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Sat Feb 16, 2019 3:27 pm

I was on eBay and came across these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Transporter-T3-T25-79-...SwYwNbhSlM

Here is a picture if the item goes away:

I need new ones, and GoWesty and this item are about the same total price. These look like they will stay clear and not fade. Will the lights appear brighter? Only hesitation is that they could be poor quality. Just trying to get feedback and opinions before I pull the trigger. Thank you.

Sat Feb 16, 2019 3:32 pm

good to see someone thinks there's enough market demand to tool up for a Vanagon!

a clear lens DOES transmit more CP outward of the fixture but much is dependent upon the design of the reflector. UV resistance of the plastic to clouding/craze-ing is also important but that won't be known for a few years.

i nominate you to purchase a set to take one for the team and see if they are any good!

Sat Feb 16, 2019 7:28 pm

I'm skeptical about the e-bay units and would never buy them w/out 100% money back guarantee (incl. shipping).

Neither the lenses or reflectors appear to have enough refractive (?) elements to disperse the light so it can be seen well at an angle.

So many aftermarket lights simply don't work as well as DOT approved versions.

Sat Feb 16, 2019 9:06 pm

I'm with Dan. If I needed tail lamps I'd give them a shot. For the team. I am always nervous about getting rear ended due to marginal rear lamps. I've upgraded bulbs and am still not happy versus modern bright blinkers and brake lights with so many distracted drivers and more every year.

Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:13 pm

I have some aftermarket ones and they are missing the shiny refactors for the brake lights and the reflectors don't reflect anything. I was really bummed that the reflectors don't work but I do have reflective tape on my bumper so I am covered. Regardless I still want to have reflectors that work on the lenses. I did brighter bulbs to compensate for the lack of refractors on the brake light part of the lens. I am planning to switch to Hellas as soon and one of the vendors has a special. Vendors U.S. President's Day is coming, hint, hint.

Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:24 am

At the very least, the plated housing will reflect light out through the lenses - unlike the stupid OEM ones with the matt black 'reflectors'!!

Lining the inside of the OEM ones with aluminium tape made a huge difference to my taillight brightness, more than higher wattage bulbs.

Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:42 am

Quote: Lining the inside of the OEM ones with aluminium tape made a huge difference

how do you remove the back to put on the tape? it seems to me the front and the back were glued together...

thanks

Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:23 pm

As I recall when I did mine, you have to cut small pieces of reflective tape and feed it through the openings. Small fingers and patience, grasshopper...

Mon Feb 18, 2019 9:33 am

0to60in6min wrote: Quote: Lining the inside of the OEM ones with aluminium tape made a huge difference

how do you remove the back to put on the tape? it seems to me the front and the back were glued together...

thanks
Long handled tweezers worked for me both to clean the insides with alcohol and rub the tape smooth with a clump of paper towel in the jaws. You can smooth some of it with your fingertips, too.

Of course, I have lots of practise at working inside guitars, mandolins and violins - which really helps! 8)

Mon Feb 18, 2019 9:46 am

Re: Thoughts on these lights?

First thought is that most people call those “taillights”.

Mine are old, cracked. I’d like some new ones but not if they’re gonna turn pink in 3 years.

Mon Feb 18, 2019 1:41 pm

Those taillights look kinda cool in the picture.

If you go to their website, they have oem Hellas. Looks like they're on sale.

Overseas shipping ads a little.

Can't go wrong there, hopefully, right ?

Mon Feb 18, 2019 7:05 pm

Jake de Villiers wrote: At the very least, the plated housing will reflect light out through the lenses - unlike the stupid OEM ones with the matt black 'reflectors'!!

Lining the inside of the OEM ones with aluminium tape made a huge difference to my taillight brightness, more than higher wattage bulbs.

I wonder if VW added a reflector at some point. This spare Hella unit I have has a metal reflector for the brake light and turn signal. There isn’t a reflector of any kind for the running light. Or maybe it’s the normally vacant 5th socket and reflectorblens you’re referring to.

Mon Feb 18, 2019 10:19 pm

jimf909 wrote: Jake de Villiers wrote: At the very least, the plated housing will reflect light out through the lenses - unlike the stupid OEM ones with the matt black 'reflectors'!!

Lining the inside of the OEM ones with aluminium tape made a huge difference to my taillight brightness, more than higher wattage bulbs.

I wonder if VW added a reflector at some point. This spare Hella unit I have has a metal reflector for the brake light and turn signal. There isn’t a reflector of any kind for the running light. Or maybe it’s the normally vacant 5th socket and reflectorblens you’re referring to.

Yup, mine have those cute little reflectors, too. After you've covered the rest of the entirely NON-reflecting matte black plastic with aluminium tape post the 'AFTER' photo. You'll be delighted with the improvement.

Mon Feb 18, 2019 11:12 pm

Thanks. I've seen some Vanagons with terrible taillights and others with acceptable taillights so I was wondering if Hans und Franz saw the light at some point and added reflectors. :D

Tue Feb 19, 2019 8:00 am

I suppose they might have - my taillights were for '84 and '86 vans, so I have no experience with really early lights.

ALL of my lights though, including the ones I got to replaced cracked lights, were full of dust and dirt! Just getting inside with a toothbrush and some alcohol really brightened things up. 8)

Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:16 am

Quote: Lining the inside of the OEM ones with aluminium tape made a huge difference to my taillight brightness, more than higher wattage bulbs.

I have done this too - small pieces of tape and long fingers help. It does make a considerable difference to the light output.

On the subject of factory reflectors and the reason for the single reflector in the larger red zone of the lamp. Although in the US these are, I believe, used for the brake lights in the UK & Europe they originated as 'fog lamps' to be used in very poor visibility. Hence the reason for the addition of the reflector to create more of a beam output rather than the general illumination of most of the other functions.

Tue Feb 19, 2019 3:22 pm

Couldn't the poor output simply be corrected with a set of colored LED's? I did this to my 8ft 90's popup and the difference was staggering. Think you'll need new flashers as well.

Tue Feb 19, 2019 3:48 pm

I called Gowesty and Busdepot to confirm if the new Hella "OEM" lenses have the chrome reflective parts. They only have a chrome reflective part for the brake light area. Both shops went to their warehouse to pull one to visually look at it while I was on the phone.(I love working with small companies that have the ability to do that) My original lenses from 1989 have two chrome reflective parts, one in the break light area and one in turn signal area just like JimF posted.

So it looks like the chrome reflective part in turn signal area on the new Hella lenses have gone the way of the Dodo Bird.

Tue Feb 19, 2019 6:46 pm

There are two issues going on here. First of all, the reflectors were just slightly different on European spec vs US spec tail lenses to begin with. The European version will work on US vans, and US Vanagons alone do not represent enough volume for Hella to make two different versions, so current Hella production is European spec (which as I recall lacked a turn signal reflector). However, rumor has it that Hella is even winding down production of those, and is just selling through inventory at this point.

The second issue is that some of the aftermarket tail lenses are just lower quality overall and lack reflectors entirely. The ones we are currently getting have reflectors like the Hellas do (although with aftermarket sourcing that may change in the future). They are actually pretty nice quality, other than the lens being a slightly different shade of red from the Hellas. (This would only be noticeable if you replaced just one.) However the more commonly available aftermarket replacement (which is what you'll find most other places) has no reflectors at all, and is clearly lower quality throughout. From a profit prospective it is tempting (very low wholesale cost, so much more profit), but after comparing it to the ones we have now we rejected them.

To make matters more confusing, in Europe some Vanagons used bulb holders made by ULO, not Hella, and tail lights meant for those bulb holders (whether OEM or aftermarket) will NOT fit your U.S. spec bulb holders at all. This means that if ordering from overseas you need to know which spec tail lens they're selling, or what you receive may be utterly useless. Even in the US I have seen some retailers unwittingly sell ULO spec lenses that won't fit US vans, just because some exporter offered them a good deal and they had no idea there were two different versions.

So in summary, Hella is a safe bet and is very close even if not identical to original US spec ones. Aftermarket, it depends on whose you buy - the better of them are close to Hella, the worse are mediocre, and if you end up receiving ULO compatible ones they won't work at all. We offer both genuine Hella for $99, and the better quality Hella compatible aftermarket ones for $52. If you just need one side I'd probably buy Hella since it will most closely match your existing lens. But if you're replacing both and cost is a consideration, I don't think you'd be disappointed by the aftermarket ones that we presently have, especially at half the price. Eventually the Hellas will disappear entirely and the only options left will be the aftermarket ones.

Links:

Hella...
http://www.busdepot.com/251945111vw (left)
http://www.busdepot.com/251945112vw (right)

Good aftermarket ones...
http://www.busdepot.com/251945111a (left)
http://www.busdepot.com/251945112a (right)