1954 Chevy Pickup | LED Tail Lights

December 24th, 2006 : LED Tail Lights

After less than 2 years, I noticed my tail light lenses were fading badly -- all the red color was going to totally clear in the centers -- and, beyond that, they had all kinds of stress cracks in them. The one lesson I've learned more than any other since I started fixing this truck up is that aftermarket parts are nothing short of disgraceful!

Old Faded Tail Light Lense

New lenses are only $5 each and although that's a poor excuse for making garbage, I went ahead and installed new lenses ... but it kept eating away at me, so I searched the web to see what else was out there and found these LED tail light replacements that plug right in and mount to the setup I already have! ... err, ahhh, well ... they're suppose to, anyway (see below).

New LED Tail Light Replacements

I found them at PARTSnSTUFF | PrestoStore.com for approximately $70.00 including shipping. The service was the best! Totally above board and quick, too! These lights are going to add much to the safety factor on my truck ... and I think they look great as well.

Since buying these, I've also found them at Speedway Motors | SpeedwayMotors.com for only $40.00 for a pair! I don't know what the difference is, if any at all ... but I think I'll order a pair of these just to have backups ... and to see if the quality is any different.

When I went to install these, everything looked alright except for one small issue: The screw holes didn't line up! Fortunately, it was only the left/right distance that was off and all I had to do was make the hole wider ... and the mounting-tabs on the unit had to have their corners nipped off (both very easy fixes) -- see my illustration below:

New LED Tail Light Modifications

I'm very happy with this modification! The difference is well worth the money, and the small amount of time it took, to make the switch. Mouse over the image below and turn the lights on and off yourself -- the tail light on the left is the new LED ... and the tail light on the right is the old bulb with a new plastic lense in place:

P.S. - The picture above doesn't reveal how much brighter the LED's are ... at night, when I hit my brakes or turn on my blinkers, you dont see all the individual LED lights as much as what appears to be one large light. This is definitely the right way to go with a daily driver!

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