Has anyone tried substituting LED bulbs in the reversing lamps? 

 

I'd like the most amount of light I can reasonably get, without melting the wires or adding new stuff like relays.  I see noticed the "tower" bulbs with lots (as in 60+) of LED chips, and I am curious about how much light they produce.

 

My lenses are in pretty fair condition, and the wires are not that corroded beneath the insulation, in the back of my car.  Only the exposed front wiring is corroded inside.

 

thxZ

I replaced my reverse lights with LED's a few months ago.  I used the 1156 18SMD (185 Im) bulbs without any relays and they seem quite adequate for eyes. The turn signals I kept as standard incandescents. I suppose you could go brighter as I don't think LED's generate that much heat.  Just be sure to get white.

 

What led me to change the bulbs was a nonfunctioning liscense plate light harness.  40 year old wiring can corrode in the darndest places. In that case the wire connection to the bulb base inside a plastic housing was oxidized. That was interesting trying to get that apart without damaging.  I went LED on those also.

You would use white LEDs?    I think that would throw off the color of the lens as well as make it look funny, meaning the amber turn signal would look white, an the brake lamp would have a whitish hotspot. You would use the same color LEDs as the lens so the light would be more intense, and less of a hotspot.

The general rule of thumb when replacing bulbs is to go with a bulb of the same color as the lens that will go over it in order to achieve the best illumination. This applies to LEDs as well. In this case you would replace the clear incandescent backup bulb (which sits behind a clear lens) with a clear (white) LED. In the case of amber turn signal lenses you would use amber LEDs, etc.

I think those "tower" style lamps give a fuller light inside  the  lamp,just like an descendent bulb.  The ones with the 24 mini bulb-type LEDs in a group seem to make a hotspot in that area of the lens, regardless of the color of the light coming from the bulb.

I saw a reference on the Internet to "Marine LED bulbs."  Are the marine bulbs different to the ones you'd use in an automobile?    Both could get splashed or rained on...

The arrangement of the LED bulb will greatly influence the light dispersion. The wider arrays (as in the tower type bulbs) will disperse light more evenly and better mimic an incandescent bulb. So for turn signals and brake lights a more disperse light source will work well. When considering back up lights though, a more focused beam will give you greater visibility toward the back of the car.