LED replacement bulbs for Bay Window Transporters

[Wildthings]

I have changed out a few of my old incandescent bulbs for LEDs over the last few years and found that some are about right in brightness while others are a bit dim. Thought I would start a thread where others could post the sources and brands/part numbers of the LED bulbs they have had success with.

[ivwshane]

I swapped all of my bulbs out to led several years ago. I purchased mine off of ebay so I won't be of much help. That being said, leds have advanced over the last couple of years so I would put more credence in answers from those that have recently upgraded.
_________________
77 westy 2.0 FI
69 ghia coup 1600dp
70 single cab

[raygreenwood]

This should be an interesting thread! Lots of different small bulb solutions going on in the market these days.

I am kind of intererested to see different LED configurations people post. About as many are just the simple LED block/chip soldered to two wires. Some are domed or lensed. Others are very small arrays with multiple angles. Ray

[telford dorr]

How about this?

http://flowcon.us/td/LedDashLightConversion (available 9am to 9pm, PST)
_________________
'71 panel, now with FI
'Experience' is the ability to recognize a mistake when you're making it again - Franklin P. Jones
In theory, theory works in practice; in practice, it doesn't - William T. Harbaugh
When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. The pain is only felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid. - Philippe Geluck
More VW electrical at http://telforddorr.com/ (available 9am to 9pm PST)

[vwwestyman]

I've tried LED replacement bulbs in a couple vehicles and haven't really liked any of them.

In the Thing, I bought a set of LED replacement headlights that are/were available in the classifieds and I fought them for 3 years. They would always blink a little bit, go from high to low beam when you hit the brakes and all sorts of weirdness.

I cleaned up wiring connections lots of times to no avail. Finally swapped in some regular H4/9003 bulbs and they work just fine.

Also tried LED taillights and had similar results. I swapped them into a couple different cars cause they weren't cheap, and didn't like them anywhere.

Perhaps they work fine if everything is perfect, but in my experience they are VERY sensitive to any wiring imperfections at a minimum.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[22manybugs]

This isn't a bulb replacement, but here's the LED interior light fixture I installed:

Comparison to the original fixture:

When I got the bus, the PO had put in drop-in "wafer" card LEDs in both the dome light and interior light that were bright white. The dome light is okay because it's on only for short times, but the interior light was too jarringly white and unpleasant after any length of time.

I love this new interior LED fixture. It's warm white, it feels like a normal incandescent light. Either one side or both sides can be turned on (like the old fixture). The footprint is a little bigger, but it is thinner so I don't bonk things into it like the old one. This one fixture puts out a good amount of light; I might get another one of this same fixture to mount on the passenger side so I can reach in and turn it on from outside before climbing in the bus.

This is the brand, bought on Amazon. I bought just one, but it looks like they are sold in packs of 3 now. I definitely recommend this fixture:
"MICTUNING 12V LED RV Ceiling Double Dome Light Fixture 11.5 inches RV Interior Lighting with Switch for Trailer Camper (Warm White, Pack of 3)"
_________________
Lon

1969 Karmann Ghia convertible
1971 Westfalia camper

[Clementine79]

Ours is a tube type bulb and I do not like the color of the light at all, looking for interior LED that gives a warm yellowish glow like a table lamp in a home would.

[KentABQ]

[aquarius]

I just found some LED replacement bulbs that improved the back-up lights on a '71 bus immensely. First, I cleaned out the reflectors and covered them with aluminum tape. Then, I installed these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H54SP6O/ "LUYED 2 X 1700 Lumens Extremely Bright 1156 4014 102-EX Chipsets 1156 1141 1003 7506 LED Bulbs Used For Backup Reverse Lights,Xenon White"

They fit into the stock housings and are at least twice as bright as the incandescents. The beam pattern is fine, an even floodlight effect. Not every LED bulb is an improvement, but these are!

[Wildthings]

Well here is my entry

It is an off the shelf aftermarket marker light used in conjunction with the stock bus marker lens. This particular aftermarket light lent itself to being hollowed out to fit the curvature of the bus sheet metal, but many others do not. The screwholes match perfectly, but you need to use screws long enough to go all the way into the metal of the body.

Sorry I do not know the brand and have not been able to find another that works as well, but will keep looking.

[NASkeet]

[Auggie West]

I love the above custom install by Telford dorr so much I just replicated it in my bus! Thanks for the post!
Here’s some of my other custom LED installs that I’m very fond of...

I believe if you click on the picture, it will take you to the gallery with the description...

_________________
Auggie
‘87 Vanaru Westy (Lola)
My new home!

Dual port 1600
'69 Westy (Pearl)
My former summer home, and has traveled to 31 states, mostly via the scenic route, so far...

[mikedjames]

[NASkeet]

[BryanDC]

Hey guys,

I read the whole thread posted below which sort of deteriorated when people started fighting over whether the glow of incandescent was important to the VW experience.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=343154&highlight=dashboard+bulb

Never really got a good answer to my question so I’ll put it you.

I have a couple bulbs burned out. I don’t see any reason not to replace with LED. I’m particularly interested in replacing the high beam warning light with an LED because when it’s on at full blast it is barely visible. Just for fun I searched something like “1971 VW bus dashboard bulb” on amazon and got a bunch or options for LED’s which look a lot like the same base as my current old incandescent bulbs and they’re pretty cheap.

I know I’m not supposed to use them in the alternator warning light. Don’t care why. Let’s not start that discussion.

I wanted to be able to search for the actual part I needed so I could really see what my kelvin options were etc. I’m pretty sure that the key seems to be something in the phrase “168 T10” and most likely “T10” based on my limited knowledge of bulb names.

Does that sound right to you guys?

Also, can I just switch the bulbs out or do I need to jump through other hoops to make the bulbs happy?

I’m looking to get some 2700K type bulbs if I can but maybe I just accept what I can get. If anyone has learned anything new about buying dash LED’s lately I’d be happy to hear it!! Thanks guys!

[telford dorr]

[BryanDC]

Thanks Telford!! Good to know! I was really confused why the bulb seemed so bright from the back and dim from the front. Wonder why they did that. Knowing VW there was an excellent reason.

[telford dorr]

Maybe they wanted to match the dim gauge lighting...

One other thing: gauge illumination LEDs won't dim properly using the stock headlight switch dimmer (there are ways around that problem). And if you do retrofit a LED specific dimmer, LEDs and regular bulbs dim at different rates, so plan on using either one type or the other for ALL gauge illumination bulbs.
_________________
'71 panel, now with FI
'Experience' is the ability to recognize a mistake when you're making it again - Franklin P. Jones
In theory, theory works in practice; in practice, it doesn't - William T. Harbaugh
When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. The pain is only felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid. - Philippe Geluck
More VW electrical at http://telforddorr.com/ (available 9am to 9pm PST)

[Wildthings]

[NASkeet]