96 f150,4.9,5spd, reg cab, 8ft bed

I back into the driveway where I live and normally arriving at night the backup lights on the ford, just don't get it. Its so dimly lite to try and back into a narrow driveway with a wrought iron fence that seems somewhat magnetic to the truck.

I have looked at LED replacements (NAPA & Amazon)to put into the existing back up light assembles, replacing the OEM light bulbs. But will this work. Will the light bulbs need resistors to work properly and replace the old bulbs. Has any one used the LED replacements? Problems? Still not bright enough?

Appreciate your thoughts.

 

I wouldn't expect LED replacements for the 1156 bulbs to make a huge difference, but they might be a good place to start if you don't want to drill holes and run wires, and you wouldn't be out much if it didn't work. I doubt resistors would be necessary in your application. I've got LED pods added to my daily as reverse lights and really like them (it's like having little headlights on the back of the truck), but wiring and mounting them did take some screwing around.

Good luck with the magnetic fence! We've got a magnetic sprinkler pipe that attracts truck tires. We thought painting it fluorescent orange would help, but all that did was help us find the pieces after it got run over again.

 

I installed those on my 95. They are noticeably brighter. I'll get some pictures.

 

Thanks so much, plug and play? No resisters?

 

How and where did you mount the lights on the truck to protect them? A friend put a lite on the rear of his but uses a seperate fed and switch to manually flip on. He calls it ballistic lighting (?) morning

 

Just swapped out the factory reverse light bulbs for these. No resistors, nothing else. Just a bulb swap. Might want to give the reverse light housing lens a hit with some rubbing compound to make them clear again if they are faded. Then some UV protective, plastic safe clear coat will help them last a while:

https://amazon.com/gp/product/B00KZ6LYMM

 

I'm not a fan of LED lighting, something about the quality of the light I don't like. I changed out my old filament bulbs for new filament and they were noticeably brighter. The incandescent bulbs wear out and get dimmer over time. Same for the running and brake lights. I'd try cleaning the lenses and replacing the bulbs first. Worked for me! and the bulbs are cheaper too...

BB2

 

I used LED reverse lights on my 93, they have a lens on the end of them and I think they are called "projector" lights. A lot brighter,then i installed a 10 watt LED work light at the front of the bed just sticking above my tool box and wired it in with a switch.

 

So you have the light above the tool box like on mine, when the lid opens does it hit the light or is it very small and clears it? Thanks

 

The housings do make a difference. I put 50w halogen replacements from Osram (shaped like a little miniature H4-ish) in my Bronco years ago and it made an amazing difference from just that little tiny lens and reflector.

A few years ago I tried the more recent (and easy to find) 50w halogen replacements (look just like a standard 1156) in my Buick with large lenses and reflectors and it made hardly any difference at all in what I could see.
I can tell they're brighter because things reflect from a block away when I hit reverse. Unfortunately the quality of the projection is not that great I guess, so what I can actually see behind me has improved only marginally.

Have not tried LED replacements yet, but it's good you ask because with all the different designs (shapes and where the elements are pointing) it really can effect how the light projects behind you.
I do have separate LED lamps on the back of my '68 and they're flippin' amazing! But they're also to be used with care, since anyone standing behind you within about a 100 degree pattern is blinded!
I'm going to try to occlude them (if that's the proper word?) to narrow their pattern some. Brightness is great, but I don't need to see the tops of redwood trees or (sometimes) things 20 yards to my side. Although I admit in the real dark that might come in handy. In the city, not so much.

Another thing to improve your dispursment with regular bulbs, and probably LED's as well, is to make sure your reflectors are fully coated with the dull white paint used to even out the reflections. Modern 90's housings are probably fine, but all of my old sixties and seventies housings just got a tiny spritz of the stuff, and very little shine from the polished or plated metal. So I have a can of low-gloss white with a high Titanium Dioxide content. It's a common white pigment, but the more you get the higher the reflectivity. Has worked wonders on my old stuff.

Good luck. Definitely interested to hear what you end up with.

Paul

 

No, my tool box opens from each end (gull wing) and the center part that doesn't move is where I have my light.

 

Truck Parts and Truck Accessories

Did this on mine and it solved this very problem while making the truck look better at the same time.

 

I found my LED reverse light to be an amazing upgrade for backing up. Very bright with no issues.

You don't need to change your tail light housings like I did, just sharing the photos for reference.

Even installed these on my work van.


The next best step is the Rear bumper@Inside Mansuggested. Or cutting your existing rear bumper and adding a product like these.

 

I used that type in my truck and they are plenty bright. They work very well

 

Sorry I’m so late to reply. Here’s the bulbs I linked earlier in action:





They aren’t like a set of headlights or off-road lights being on the back of the truck, but they make backing up through gates and up to trailers much easier at night.