So I have searched and read a bunch of topics regarding LED tail bulbs and I guess I'm just a little confused. I have the Helix crystal tails and I wanted to get a brighter LED bulb , especially for the brake light, cause when the sun is shining on those things you can barely see it light up.
A number of posts have mentioned problems with voltage and polarity differences, needing to wire a stock bulb in-between and in one case frying circuit boards in relation to LED bulbs... Some of those looked like they were using 1157 bulbs rather than 7443's...

Anyway, my question is this... Does anyone know if these 7443 bulbs from autolumination will work properly?
http://autolumination.com/7443_7440.htm
Or should I just try to find some brighter glass bulbs? If so , any suggestions on some good glass bulbs?
Thanks!

 

i have used LED bulbs on a previous car. not in relation to helix taillights though. the 7443 are already wired, and polarity to just pit in place of any 7443 bulb. i have found on my last car that the LED are IMO over 10 times brighter than the stock glass. hopefully i will have a set of helix soon, and i am definetely putting in all LED bulbs to replace the glass ones. too many people complaining about dim lighting, etc etc, definetly go with LED.

 

I have the same question. I have the Helix tail lights and want to know what should use for a brighter RED. Dose anyone know?

 

I am going to use the upgraded 7443 red bulbs and upgraded 7440 amber bulbs from autolimination.com, but isnt there another bulb needed in the tail lights. what size is this bulb?

 

Here are all of the bulb sizes:

Headlights: H4 / 9003*
Foglights: 9006
Brake Lights: 7443
Rear Turn Signals: 7443
Front Turn Signals: 1157
Side Markers: 194
Reverse Lights: 7440
3rd Brake Light: 124

 

I just checked my owners maual and it says

Rear Turn Signal lights: 7440-A

just to clear that up

 

Don't waste your money!!!
Don't waste your money!!!
Don't waste your money!!!
Don't waste your money!!!
Don't waste your money!!!

First and foremost do not buy LEDs for the Helix tails unless you are willing to modify the Helix housings. LEDs work great in applications where you can physically see the LED bulbs. However, with the Helix housings the bulb is covered and the housings rely 100% on reflected light. Normal glass bulb "throw" light much better than LEDs and this is what you will need for the Helix application.

I have gone through just about every scenario anyone has ever tried for the Helix tail lights. First we did the 7443 LEDs from Superbrightleds.com. They worked ok, but were not nearly bright enough. Especially during the day as mentioned above.

Next I went back to stock bulbs with "bulb condoms". These worked well, but the condoms were slightly too large for the bulbs and would tend to shift and fall off. (Let me tell you how much fun it is to fish those out.)

Frustrated with the condoms I bought a set of APC red tinted glass bulbs. They looked great at first but after only a couple months were a pale pink at best.

Then I decided to be a bit more industrious and try something new. I ordered a product called Colorine to tint the stock glass bulbs myself. They looked very similar to the APC bulbs when done and lasted only slightly longer. I only did a single dip though. My next attempt will probably be multiple dips over several days.

Bottom line? There is no good solution for tail/brake light bulbs using the smoked Helix housings.

However, if anyone is interested in the superbrightleds that I have let me know and I will give you a fair price on them. I'll have to check what all I have for sure, but I think I have four of the 7443 LED bulbs (two never installed), two of the 7440 LED bulbs (never installed) and two of the load resistors (never installed).

 

well thanks for telling me all of this. am i glad i didnt buy them.

Are the red and white helix tails any better or should I just completely skip buying tails from helix

 

I did and I am just runnig the "bulb condoms" But I bought some that don't fall off. they are really snug. It says that it fits bulb no. 1003 & 1004. This seems to be working right now.