Halogen tail light bulbs

Just finished my newest project: (Go MSU Bobcats!!!)

They came out darker than I was expecting.
Has anyone here actually run halogen lamps in tail lights and did anything melt? I've read mixed reviews on them, but it seems like these housings would be big enough to dissipate the heat.

Otherwise, does anyone have a recommendation on a high quality LED tail lamp bulb replacement?

CTD_Chevrolet said:

Just finished my newest project: (Go MSU Bobcats!!!)

They came out darker than I was expecting.
Has anyone here actually run halogen lamps in tail lights and did anything melt? I've read mixed reviews on them, but it seems like these housings would be big enough to dissipate the heat.
Otherwise, does anyone have a recommendation on a high quality LED tail lamp bulb replacement?

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I wouldn't run LED's, they put out less than half the lumens (brightness) of the stock bulbs in nearly every case. Not going to work out favorably with tinted tail lights. If you stock housing uses P20W bulbs like most vw's, you can get the 967 bulbs which are 35w halogens and won't cause any issues for heat or overdrawing on your existing wiring. They are twice as bright as the stock bulbs.

Tweak3D said:

I wouldn't run LED's, they put out less than half the lumens (brightness) of the stock bulbs in nearly every case. Not going to work out favorably with tinted tail lights. If you stock housing uses P20W bulbs like most vw's, you can get the 967 bulbs which are 35w halogens and won't cause any issues for heat or overdrawing on your existing wiring. They are twice as bright as the stock bulbs.

Click to expand...

awesome. Would the 967 be for the running lights? or stop lights? I think I'm going to need more light in both. Turn signals should be fine.

i did a quick google search on the bulb and it seems that they're 120v???? i thought it was a typo but a few other links i clicked showed the 967 bulb as a 120v bulb..

I actually did find some 20w halogens with the same base. I will post up some info when I get them if they work.

796 bulbs

Here are the ones I got:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002M3JDZQ/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details

They shine through the tint pretty easily. I'd estimate them at 3x the brightness of the 1057s. The bulbs are super small, like the stock brake lights I think. All the lamps in the lights have the same base, so these would work in any hole.
As I said before, they are small, I'm sure a halogen with the same base and a bigger filament/lamp would be better, but they do get the job done. I'll try to put up some day/night pics in the next couple days.

For a little follow up, these lamps are awesome. I'm still amazed at how they shine through my mistakenly super dark tail lights. Everything is still working right, no blown fuses. I will be checking out the housings next weekend to make sure nothing is melting, but I haven't seen anything wrong so far. If the bodywork wasn't so effed on the back of my car I'd pop in a non-tinted housing and try them. I think these would be an awesome safety upgrade for stock lamps.
The only downside I've noticed is some light bleeding from the running lights into the (clear) turn signal section. I don't think this would be a problem with amber turn signal housings, and mine are dark enough it's not noticeable unless your up close to them.
I currently don't own a digital camera and my phone fails at taking nighttime pictures, but I'll see if my girl will loan me hers to show off how they shine through the tint and a comparison.