We installed new old stock taillights (w/incandescent bulbs) on our recently acquired
Trillium 4500, but DW pointed out that the turn signals / brake
lights were not bright enough to be easily seen, particularly in full daylight.
Trillium taillights have no reflectors, just a white plastic baseplate. We tried covering the baseplate with foil, but that provided little improvement. Then we tried JDM ASTAR 1157 bulbs with LED chips on the sides and end. These bulbs were fairly bright, but there wasn’t enough difference in intensity when the
brakes were applied. Next we tried HOT SYSTEM 1157 bulbs with more LED chips on the end, but none on the sides. These bulbs weren’t as bright as the JDM ASTAR bulbs, but provided greater difference in intensity when the
brakes were applied.
At this point, I looked into other 1157 bulbs, didn’t find any that were significantly brighter that also had great reviews. So I decided a design change was needed; I decided to try adding two additional 1157 sockets to each taillight. This did the trick. We tested the modified taillights with various combinations of the above-mentioned LED bulbs. The turn and brake signals now appeared much brighter, perhaps as bright as modern auto taillights.
Note that our
Trillium 4500 has original wiring throughout. The taillight wire gauge is NOT sufficient to handle the amperage of three incandescent 1157 bulbs, but it can easily handle the amperage of three 1157 LED bulbs. Thus, LED bulbs should be used for this improvement.