a lot of little amber points lighting up. Only thing I'm wondering is how bright they are with the parking lights. Remember, when you signal you are getting a higher voltage (or a different filament) and even my chrome dipped amber one is pretty bright when signalling. Brian doesn't have the parking lights on so the only time he sees them is when they are brighter.

Would love to see it.

 

has anyone ran the 92s or 120s for more than 6 months? from searching in AZ a few people who had greater than 60s usually had a burnout or two of the LEDs.. not sure if that would matter but would suck if it was one that was in a perfect lighting spot.. either near the reflector or the tip in which it would stand out

 

For the amount they are charging, I wouldn't be happy if ANY of them turn off.

 

Yeah im sure the elefs are good the only thing is im still not convinced at the brightness of their amber 3 watt units in our TL housings. I PM'ed Roger and he gave me some decent pictures and although they looked good at night, he said during the day they are only "acceptable". So I have a feeling if I bought those they would be the same, if not less bright than my current 92 LED amber VLED bulbs. Like I said before as of right now the VLED 92 ambers are the brightest ones I have tried hands down.
I know you heard the 120 LED towers are super bright and im sure they are, however the only thing I dont like about these 92 and up bulbs is they are long. So long that you can see them inside your light housings and they look kind of goofy in there lol. I dont know if the 120 LED towers are even longer than the 92's I have, but if your close enough you can see the entire thing (atleast in my Type S headlight since the amber lens stop pretty much right where the bulb mounts).

Give me a few hours today and I will get you a lot of pictures of my current setup. I will take closeups of the housing, head on shots, side shots, bright sunlight shots etc etc. I dont have shit to do I have been off work for the last couple weeks since we had a baby on august 14th lol. I will post the pics on this thread.

James

 

true and some of the threads are older so hopefully the LEDs are better now... i need to clean out my garage before I start work on my lights.. i hate working in a mess.. still trying to figure out though what to do with the 04 FOG/DRL light.. not a fcn of the reflector and nubby look but kind of scared to go buck wild in there also.. we shall see

 

I, too, am looking for a very bright amber LED that'll be seen pretty well during the daytime. I hope the 54 SMD LED I had ordered will do the trick.

 

Well I hope for your sake it does the trick. I dont want to make you feel bad about your purchase, however I dont think 54 amber LED's is going to cut it during the day. Hell, even my VLED's 92 M-SMT's arent even insanely bright during the day. They are acceptable, but by no means bright or comparable to the OEM filament bulb. I will still get those pictures today.

It seems that some of the newer cars that are coming with OEM amber turn signals are using a series of forward facing LED's. I wish I knew what type of LED's they were and it might not be that hard to make our own LED board and install it inside the headlight. That could be cool. Cars that I have seen with the new amber LED turns are newer Mercedes and BMW's.

 

yeah, but forward facing won't use the reflector anyomre and ours sits pretty deep in there. I guess I'd have to see it.

Shoot, I'm thinking my filament amber dipped one might be just fine then, fi you're not happy with the 92 led one during the day.

 

Alright fellas hope you like pictures ;-) Since its been so long since I had my stock amber filament bulbs installed I went ahead put one back in and took a bunch of pictures. So I noted a few things that caught me as a bit unusual. First off, the 92 LED tower is clearly brighter under NO sun conditions (ie inside my garage or anytime when there is no direct sunlight). Whats really weird is that when outside or in sunlight, things turn around and the filament bulb becomes brighter. I will say though I was surprised at how dim the stock amber bulb was in sunlight as well so I guess these 92 LED towers arent as bad as I thought they were. So outside the filament bulb is clearly brighter, but not as much as I had origianlly thought. Since the filament bulb is one small intense light it has a much more focused beam that when looking head on (or from a car driving opposite direction), its very bright. The LED bulb cannot focus its light as well so obviously that one spot of intense light is not going to happen.

So, overall when compared side by side, the filament is brighter during the day in all conditions, at dusk and night the LED is brighter. When viewed straight on during blinker full brightness the filament bulb is very intense and focused and the LED is bright, but doesnt have a focal point of intense bright light.
After my comparison I am now happy with my VLED 92 LED amber towers. You guys be the judge.

Stock filament bulb head on parking light only



LED head on parking light



Filament close up park light only. During the day its pretty dull as well and can barely see it on in sunlight



LED park light only



Head on comparison during BLINKER operation. Filament left, LED right. So this is full brightness on both sides. You can just make out the side mirror signals are on as well



Head on park lights only. Filament left, LED right.



In garage park lights only. Filament left, LED right. Funny how now the LED is brighter lol.



Just like above just different angle. Park lights only.



The next set of pictures are BOTH 92 LED towers installed. These pictures were taken just to simply show off the LED's installed only. Looks sharp!









Blinker on


Blinker on

 

Looks very sharp man thanks!

 

Thanks very much for doing this, I appreciate it very much!
Honestly, I think I'll stick with the filaments for now. If I do do LED, I'm going with the totally amber ones you have.

Funny enough, this was the same analysis I had when I changed my rear turn signal bulb to LED. The reflector didn't shine any brighter with LED. Ended up sellin em!

 

Very nice comparison! Thanks for doing this!

 

I thought that the TL's bulb size was the 7443... Im looking on V-Leds website and the only place for the 92 LED switchback is the 3157 etc... Am I dumb and just dont remember the bulb sizes or what? I want a set of the switchbacks... maybe a direct link?

 

I got mine from autolumination and there switchback so when its just the running light its white and when putting on your blinkers it interchanges back and foward. it does need the load equalizer but you can still distinguish the color change in the day and night only good thing is that i dont have the amber reflector on the headlight.

 

this is a reply to imabeast31 heres a link but its to autolumination but only found the 60 led switchback hope it helpshttp://www.autolumination.com/switchback.html

 

http://www.autolumination.com/switchback.html

 

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