Anyone running the Vled Vtails tail light conversion kit?

The stage 1 switchback is actually brighter than the 921 switchback in my testing. He stage 1 100% exceeds my expectations for brightness.

I am curious if the stage 2 V6 extreme reds would be better than the 50-LED reds that come with stage 1, but I don’t really care enough to spend the money and compare.

the V6 extreme switchbacks (the ones that require bulb adapters to be installed and holes to be drilled) seem brighter than the stage 1 switchback, but I don’t like the idea of being stuck on bulb adapters that Meso never has. So Stage 1 is good for me.

 

I think the MESO switchback had a brighter amber turn but less white reverse... had to dig for it.

MESO Total Tail Light Kit | Page 271 | Tacoma World

The RED extremes would be way brighter.

 

I tested them during the day - the amber on the 921 was barely visible in the sun to my eyes (definitely did not seem to meet the same 500 lm that VLEDS describes them as)....I don't recall if I tested the white. I ended up putting some Rigids in my rear bumper so honestly don't care about the white portion anymore, it's just there. Good to know though. I definitely think the stage 1 SB is a better choice than the 921.

I am interested in the reds to see how bright they would be but it's just hard to justify the cost. They are quite expensive. A brighter red during the day would be nice for sure.

 

The V6 reds will be brighter than the 50-50 reds in the basic VTAILS. The only thing that is a toss up is the brightness of the basic switchback vs the smaller 921 switchback in the all Triton version. The V6 extreme Triton will be brighter than both the 921 and the basic switchback, but it’s unnecessarily bright — typically better for a headlight turn bucket.

 

Maybe that's what I was thinking also. How the S1 bulb fills the buckets vs the VLED lens and how that casts light output...

Either way, I added aux reverse, brake and turns so not too worried about it now.

 

Yeah, we’re on the same page. The fact of needing bulb adapters turns me off of
the larger V6 switchbacks, triton or extreme. Would be nice but like you said unnecessarily bright for a turn signal. The brakes are interesting but I’m not sure I’ll ever dabble in trying them. Maybe someday when I get bored. The 50’s are pretty dang good.

 

Does VLEDS sell just the switchbacks from this kit? I can't find them on their site. I already replaced the brake lights in my MESO stage 1 tails with the VLEDS 50 LED Red 7443 bulbs. At this point it would have been cheaper just to get their complete set.

 

I don’t know that they’ll continue to do it, but I called them and asked. They sold them to me for I think $40 each. I already had a bunch of reds so I didn’t want a kit, I wanted only switchbacks and spares. They may do the same for you and maybe they’ll list parts on the site.

basically I did exactly the same as you.

 

There isn’t a listing for it, but give customer service a call. Stock is pretty limited on them as they’re meant to be sold as a kit.

 

So you still have the MESO wiring and the switchbacks are compatible?

 

Thanks. I'm tempted to just buy the VLEDS kit, Keep the VLEDS brake lights I bought as spares, and give away my MESO kit with the original LEDs.

 

They used to but link has since been deleted.

 

The kit arrived today! Impressed at how fast shipping was, Ordered them Wednesday night! Anyway, I got the resistors just incase there would be hyperflash. I am curious where everyone mounted them?

 

Very likely you don't need any resistors, if you had to, there are plenty of flat metal surfaces behind the lights, just make sure you clean the surface well

 

No TRD “needs” them, but the benefit to having them is that in reverse with turn signal on, you won’t hyperflash. Aka a parallel parking situation. It’s very rare, but for $20 extra there’s very little reason to skip out when you’re buying to have it 100% work right.

There is a metal plate behind the tail light. I stuck them on the front side of that (towards the engine). The plug comes through a big circular hole in that panel. Works great.

 

I see, yeah MESO stage 1 has that issue too. I never tested reverse and turn at the same time, probably mine would hyperflash too, next time I go in there I'll add the plug and play resistors from VLEDS

 

Yeah, no big deal. For someone like me who always sweats the small stuff even when they shouldn’t, it’s nice to know that I got it all working 100% perfect in every situation for $20.

 

Thats exactly how I am. Buy once, Cry once!

 

I used some denatured alcohol to clean the surface first, then mounted them behind the tail lights on the side of the bed/tail light housing. There's plenty of room in there where it's out of the way.

 

Got the kit installed earlier today! Quality is great, installation is really easy. No complaints at all!