Hot Rods Third brake light for pickup

My tail lights are mounted below my tailgate and I wonder if they are enough. I have a bunch of heavy traffic in my area; from heavy freeway traffic going at high speed, to stop & go traffic on busy boulevards.
I have a '52 pickup with a vertical rear window and want to find a third brake light that can go on the inside, without using a lot of space. I see LED strips that would work ok, but they are all designed to go on the outside of a surface.
Anybody know of a solution? I have seat backs that darn near rest against the back of the cab so space is limited.

 

Google " Brakelighter". It mounts inside and made for what you are looking to do.

 

Thanks. That looks close to what I was wanting. Do you have one of these? I'm wondering how much light escapes into the inside of the car.

 

Have had one for 10+ years. Very hardly noticeable in the cab. Nice product. Good people. I'm not connected in any way.

 

Nowadays, all cars have third brake lights. They have been mandatory since 1987.

Few people remember cars that have just two. Everyone who has gotten a license in the last 30-years expects to see three. When there is no third brake light, folks just see the two. On every car and light truck made since 1987, two lights means car going down the road, with its lights on.

Only three brake lights means car stopping. You can ignore this notion, but will that be the case of the person behind you?

I will be adding one to my Falcon.

How do I know my notion to be sound? The left rear corner of my Falcon is caved in, after having been hit by a 19-year-old driver, who was unaware that there ever were cars made without a third brake light.

 

I really don't like them but gimpy's right. The other alternative, depending on mounting height etc. is a license plate frame with the brake light built in. I've got one HAMB friendly car that works on. Not as good as eye level, but better than nothing. My cars are rag tops, so the options get more limited.

 

They SEE it!

 

I don't like them either, but I like getting rear-ended in a one-of-a-kind custom car even less.

 

I bet 50-60% of new cars on the road have burnt out brake lights.
They are a very good idea.
I have seen them installed inside the round bed rails in the back that aren't obtrusive.


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My Lincoln originally had a centered mounted rear speaker in the back deck and since I no longer cared for the MONO sound I removed it. I made a small reflective pan and mounted a 4" round brake light underneath the rear deck. On top I installed an old "organ pipe" speaker cover so it still looks like the original speaker is there. Now when I hit my brake lights the "organ pipes" glow red and light up the entire back window. I wish I had a picture to explain it better but its hard to take a picture from the rear when youre inside pressing the pedal!

 

Any stand alone light mounted inside will reflect back off glass and really p you off. Especially when reversing at night.
It needs to seal tight against the glass. But hey, your options are endless.

 

I added some lights and red dots to my bed rails. They come on with brakes and turn signals.
Seems to work fine but wish they were brighter.


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Has anyone installed the Backlighter's unit on a '30's Ford coupe with a roll- down rear window? How'd you mount it?

 

I picked up a slim and hopefully discrete light to go in the back window of my ot truck the other day that I hope I can seal up against the glass so as not to let light shine back in the cab at night. Same reason, Too many younger people don't pay attention to regular stop lights on the back of a rig if they aren't pie plate big. If that doesn't work I'll hunt down a cargo light/third brake light for that truck and use

 

I am so used to seeing a third light that I don't even notice any more.

There is a company that markets a panic light switch that makes your brake lights strobe. I was behind a car last e year on the interstate that had that set up and it really got my attention. Might be worth looking into.

 

Check out the motorcycle guys. They make strobes, pulses, stands on-switching to strobes, etc....


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This is going to be my 3rd brake light on my 39 truck after I figure out how to make the wigwag work with battery instead of vacuum

 

Don't fret the ugliness of the third eye... Jerks nowadays don't understand HAND SIGNALS!!!
A young cop actually asked me, "What's this???" ...and made a 'wave' with his left hand. I told him it was from the Calif Motor Vehicle Code book. "It signals a right turn..." He looked confounded.
I said I did it for the bozo following me too closely... "He didn't look like he could afford a right rear fender on my truck..." Again, confusion. Utter ineptness.

 

Do you have stupid bright LED's in the stock lights yet? because you should. Its my plan for my Desoto, i want to light eyeballs on FIRE with em. Maybe i wont get hit. Maybe.

 

I bought a used pickup about a month ago that has a third brake lamp above the back window on the cab. And I honestly couldn't tell you if it even works or not because the truck has a cap on it and I figure no one can see it anyway. And then you go and post this bit of wisdom and I'm starting to freak out a little bit.

I've already run into some younger drivers that didn't know how to adjust manual outside mirrors because they couldn't find the switch on the door panel.

Soooo.... I guess I'll be installing a third brake lamp of some sort above the back window of the cap. Thanks for giving me good reason for doing so.

 

Wallaby - post pics of rear of truck to see what you have now - attached are some pics from installing a 3rd brake light on my Wife's '50 Chevy PU - may be more involved than what you are looking for - does not show entire install process - the rectangle box was from another project but, easy sheet metal project.not shown is the custom formed lens using transparent red plexiglass & clear acrylic prismatic glued together - Tap Plastics is a common source or try estreetplastics.com - light is very bright by using "Brite Bulbs"

 

I ve been fixing wrecks for over 43 years and we still get tons of rear enders. I read somewhere the 3rd light made no difference. Personaly i dont care for them on hotrods. But each to his own Switching over to led's would help a lot i think since stock heavy glass lens don't work that well especialy if the sun is on them.

 

No glass lenses on a '60 Falcon. The tail lights are 8" in diameter, too. Five LED's inside each.

Still got hit by a kid that did not know that I was stopped, because she did not see a third brake light. Those were her own words.

I don't need to read that they do, or do not work, in general. I only needed the number of accidents to be reduced by exactly one, and I did not get it.

I spent 106-days battling her insurance company, including filing a formal complaint with the California State Insurance Commissioner before I saw any money to fix my car.

 

Yes, the insurer saw a chance to get out of paying the claim and hoped you would admit to fault by not having a third brake light in your car. I eprsonlly do not like them on older cars but am about to chage my way of thinking. They have been federally mandated since 1986, as I recall, so you are dead on with your 30 years worth of people looking for them.

 

I buy little strip LEDs at Walmart and attach them to the rear window trim. cheap easy effective

 

The insurer never mentioned it. Only the driver, only to me.

 

Bummer you got got hit. If you had a light bar on it you probably would of got hit anyway. Stupid kid. May he was texting or something. One of my fears. My 28 rodster pick got tagged but a 3 ton truck at a red light and i had now where to go. He simply said he got his feet tangled up in the pedals and lurched right into me. After having this truck since 1979 it hurt me to repaint. Such is life on the street somtimes.

 

I don't like the 3rd brake light either, but it seems like a good idea. I guess my objections are mostly aesthetic... I don't like the looks of them. That's why I was hoping to find something to do the job that would be nearly invisible when not in use. I also don't want to go drilling holes in my sheetmetal.
I have noticed from my own driving that I tend to look through the car in front of me whenever possible, to get a further view of what's ahead. I can see those 3rd brake lights coming on up ahead even when the tail lights are out of my view. Advance warning is a good thing, as I know my pickup with drum brakes isn't going to win any brake distance contests. I want the guys behind me to know what's going on, too. Sadly, I notice that I get that 50 yard stare and look straight ahead most of the time when traffic is heavy. If brake lights come on, I catch it in my peripheral vision... not because I'm looking directly at the guy's tail light.
I just figure that the best solution is a light that pops on from nowhere right in front of the guy behind me.
I'm going to go check out the Harley motorcycle shop and see what they have. Maybe I can rig up something to stand up from my bed stake pockets? Hmm... still think the best place is in the center.

 

since your truck is so tall, and rear window tinted possibly add run a license plate frame that has a LED brake light at top of it and connect a pulsation function to it - existing tail lights LED?, if not convert those also -