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My brake lights aren’t bright enough

toolmanmike said:
Show us when it get's dark.
Click to expand...
The Charger uses two 1157 bulbs for the tail, turn and brake lights and two single filament bulbs (I think #1095?) on the sockets nearest the license plate. Mine had a dead bulb on the left which gave a false impression of the difference in light. Here it is at night with no inner bulbs.

IMG_2326.jpeg

Now at the risk of looking like the guy that is lying to himself, the left side still looks a bit more even with slightly more light.
This is the other car, Ginger.

IMG_2327.jpeg


It would be nice if the lighting were even across the lens instead of being mostly bright where the bulbs are.
I do think that the flat house paint that Daniel mentioned would be better than the stuff I used but I was just interested in a quickie test of my own.
 
Kern Dog said:
The Charger uses two 1157 bulbs for the tail, turn and brake lights and two single filament bulbs (I think #1095?) on the sockets nearest the license plate. Mine had a dead bulb on the left which gave a false impression of the difference in light. Here it is at night with no inner bulbs.

View attachment 1914379
Now at the risk of looking like the guy that is lying to himself, the left side still looks a bit more even with slightly more light.
This is the other car, Ginger.

View attachment 1914380

It would be nice if the lighting were even across the lens instead of being mostly bright where the bulbs are.
I do think that the flat house paint that Daniel mentioned would be better than the stuff I used but I was just interested in a quickie test of my own.
Click to expand...
They look even there.
 
Thanks. I am aware of the availability of the LED stuff. I'm just not all that excited about the way it looks.
 
I prefer the look of old incandescent bulbs but at the end of the day for me lights need to get the attention of the driver behind you...
 
Mopar Hunter said:
That’s true, but it doesn’t stop the phone users from texting while driving.
Click to expand...
I think it’s really a bigger issue than that , not dismissing that issue at all, but you also have to take in consideration all the “tv” size screens in new cars. And I’d almost dare to say with lighting technology both in our homes and in cars have increased significantly, we’ve probably accidentally trained our brains to be less observant because “dangers” are more obvious.
 
Kern Dog said:
The Charger uses two 1157 bulbs for the tail, turn and brake lights and two single filament bulbs (I think #1095?) on the sockets nearest the license plate. Mine had a dead bulb on the left which gave a false impression of the difference in light. Here it is at night with no inner bulbs.

View attachment 1914379
Now at the risk of looking like the guy that is lying to himself, the left side still looks a bit more even with slightly more light.
This is the other car, Ginger.

View attachment 1914380

It would be nice if the lighting were even across the lens instead of being mostly bright where the bulbs are.
I do think that the flat house paint that Daniel mentioned would be better than the stuff I used but I was just interested in a quickie test of my own.
Click to expand...
A definite improvement. A little time and a little paint. I was suprised that white paint would work better than silver or fake chrome.
 
I just bought the paint that Daniel Stern suggested.

IMG_2332.jpeg


I’m going to see how it looks in the Jigsaw Charger before painting the ones in the red car.
 
On the topic of the bulbs themselves….
I tried 2 stores and could not find #1095 bulbs. The closest I found were these:

IMG_2331.jpeg



The one good bulb that was in the right side of Jigsaw:

IMG_2330.jpeg


Is that an 87 followed by 12V4?
The new bulbs are the middle and on the right, the old bulb is on the left.

IMG_2333.jpeg


They look the same, the filament is about the same size too. I guess I am waiting until dark again.

(Sorry for the typos. I edited them out)
 
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Brightness? Situational awareness would be on my list. If the driver behind you isn't paying attention, brighter lights probably aren't going to help. People are people, and driving with your headlights on all of the time doesn't make driving safer either. Someone who had something to gain from the brighter lights thing got this ball rolling while the Federal and State people looked the other way. We used to get ticketed for using hi beams not dimmed or out of alignment. Now everyone can not seem to see without them. My eyes are rolling, guess that I will just have to keep wearing my sunglasses at night, just like the '80's hit song. And, I do.
 
If the LED retrofit lenses looked as good as some new cars do, I'd be on board.
Note the even glow on the taillights of the Challenger:

1757372497338.png


I'd rather have a 3rd taillight mounted inside than to have these spotty type lights:

1757372579072.png


I don't mean to talk trash about anyone else's choices, I just don't like the look for myself.
I know, it is almost a moot point since I'm always driving and I'd probably never see my own brake lights anyway.
 
Last edited:
I’m having trouble finding the actual type of bulb the single filament one is. Memory tells me the 1095 but I can’t find any listing of bulb types in my service manual. Check out this BS:

Base Coronet:

IMG_2335.jpeg


Upscale model:

IMG_2336.jpeg


Both drawings show the model of bulbs. Now the Charger….

IMG_2337.jpeg


No numbers at all ?
 
I recently picked up the LED lamps shown in the link below from Amazon..Cheap price for 3 pcs.
Amazon.com
I replaced all the incandescent lamps on rear of my 66 Charger.with these LED's I did not replace any of the front lamps, kept them as incandescents so there was some current draw and the original thermal flasher did not have to be replaced...Since the charger has 3 lamps per side, a car with one or two might be different situation and require a LED flasher unit.
Very pleased with the brightness of these , at least 2-3 times brighter than incandescents. The one pix shows the LED's on LH side and incandescents on RH side in daylight to show the difference. Second pix is night time brightness of the LED tail lamps, the turn & brake functions are significantly brighter..

IMG_0578.JPG


IMG_0581.JPG
 
toolmanmike said:
This might help/ It's a sticky in the electrical forum on FABO. Light bulb chart
Click to expand...
That was thoughtful. Thank you.
Oddly, there seems to be no clear distinction between the tail lamp bulb that is only a running light and the dual filament 1157 that handles the three functions of tail, stop and signal.
Maybe I missed it?
Maybe knowing the amount of watts put out by each bulb would help as then I could just pick anything that matches the brightness of the 1157 bulb.
I see the 1004 listed for the trunk light but that is a dual filament.
 
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