# Are LEDs safe on the tailend?



## Adam Hamel (Aug 4, 2020)

Hey, everyone. 

I own a 2019 Cruze LS and I'm hoping to install LED backup, tail, and brake lights. Here are the links for the ones I found:








Lumen® - Tail Light LED Bulbs


Chevy Cruze without Factory LED Tail Lights 2019, Tail Light LED Bulbs by Lumen®. Each bulb sold separately. For your convenience and to your benefit, CARiD has collected a wide range of Lumen LED bulbs for any taste and budget.




www.carid.com













Lumen® - Stop/Brake Light LED Bulbs


Chevy Cruze without Factory LED Tail Lights 2019, Stop/Brake Light LED Bulbs by Lumen®. Each bulb sold separately. For your convenience and to your benefit, CARiD has collected a wide range of Lumen LED bulbs for any taste and budget.




www.carid.com













Lumen® - Backup/Reverse Light LED Bulbs


Chevy Cruze without Factory LED Tail Lights with Factory Projector Headlights / without Factory Projector Headlights 2019, Backup/Reverse Light LED Bulbs by Lumen®. Each bulb sold separately. For your convenience and to your benefit, CARiD has collected a wide range of Lumen LED bulbs for any...




www.carid.com





Anyway, the website says I can just pop the backup lights right in, but my owner's manual says not to install LED lights, as they may harm the electrical system. The taillights and brakelights indicate that I may need a load resistor. What do you all think (or know)? Are LEDs safe at all, and do I need to attach anything extra?


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

My full rear end is LED’s. I have load resistors on the blinkers only. Also have a Gen 1, not sure if Gen 2 would be different.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

China doesn’t care about making qualified electronics. So they can make stuff that is a fire hazard or causes insane RF emissions. Is it illegal? Oh definitely, but no one cares to stop the stuff at the border soooo here we are. And now Amazon is filled with Ali express relistings.

Most LED ‘bulbs’ fall under this category.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Verify the US DOT certificate number on those lights and also ensure they have the appropriate resisters. The big difference between the factory lights on the Cruze and LEDs is the circuit resistance. This doesn't make that much difference on the tail and brake lights, but it causes all sorts of confusion with the flashers (emergency and turn).


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

I've got LED turn signals in my '18 hatch , they are pretty **** bright and much more noticeable than stock. I havent changed the brake lights because they are unique to the hatch and I dont wanna risk not having park/brake lights out of the blue. If the LED you're buying says it needs a load resistors, then it definitely does. Even "canbus" bulbs often require them in the turn signals of gen2s


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

Why not loop @carid in so they can answer any questions. 😉


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## HBCRUZE2017 (Jan 25, 2018)

i have them for backup lights and license plate bulbs but not tail lights


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

I have DD tails and reverse lights in ours, but that's specifically because they're blacked out. Nighttime visibility was never an issue with the stock bulbs and the lights as they are now, but they were a bit dim during daylight (the third brake light was still plenty bright, since it's in the rear window). Now there is no issue day or night.

That said, I'm not sure I would have ever bothered putting them in if the lights weren't blacked out. Being behind some cars with LEDs (usually factory ones, at that) in certain conditions can be absolutely blinding on the eyes.


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## 6speedTi (May 18, 2018)

I have a 2018 sedan. I installed drop in LED bulbs for back up lights. The license plate light is a factory sealed LED unit on a 2018. The tail light on the 2018 sedan has one bulb per side. That one bulb functions for tail, brake, turn signal and sidemarker. If I was to drop in a LED bulb a resistor is needed to avoid the hyperflash. It seems GM made changes to the GEN 2 during the GEN model years. My license plate light as an example. I believe earlier GEN 2 had different or more than one bulb in the rear tail light.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

I have a Gen I with LED reverse lights and side markers. They are from @Diode Dynamics. I believe they come with the resisters built in.


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## Adam Hamel (Aug 4, 2020)

Awesome. Thanks, everyone!


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