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If you do, make sure they're white! Red LEDs will not shine bright enough through the red lens.

Added, make sure you buy load resistors as well. LED bulbs use such little voltage, your signals will blink fast, as if a bulb is out. But don't worry, splicing in load resistors are simple.

i have red smd ones in my tails and they're pretty bright alot brighter than my stock bulbs

also made sure that they point all directions so they utilize my whole housing

Yeah whenever I order LEDs for lenses (minus my reverse bulbs seeing they only point in one direction) I order 360 degree ones, like these:

I have these in my dome light, trunk light, rear sidemarker lights and I ordered some amber ones for my front bumper lenses. While we are on the subject of LEDs, you already saw what my reverse bulbs:

And my fog light LEDs:

So tomorrow is the day I find out if I will have LED tails or not.

I found out tonight and I am in the possession of them as we speak (they are in my back seat waiting to be wired up tomorrow). However I decided to test fit and see how they fit (stupid because they are the size as my old ones) and well...I went to unscrew the nuts so I could take the tail light assembly out and the nut is stuck on and unscrewed the screw from the tail light assembly. Now I can't put Sadie's tail lights back in... I also have to drive 27 miles to where I can get them wired up. Pretty sure I will get stopped by a cop by the time I got there for not having a tail light at all, I would have the bulb though. I am thinking on using a red shop towel and taping it to the trunk so it kinda works...but I think that might cause a fire :/

Ok, so I got the screw out, only lost a few drops of blood and some skin, but its out, and really messed up, probably won't use it to install the LEDS, they will be wired up this afternoon and here is a teaser, the teaser that gave me nothing but grief when I wanted to remove it:

good luck!

Oh its fine, I just won't have one screw, no big deal. I can always get a new one from a junkyard! All Jeff and I have to do now is get some extra wires and wire up the lights and I will be set

Not bad.

I'm excited to see these in person TONIGHT! Hm, maybe I should go finish packing so I can head over there...

Well Sadie, you saw them haha. Anyway, they are on and the install went flawlessly. There are a few minor bugs that need to be addressed. My turn signals flash fast, which can be easily remedied and my third brake light leds are lit (very dimly so during the day you can't tell but at night its like a eerie glow hehe) with the car lights, which can also be remedied. It will just depend on getting the proper diodes and electronic flasher thingies. A slightly bigger issue is that my cruise control stopped working but that may be a coincidence, we will be checking it out tomorrow

I'm excited to see these in person TONIGHT! Hm, maybe I should go finish packing so I can head over there...

sleepover? anyways, looks good. now, lit pics.

There is a bunch on Mark's camera. Not really a sleepover, just a three day car show.

Your cruise control isn't working because leds don't require as much power to operate as the stock bulbs do. This allows the power to go through the led brake lights. The computer interprets this as the brakes being applied which would shut the cruise off. You're going to have to add some resistance to the led brake lights so that the current doesn't flow through the leds unless the brake pedal is depressed.

^ Bingo. This was an issue with the 1st gen LED tails that came out for the 5th gen Grand Ams. The 2nd gen LEDs (made by Sonar) had a built in load resistor, and my cruise control worked with no issue, and no SVS light (not the SES, or check engine light).

Ya'll are so lucky to have the option to buy aftermarket tail lights haha!!!

I'm surprised they exist.

Your cruise control isn't working because leds don't require as much power to operate as the stock bulbs do. This allows the power to go through the led brake lights. The computer interprets this as the brakes being applied which would shut the cruise off. You're going to have to add some resistance to the led brake lights so that the current doesn't flow through the leds unless the brake pedal is depressed.

Well that's retarded. Who designed that? Why not have the computer detect the brake pedal being depressed...

Well that's retarded. Who designed that? Why not have the computer detect the brake pedal being depressed...

Not really...the electric system was designed for incandescent bulbs. Factory LED tails have load resistors built in to prevent this, and keep the same setup.

Thats not what I'm saying though. I mean, why have the cruise control shut off from the computer detecting the energy from the brake lights? It would just make more sense to have it detect the brake pedal or something.

Thats not what I'm saying though. I mean, why have the cruise control shut off from the computer detecting the energy from the brake lights? It would just make more sense to have it detect the brake pedal or something.

It's a combination of things, it's detecting the current from the tail lights (changes in voltage) and the brake pedal switch (which is what gives the signal to the tail light sockets to turn on).

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It's a combination of things, it's detecting the current from the tail lights (changes in voltage) and the brake pedal switch (which is what gives the signal to the tail light sockets to turn on).

I see, I guess they never thought about aftermarket lights? Or maybe because they want you to get a certain brand lol

I see, I guess they never thought about aftermarket lights? Or maybe because they want you to get a certain brand lol

Sonar is a pretty good aftermarket company, there were complaints with the first gens, so no surprise the 2nd gens were improved.

It's easier and cheaper for automakers to program the computer to measure the changes in voltage and use that info as an input. It requires less circuitry because all they need is a program rather than analog inputs wired to the computer.

Ah so I will need to buy the load resistors then, I have to anyway to fix the fast blinking bulbs. Thanks guys