LED Tailights Question

[Onyx_Hemi]

Hey everyone, new here and with a few questions!

I have a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 and am looking to upgrade tailight bulbs to LED in the stock housing. Does anyone know of a brand/bulb (3057 lamp bulbs) that work and don't hyperflash?

I have tested a few brands already and they all hyperflash, and if you're familiar with the early 3rd gen oem tailights, they plug directly into the circuit board (see photo attached) - so I'm not sure if there is anyway to tap in for load resistors.

Of the couple led brands I tested:
-The reverse bulb seems to work fine for LED without any resistors.
-The signal bulb hyperflashes..
-The brake bulb flashes slowly instead of stay solid.

Is there a brand with built-in resistors that works? All the ones on amazon and ebay that claim they are anti-hyperflash seem to have horrible reviews.

Thanks in advance,

 

[HemiLonestar]

I got so sick and tired of those **** circuit boards....I finally went with a whole LED setup that I didn't hate. Haven't had a false lamp out ding since.

 

[Onyx_Hemi]

@HemiLonestar

Yeah I agree, the stock circuit boards are crap. I actually do have an aftermarket set of taillights on right now but I'm tired of being harassed by the cops (their blacked out), so I'm going back to stock ... I would love to get taillights like yours - they look awesome! But sadly on a budget here lol.

 

[Smokeybear01]

I tried regular LED 3157 bulbs and had the same problem. I installed the resistors and mounted them to the metal behind the housing with enough wire lead that they don't interfere with pulling the lamp housing. Now I understand that they do make 'CANBUS' bulbs that are wired internally to work with our TPM and skip the "Lamp Out" warning, but I'm not sure if they prevent the hyperflash or not. The CAN
BUS can be installed either way (not ground specific) I do know that because I have a bunch in my RV. It can be a pain installing the resistors, but they do work. I have blacked out housings and need the LED for the brightness. In the stock housings they are really cool. Good luck.

 

[Onyx_Hemi]

@Smokeybear01

Agreed, it's a huge pain installing the resistors. I did it to my last truck, don't really want to do it again.

I purchased a few sets of bulbs off amazon claiming to be "anti-hyperflash" with CANBUS built in.... but both sets still hyperflashed. It's because LED bulbs draw such little power that your turn signal relay sees the bulbs as being out.

My temporary solution: Ended up just buying a used set of stock tailights for $30cad, and will likely sell my aftermarket ones... and save up for something similar to HemiLonestar's as I quite like the look of optic LED. I will never be buying another set of smoked tailights again (even though they look amazing), they perform poorly and are very hard to see (safety issue).

 

[HemiLonestar]

@HemiLonestar

Yeah I agree, the stock circuit boards are crap. I actually do have an aftermarket set of taillights on right now but I'm tired of being harassed by the cops (their blacked out), so I'm going back to stock ... I would love to get taillights like yours - they look awesome! But sadly on a budget here lol.

Only $150.....https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CMJC9VH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[LoneWolf3574]

HemiLonestar, do you know if their 3rd light is any good? Also, your backup lights, LED or standard 3157?

Onyx_Hemi, whatever you do, avoid Spyder. Had I seen anything that HemiLonestar put up about LED taillights before I got them, I would have bought his suggestion instead. The set I purchased was a hassle to install and eats/shorts the backup lights every 2-3 months. Add to that the email I got from support asking for help about a possible short in the reverse harness told me not to use LED or projector bulbs, then told me they had no spare harness to replace the suspected short. Complete waste of time and money.

 

[HemiLonestar]

HemiLonestar, do you know if their 3rd light is any good? Also, your backup lights, LED or standard 3157?

Onyx_Hemi, whatever you do, avoid Spyder. Had I seen anything that HemiLonestar put up about LED taillights before I got them, I would have bought his suggestion instead. The set I purchased was a hassle to install and eats/shorts the backup lights every 2-3 months. Add to that the email I got from support asking for help about a possible short in the reverse harness told me not to use LED or projector bulbs, then told me they had no spare harness to replace the suspected short. Complete waste of time and money.

Dunno bout their CHMSL, didn't have any problems with mine (hell, didn't even know they made one) so I didn't **** with it lol...I still have my original factory 2003 lamp in there. Backups that come with them are standard bulbs but I'm probably going to swap them for LED's at some point; I've noticed that the regular incandescent bulbs that come in these aftermarket jobs tend to have much shorter lives than their OEM counterparts.

 

[Smokeybear01]

I'm having good luck with my led upgrade. I put 24 SMD bulbs in the backup lights and they put the incandescent bulbs all to shame. I got some super bright ones for the brake and turn because of the smoked housings. No hassles with the lights or the cops.

 

[Onyx_Hemi]

Thank you for that picture @Smokeybear01 !!! I will probably do that after a couple of my incandescent bulbs burn out.

Also I totally agree with @LoneWolf3574 ... My aftermarket spyder lights were trash. LED's were so dim, I got pulled over on 3 occasions where cops told me they couldn't see me using my signal light.

Got rid of em, put stock back on.

 

[FXR99]

Hey Lonestar I hit the link to purchase a set of those Akkon taillights and they are listed as 03-06 is my 02 different in anyway ?

 

[HemiLonestar]

Hey Lonestar I hit the link to purchase a set of those Akkon taillights and they are listed as 03-06 is my 02 different in anyway ?

It'll be fine, they probably started with 2003 in the title because they have 2500/3500's listed as well and 3rd gen HD's didn't start til 03.

 

[Smokeybear01]

Ditto what Hemi said. My research when I was looking always showed the same tail light housings for 2002 thru 2006. What a lot of people don't realize is the 3rd gen headlight housings. I can tell immediately when I see one coming toward me because of the bottom curves. Kind of like that red one in the pic above this post haha

 

[FXR99]

Haha ! Thanks guys I kinda figured so, yes mine has bags under the eyes also, as do i this morning I was obviously over served last evening! Happy Easter ya’ll !!!