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My brake lights aren’t bright enough

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..

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The side by side comparison is dramatic. To me, the left looks even and consistent while the right side is dim and has uneven brightness.
 
With the incandescents, the original brake & turn lights were very dim in daylight. Driving around in daytime, I often had people at a traffic light tell me that my turn signals were not working or my brake lights were out although they were OK. Avoided LED's for a long time following threads and reports of having to install resistors, changing out flasher units and just did not like the look of many of the early compatible LED lamps available years ago. I did try some and did not care for the look as they appeared to be a point of light and did not take advantage of the rear tail lamps reflectors in the bucket, plus they were quite pricey early on. Can't beat the amazon offering in my opinion.. They look great. Phone camera does not do them justice..
 
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:

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Upscale model:

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

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No numbers at all ?
KD in the specifications section of Electrical there is a page that shows every bulb used in the car. It also has all the fuses too. It's the last page before wiring diagrams.
 
KD in the specifications section of Electrical there is a page that shows every bulb used in the car. It also has all the fuses too. It's the last page before wiring diagrams.

Dan, you are a helpful man.

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I was looking in what would seem like the right place..the text near the drawing of the taillight assembly.
No… why put it where it makes sense? Here it was where you stated.

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My memory was right! I wasn’t confident in it but the bulbs are 1095s.

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Now where the heck do I get them ? Are these knock offs going to be close enough?
 
Daniel Stern wrote that the LED drop in bulbs like these:

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Actually put out less light than the 1157s that they replaced. That is disappointing.
On a side note… Jigsaw lost brake lights. The fuse was fine and the wires were still connected.
I pulled the wires and jumped them together…..

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Still no brake lights.
I have two spare sending units, here is one:

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The harness has a pink wire and white. Does it matter which spade gets which wire?

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They fit either way.
I have Ginger to check to see. The pink wire goes to the flasher. Could a burned out flasher kill the brake lights? The turn signals still work.
 
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:
Post #18 on this link shows similar bulbs to the 1095. Spoiler: #67 is closest to matching the same brightness of the 1157s
Rear tail light bulbs all 1157's?
 
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Post #18 on this link shows similar bulbs to the 1095. Spoiler: #67 is closest to matching the same brightness of the 1157s
Rear tail light bulbs all 1157's?

THIS is helpful. Thank you!

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The 1095s are 7.14 watts. The 1157 low filament is 8.26 so a bulb like the #67s are closer to the 1157 and would give a consistent brightness. The bulbs I got today are….

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At least they are not brighter than the 1157s.
 
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I did paint the taillight housings in the Jigsaw car...

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It wasn't perfect. I accidently globbed the paint a bit....

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The brake lights are dead for now but the turn signals work. I had to time the flash with the camera phone...

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This is amazing!

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If your brake lights and turn signals were this bright, would you spend the money on new LED stuff?
For comparison, here are the tail lights before this house paint was applied....

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The left did have the white spray paint. You can clearly see how the white paint equalizes the flow of light across the lens.
 
I did paint the taillight housings in the Jigsaw car...

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It wasn't perfect. I accidently globbed the paint a bit....

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The brake lights are dead for now but the turn signals work. I had to time the flash with the camera phone...

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This is amazing!

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If your brake lights and turn signals were this bright, would you spend the money on new LED stuff?
For comparison, here are the tail lights before this house paint was applied....

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The left did have the white spray paint. You can clearly see how the white paint equalizes the flow of light across the lens.
Yes, I would still buy the Putco bulbs for any classic ride. They are the best and brightest LED bulbs you can buy. Just watch that Cougar video. No tail lights removal or painting required. Just plug and play.

By the thread title I assumed you wanted the brightest tail lights.
 
I did paint the taillight housings in the Jigsaw car...

View attachment 1914985

It wasn't perfect. I accidently globbed the paint a bit....

View attachment 1914986

The brake lights are dead for now but the turn signals work. I had to time the flash with the camera phone...

View attachment 1914987

View attachment 1914988

This is amazing!

View attachment 1914989

View attachment 1914990

If your brake lights and turn signals were this bright, would you spend the money on new LED stuff?
For comparison, here are the tail lights before this house paint was applied....

View attachment 1914991

The left did have the white spray paint. You can clearly see how the white paint equalizes the flow of light across the lens.
Man I would have never guessed that white paint doing that good of a job. I've used the fake chrome before and just some silver and it never did what I would consider adequate. I think I'll do the tail lights on my GTX with white and see how it works.
 
O'Reillys has the 67s here, listed at 8w. Looks like the same thing.



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SYLVANIA 67 Long Life Incandescent Mini Bulb (Pack of 2) - 67LLBP​

Part # 67LLBP Line: SYL


$7.99 Blister Pack of 2
 
For future reference, if my memory is correct. W.W.Grainger big catalog used to have a bulb section showing candlepower &. amps for all kinds of bulbs.(helluva big catalog to leaf thru)
 
Daniel Stern popped in a thread at FABO about how to make your lights shine brighter. He wrote about painting the inside of the housings with flat White House paint. I decided to test out his idea on my ratty car.
Here is how Jigsaw looked with seasoned and untouched (by me) taillights.

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Note how the left side has a sort of even glow while the right is brighter right by the bulbs.
I pulled the left housing to find…

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It looks better than I expected.

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You can see black spots where the bulbs did heat up and discolor the top section of the housing.

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The bottoms looked fine.
I sprayed inside the housing with this:

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It is what I had at hand. It is satin

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Now a before and after.

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I’m not sure if I can tell much of a difference. Can you ?
Left side is definitely brighter.
 
I did paint the taillight housings in the Jigsaw car...

View attachment 1914985

It wasn't perfect. I accidently globbed the paint a bit....

View attachment 1914986


View attachment 1914987

View attachment 1914988

This is amazing!

View attachment 1914989

View attachment 1914990

If your brake lights and turn signals were this bright, would you spend the money on new LED stuff?
For comparison, here are the tail lights before this house paint was applied....
What a difference. I had the tower type LEDs in the Coronet and I was not impressed with the brightness. They were the white, so maybe red LEDs would've made more of a difference. I'm back to the 1157s.
I also have Rustoleum Gloss White rattle can on my shelf, going to give it a try.
 
Yes, I would still buy the Putco bulbs for any classic ride. They are the best and brightest LED bulbs you can buy. Just watch that Cougar video. No tail lights removal or painting required. Just plug and play.

By the thread title I assumed you wanted the brightest tail lights.
I watched the video and the Putco's are by far the brightest. With the brake lights on, the perimeter is red but the center is bright white, more like a headlight. I'd want a brighter red brake and taillight, rather than just brighter. Just one man's opinion.
 
Daniel Stern wrote that the LED drop in bulbs like these:

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Actually put out less light than the 1157s that they replaced. That is disappointing.
On a side note… Jigsaw lost brake lights. The fuse was fine and the wires were still connected.
I pulled the wires and jumped them together…..

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View attachment 1914825

Still no brake lights.
I have two spare sending units, here is one:

View attachment 1914826

The harness has a pink wire and white. Does it matter which spade gets which wire?

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They fit either way.
I have Ginger to check to see. The pink wire goes to the flasher. Could a burned out flasher kill the brake lights? The turn signals still work.
I don't know about "less", but /6Dan's on point...I put some of those 'retro-fit' LEDs in mine and didn't notice any difference at all.

I'll be following this one!
 
NO. It is a switch - it can be wired either way - the switch will not know the difference.


I wish I could “download” electrical smarts from guys like you. Some of the matters that are just basic knowledge to you guys seems to slip right by me.
 
I wish I could “download” electrical smarts from guys like you. Some of the matters that are just basic knowledge to you guys seems to slip right by me.
Just ask questions......and don't block those who are intelligent. :)
 
I don’t think that I IGNORE anyone that I miss.
The brake lights are still out. There are two terminals to the switch. One has two pink wires, the other is a single white wire. With the switch closed, the pink wires have power but the white wire does not. With the switch on, both wires have power.

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Yeah. That carpet is WAY too short.

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The pink wires come in from the flasher and the dome light. Who the heck knows why.
The white wire goes to the turn signal switch.

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That white wire to that switch has power on both sides of the plastic terminals so power goes in. I’m guessing the turn signal switch is in the circuit so it can interrupt the brake lights when the turn signals are activated? If so, can a turn signal switch prevent brake lights from working even if the turn signals are not being used ?
 
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