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JW Speaker Taillights vs clones - tail light vs brake light intensity

11K views 47 replies 23 participants last post by  Mud-Rocks-andSnow 
#1 ·
Just curious....is there a very noticeable difference in brightness of the JW Speaker taillights when going from just the tail light being lit to the brake lights going on?

A buddy just got some knockoff JW Speaker taillights and the brightness of the taillight only is almost as bright as the brake lights. At first I thought his brake light switch was stuck. I think it is a safety hazard.

Comments?
 
#3 ·
Nope not a safety hazard at all. I love my knockoffs. The only thing I heard that was brighter about the knockoffs was the backup lights.







At least people will see you when your stopped or stopping at night. They serve the purpose.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
#4 ·
The issue with these particular knockoffs is that there is almost NO difference between the taillight only being lit, vs hitting the brakes. Is looks like you are driving around with a stuck brakelight switch.

They do get slightly brighter when the brakes are on, but not noticeably which is dangerous. Just wanted to see if this is how the JW Speakers or other knockoffs are or not, as I don't have anything to compare these to. But right now these are dangerous.

I had a couple of neighbors come over and look (jeep guys, btw) and they both thought I was stepping on the brakes when I was just turning on the running lights. They could see the lights get a bit brighter when I applies the brakes, but not much.
 
#5 ·
The ones I get are the same in brightness as the JW Speakers when they are on and when the brake light is applied. Others guys who have bought the ones I got who had JW speakers reported that the only difference they saw was the backup up light was brighter. I guess probably all knock offs aren't the same and I have saw and read where some people where experiencing hyperflashing with the knockoffs. You just got to be sure you get them from a honest vendor.

Just so we are clear your just speaking of the ones your buddy has being dangerous correct not the ones I posted a picture of because there is a noticeable difference in mine.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
#6 ·
Yes, I am talking about the knockoffs that my buddy has - not the ones you posted the pics of.

With his there is almost no difference in brightness between running lights and brake lights.

They are either really bright (taillight only) or really bright + a little bit brighter (brakelight).

His look like the brakelights are always on (and they are not). This is dangerous.

Where did you get yours from?
 
#11 ·
I just purchased the 99 dollar knockoffs from amazon and didn't even put one screw back in the car before I decided to return them.

They were a much lighter in color tone then I imagined they would be. Almost more grey then black. Is that how jw speakers housings are? The sides were black but overall they just stood out in a bad and cheap looking way. Curious if jws are also more grey then black?

Also the fitment was not good. And these are the ones without any "blank name tag" spot on top. Not the ones that have the same space where the lights say jw speaker but are blank. The button screw hole did not line up to the cars hole without a ton of force. Also the top of the light didn't go over the slight bulge that anyone who installed these I tgink would remember. They were about a mm shy of where the oem light would do and cover thay bulge.

Overall they looked cheap imo and would not have fit very well.
 
#12 ·
Which ones did you get?

My buddy bought his off of Amazon and the housings are black. His did not have the 'blank oval' above the lens, his did not have the oval at all. Fit seemed to be ok.
 
#25 ·
stevepsd, glad you posted this. I have the same problem and I'm trying to think if there's a way to fix it instead of removing the lights altogether.

For those here who are having trouble understanding the safety hazard, I'll try to explain:

---In the daytime, everything is perfect. The lights function very well, very bright, as brake lights and turn signals.

---In your standard car/Jeep/truck/whatever, when you turn on your head/tail lights, the back lights come on red, but very dim. Just enough for the traffic behind you to know where you are on the road. And then, of course, when you apply the brakes or turn signal, the same red light comes on very bright, right?

---At night is when the problem happens with the knockoff tail lights. Turn on your head/tail lights, and these knockoff tail lights are VERY bright. Like 90% as bright as a brake light.

So, when you brake or signal a turn, the light only gets, say, about 10% brighter. The person driving behind you will have a lot of trouble to figure out that you're slowing or turning. That's dangerous.

(I guess the third brake light might help save the day when braking, but it doesn't do anything when turning or changing lanes on the highway.)

The solution would be to find a way to reduce the brightness of the parking light portion, if possible.

Mine were sold as "u-box" brand on Amazon, but appear to no longer be available. The housing is dark black, and overall they look very well made. There's an oval space at the top but no logo there. The wiring was loose and exposed, but I used split loom and tape to make a neat harness out of it. I had quite a bit of trouble getting the screw holes to line up but after some wiggling they fit fine now.

Like others here, I thought about shelling out for the J.W. Speaker, but after reading multiple stories here about them not warrantying the product when the housing cracks, they will not get a cent of my business.
 
#29 ·
---At night is when the problem happens with the knockoff tail lights. Turn on your head/tail lights, and these knockoff tail lights are VERY bright. Like 90% as bright as a brake light.

So, when you brake or signal a turn, the light only gets, say, about 10% brighter. The person driving behind you will have a lot of trouble to figure out that you're slowing or turning. That's dangerous.

The solution would be to find a way to reduce the brightness of the parking light portion, if possible.
.
You could put a 150ohm resistor in-line with the taillight circuit to reduce the voltage. I did that with my friends and it worked, but he ended up returning them.

I used a standard 1 watt resistor on the bench and it only got slightly warm, but I would use a 5 watt resistor to be safe. Just secure it so the leads will not break.
https://www.amazon.com/uxcell®-Woun...48135&sr=8-1&keywords=150+ohm+5+watt+resistor

On the Jeep the running light wire is White/Orange on the drivers side and White/Violet on the passenger side. The brake light wire is White/Dark Green.

Just match up the plug on the taillight connector itself to see what wire coming from the taillight housing corresponds to that wire on the vehicle side connector.

To test without cutting anything with the taillight on my workbench I just pushed one lead from the resistor into the appropriate socket on the taillight connector and the other end went to the positive terminal on a 12 volt battery. Hook the negative terminal on the battery to the black lead on taillight connector.
 
#26 ·
Anyone have the Safaripal taillights? they have a couple different ones and are fairly inexpensive
 
#37 ·
So, the wife and I popped out to the garage for Jeep and beer time last night, and went to install the "off-brand" LED tails on the JKU. We did one, mounted up the Mopar guards, plugged it in, and took turns watching the replacement versus the OE with brakes/turns/reverse.

The outcome? My return is in process. Even with the third brake light, the difference in my "off brand" lights as it relates to brake v tail lamp brightness is too minor to be safe. As much as I liked the look, it wasn't worth it.
 
#40 ·
I just installed the same tail light clones jamie has. No fitment problems, they blink correctly, they come with resistor brackets and they have nice bright reverse bulbs. Only issue was that the brackets came with C clips and not S clips, so I just screwed the resistors on the back of the bracket at an angle instead of the inside. PM me if you want details on how to order. I'm not a vendor and don't make money on this.
 
#43 ·
Tried the JWS 279 tails on the WW, but there was a 1/16 gap along the inside edge, towards the spare tire, of both lights. JWS response was to either live with the gap or return to vendor...guess which route I chose?

jamiejku10 would your version fit the 2016 Willy's Wheeler? If so, pls pm me the contact info.

Much appreciated.
 
#44 ·
I have a set of the XPrite taillights on my Jeep. They look identical to the JWS lights except, obviously, they dont say JWSpeaker.

I feel they function perfectly (dim running light, bright brake/turn) and there are no fitment issues.

I'll take pics if anyone wants verification.
 
#46 ·
TBH, I'm a little disappointed in the JW Taillights.

I've got them on my 2-door Rubi, and the wife has a set of Spydr LED tails on her JKU. The JW's have laughable light output in reverse compared to the Spydr tails...

O_E
 
#48 ·
I am disappointed with JW quality control:
1) Tail lights did not fit well on 2016 WW JKU; at least 1/16" on the side edge of both lights
2) 8700J are brighter and better than stock, but high beams are not aligned after aiming the low beams

Sent 3 separate email questions to Alex and customer service. Answered 1, but ignored the other 2. Sadly they aren't Meatloaf where 2 out of 3 aint bad...okay, got it off my chest and getting off the soap box.

Gnite all.
 
#47 ·
So here are the night time pics of the difference in light. It's a little hard to time the picture just right being it is just me so I have to turn on the hazards and hope to snap the pic in time. But there is more than enough difference between running and brake lights.

Running Lights



Brake / Hazard / Turn



Here is a pic from the top:



Here is the outside edge:



And here is the inside edge:

 
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