Final word on LED tail bulbs?

BINGA

Original poster
Member
Jun 8, 2012
238
So its been a hot minute since i've visited the site and haven't had time to catch up. Is there a final, definitive solution to switching out the stock 3157 park/brake bulbs with LEDs and NOT getting hyperflashing or cruise control loss? I've read about switching out the stock flasher relay module for an electronic one, but some still report cruise control loss. Also read about resistors wired in, are there any drawbacks to this method?
 

Matt

Member
Dec 2, 2011
4,035
Resistors wired in are the way to go. Easy to do and no hyperflash.
 

SEMIJim

Member
Apr 13, 2013
116
BINGA said:
So its been a hot minute since i've visited the site and haven't had time to catch up. Is there a final, definitive solution to switching out the stock 3157 park/brake bulbs with LEDs and NOT getting hyperflashing or cruise control loss?
Okay, "hyperflashing," I guess I can figure out, but cruise control loss when you swap out incandescent bulbs for LED ones?

Er... why?

Jim
 

BINGA

Original poster
Member
Jun 8, 2012
238
SEMIJim said:
Okay, "hyperflashing," I guess I can figure out, but cruise control loss when you swap out incandescent bulbs for LED ones?

Er... why?

Jim

Well I have yet to switch mine out yet, so all I am basing this off of is what i've read on this and other forums. But from what I can gather is that since the LEDs draw much less current, some configurations (seems to be primarily with the electronic relay) cause the computer to interpret that a brake is being applied constantly, which in turn disables CC just like when you have it set and apply the brakes to avoid traffic ahead. Again, I don't know from my personal experience, but i'm sure someone can chime in with a more accurate response.
 

Matt

Member
Dec 2, 2011
4,035
Losing cruise is because of blowing the fuse which is shared with the rear parking lamps. Those are SRCK style fittings and if you use the "normal" bulb fittings you'll blow the fuse...number 30 in the rear block FYI.
 

DFWWIZ

Member
Dec 5, 2011
516
Matt said:
Losing cruise is because of blowing the fuse which is shared with the rear parking lamps. Those are SRCK style fittings and if you use the "normal" bulb fittings you'll blow the fuse...number 30 in the rear block FYI.

SRCK means both positives are on one side of the bulb's tail opposite the 2 negatives. A regular 3157 bulb has a positive opposed to the other positive and the negatives are opposed to each other.
 

blazinlow89

Member
Jan 25, 2012
2,088
I have ran LED's in a few different ways. I ran the barrel type bulbs for brakes, reverse and signals, and the 194's for front corners with and without resistors. As it would be obvious, hyper flash was persistent until I installed resistors. I never had a problem with the cruise control. Now I am running eBay LED tails and the eagle eye projector heads. Each has built in resistor packs. I am running the spider lights for reverse.

I believe the resistors were 6 ohm. I would need to check
 

l008com

Member
Feb 19, 2016
942
Massachusetts
This is an old thread, but I just wanted to be clear. When you install resistors, you are causing your LEDs to use the same amount of power as the old bulbs, but just waste it off as heat, right? So you're missing most of the benefit of having LEDs? They'll still look better you're still drawing a ton of power. On my S10, I just switched the flasher to a "digital" or whatever they called it. No hyper-flash when I had LEDs in.
 

DAlastDON

Member
Apr 6, 2014
5,550
Kentucky
This is an old thread, but I just wanted to be clear. When you install resistors, you are causing your LEDs to use the same amount of power as the old bulbs, but just waste it off as heat, right? So you're missing most of the benefit of having LEDs? They'll still look better you're still drawing a ton of power. On my S10, I just switched the flasher to a "digital" or whatever they called it. No hyper-flash when I had LEDs in.

That is how i would do it if the flash rate was not controled by the BCM. Otherwise you have to make the BCM see the same load as a regular bulb. Mount the resistors to a metal surface not in contact with carpet or plastic.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,747
Tampa Bay Area, FL
The old LM486 flasher is the one I have, the new LM487 model resolved the loss of cruise control issue the LM486 had unless you were running stock brake bulbs or LED tails that had built in load resistors.
 
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