My brake lights aren’t bright enough

Kern Dog · Sep 18, 2025

The knob is considered an impediment to controlling the steering wheel.
They are common on forklifts and were popular many years ago on power steering cars.
I’ve heard them called by a few slang names….Necker Knob, Suicide Knob, etc.

CoronetDarter · Sep 18, 2025

Last week I went by @Kern Dog's Mopar Restoration Shop and painted the taillight housings on the Coronet.

Before reinstalling, I washed and waxed the rear panel and applied fresh dum-dum (3M strip caulk) to all the mounting holes.

The R/T housings have a plastic divider between the tail/brake lights and the reverse light. It only goes in one way.

So here it is: brake & taillights on; after painting on the (L); before painting on the (R).

Taillights only; after on the (L); before on the (R).

I think the difference is more noticeable with both brake and taillights on. Not as dramatic improvement as Greg achieved with Jigsaw.

Kern Dog · Sep 18, 2025

The top two pictures show the lights at their brightest. I’m looking at the pictures on my phone though so maybe they load differently than when seeing them on a computer?
I can tell the difference though. It has the same bigger glow as I got with my car.
Score!

CoronetDarter · Sep 18, 2025

Kern Dog said:
The top two pictures show the lights at their brightest. It has the same bigger glow as I got with my car.
Score!

And they're incandescent bulbs. With the white background, they're brighter than the tower LED's that I just removed.

OneWheelPeel · Sep 19, 2025

So while trouble shooting what I broke in the pursuit of brighter lights I noticed the housing are kind of large and look like they could accommodate extra bulbs.
Any of you ever consider just adding extra bulbs that are brake only to the housings? I'd imagine you could still see the difference of the flashing indicator if you are making a turn even with the extra brake only bulb. It would remove the indicator switch from the brake light equation too, which is the biggest plus to me. Thoughts?

RemCharger · Sep 19, 2025

CoronetDarter said:
Last week I went by @Kern Dog's Mopar Restoration Shop and painted the taillight housings on the Coronet.
View attachment 1919831 View attachment 1919832
Before reinstalling, I washed and waxed the rear panel and applied fresh dum-dum (3M strip caulk) to all the mounting holes.
View attachment 1919833
The R/T housings have a plastic divider between the tail/brake lights and the reverse light. It only goes in one way.
View attachment 1919834
So here it is: brake & taillights on; after painting on the (L); before painting on the (R).
View attachment 1919836 View attachment 1919837
Taillights only; after on the (L); before on the (R).
View attachment 1919838 View attachment 1919839
I think the difference is more noticeable with both brake and taillights on. Not as dramatic improvement as Greg achieved with Jigsaw.

So the 69 has the same hidden reverse as the 68s... how does reverse look?

Kern Dog · Saturday at 3:28 AM

OneWheelPeel said:
So while trouble shooting what I broke in the pursuit of brighter lights I noticed the housing are kind of large and look like they could accommodate extra bulbs.
Any of you ever consider just adding extra bulbs that are brake only to the housings? I'd imagine you could still see the difference of the flashing indicator if you are making a turn even with the extra brake only bulb. It would remove the indicator switch from the brake light equation too, which is the biggest plus to me. Thoughts?

Since the wiring is 18 gauge, I suspect that adding additional load to the system may not be smart.

Kern Dog · Saturday at 3:29 AM

RemCharger said:
So the 69 has the same hidden reverse as the 68s... how does reverse look?

Hmmm....
@CoronetDarter care to respond?

OneWheelPeel · Saturday at 11:45 AM

Kern Dog said:
Since the wiring is 18 gauge, I suspect that adding additional load to the system may not be smart.

I mean you add new wire, from output of the brake switch to the new sockets, no more brakelights that go thru the signal switch. Its trivial to even add a new feed to the brake switch. My question is more about the end result of the extra bulbs in the housing and if that would have merit.

OneWheelPeel · 2025-09-25T15:16:52-0500

Ok have a coat slathered on and drying, did this quickly on my lunch break.
Before:

After:

With any luck I'll have it together and get a pic of the lights on later today. The light in my garage isn't super white so the pics have a bit of a dim hue to them, that paint is bright white.

OneWheelPeel · 2025-09-25T21:53:42-0500

Ok I have some photos, I won't say which side I painted in the hope that it is obvious.
First are some late afternoon shots. Also I'm using an older Android phone so the pics won't be the best.
1. No lights on at all, the red looks more even to me:

2. Parking lights only:

3. Brake lights on from two different angles:

Now some shots after sundown, not completely dark as my driveway light has a mind of its own.
4. Parking lights

5. brake lights again from two angles

I won't go into my opinion yet because I don't want to influence commentary. I will say even the stock light seems brighter than I expected or remembered it being, maybe changing the signal switch in the column last weekend is why. I've never driven the car at night.

Kern Dog · 2025-09-26T02:17:01-0500

NEVER driven the car at night ??

The lights look great to me. SCORE!

Mopar Hunter · 2025-09-26T03:24:55-0500

Driver side looks much brighter.

My brake lights aren’t bright enough

Kern Dog

Life is full of turns. Build your car to handle.

CoronetDarter

Well-Known Member

Kern Dog

Life is full of turns. Build your car to handle.

CoronetDarter

Well-Known Member

OneWheelPeel

FBBO Gold Member

RemCharger

FBBO Gold Member

Kern Dog

Life is full of turns. Build your car to handle.

Kern Dog

Life is full of turns. Build your car to handle.

OneWheelPeel

FBBO Gold Member

OneWheelPeel

FBBO Gold Member

OneWheelPeel

FBBO Gold Member

Kern Dog

Life is full of turns. Build your car to handle.

Mopar Hunter

FBBO Gold Member

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