Technical BRAKE LIGHT'S OR THE LACK OF THEM

I would tuck another red lamp on that, hidden ahead of the tank, facing the shiny rear panel.

Light the whole thing up when stopping!

 

I put new lenses on my lights which are in good shape.

Regular 30W back up lights, compared on a sunny day. Left had the blinker on, right tail light.

I found the red LED's were quite dim so I bought these amber ones instead which work better with the old lenses. They have a ring of lights around the side and a big bunch in the end with a lens to spread the light out some. They're about 1/4" taller than a regular bulb.

Despite that, they are mounted low by modern standards, but are brighter than they were by a considerable margin.
They even draw less current (about half of a regular bulb).

On the outside you can't see other than the fact the light switches on and off instantly. I could put normal bulbs back in this afternoon if I wanted to also, no changes to wiring, bulb holders, lights.


(Bright midday sunshine there, so worst case scenario).

In this case, our cars haven't changed, but the people sharing the roads have. So, I'm all for being seen. It's a worthwhile endeavor.

Phil

 

That Pontiac shows up pretty good in the daylight.

 

I've been rear-ended multiple times over the years. Only a few of the drivers admitted to seeing any brake lights, even though they were on. Short of firing signal flares when applying the brakes, some moron won't see whatever you have.

And yes, you should do an assessment under different conditions to see if your lights are visible, but the generally too-small lights found on pre-early '50s cars are just too far out of the now-normal size range to register with some drivers.

 

Until cell phones automatically disable while in motion (which has too many caveats) it won't matter what tail lights you have. Why pay attention, when your cousin is posting pics of the enchiladas he had for lunch?

 

I have posted this before but this started out as a joke. I left it. I have had comments about how visible it is...I HOPE SO !. Still, it won't have any effect on those not paying attention, but get those on the fringe.

 

otoh, I rearended a modern minivan that had the high mounted tail/stop lights, I guess I was looking down low for them where they're supposed to be, and didn't see them. But I was also drifting off to another world in my mind at the time, so I blame only myself.

Just beware that there's no way to prevent all accidents. That's why they call them accidents.

 

I only need to prevent one.

 

Except red tends to disappear at night.

 

Black does, even more

 

The car has been black for 80 years, so I'm gonna live with that. HRP

 

One tap in 80 years, hell, I wouldn't worry about the lights.

 

I have LED taillights on my '51 pickup. They're bright, but they are kind of low. I've been thinking of adding a 3rd light, but don't know where, without requiring body and paint work. Maybe one mounted in the rear window?
Since the mention of a trailer hitch wiping out the front end of an offender, maybe a heavy steel tube hidden behind the bumper would be a wise modification. It wouldn't prevent a rear-ender, but would leave a lasting impression on the dumbass!!
It's kind of funny that some 'traditionalists' will bitch about LED lights, but put seat belts in their rides!!!

 

There is the problem, even in a new vehicle......people don't pay attention....that's the world we live in now. You can do LED, 3rd brake light and a flashing sign.....but you can't fix STUPID.

I have LED bulds in my cars, I really hate the LED reto kits where you can see all the individual LEDs, even with the lights off.

That being said, get good insurance, have a way to take pictures at the scene (a dash cam won't hurt either) and try to refrain from beating the shit out of anybody (I would have to repeat that last one over and over in my head).

 

decided to change over to replacements for my '63 Nova SS - major difference but, not really obvious

 

I used led bulbs in both tailights plus using a Honda spoiler led light at eye level mounted in the roll which really works well.
However when stopping for a person in crosswalk, a kid not watching, skidded to a stop, when i heard the skidding I popped the clutch making the impact a lot easier. When the cops came & asked me to hit the brake lights he smiled & gave me thumbs up!! The kid paid for all damages & I did all the required work including new rear bumper brackets.

 

I got into an accident years ago in a low Ryder blazer I had . Got home realized I had no smokes and headed to the store to buy a pack.

idiot up the street turned left into his driveway about 4’ in front of me !!

I creamed the left front corner off my truck , rad popped , hood buckled front end toast .

I was so pissed the truck was still in gear and I was loosing my mind shouting at the guy out my window !!!!!

my buddy grabs my shoulder and yells at me “ STUPID , STUFF IT IN PARK AND CALM DOWN . . YOUR GONNA GIVE YOURSELF A HEART ATTACK !!! “

so yeah stupid people can make the blood boil , end of the day insurance paid for everything and buddy got charged with making an illegal left .


Lesson learned , smoking is bad for you !

 

if big giant bright lights made a difference new cars would never get rear ended. a better addition would be something that makes all phones within 100 feet of your car get red hot if they are yapping it up instead of driving.

 

Because the factory tail lights on my heap are small and mounted low, I installed a brake light bar in the back window to help my odds. Made a bracket to mount it centered in the very bottom of the rear window. It isn't very noticeable and blends in pretty well, but is ridiculously bright when on. Doing something to improve the tail lights is next on the list. Thinking LED's, but have a license plate window in one to deal with.
This is the light bar I used:

https://www.nutrend.com/united-paci...ustable-pedestal-base/product/223-0792-000447

 

Not after he got done smackin him in the butt.

 

65 Years old? you mean like one these bad boys?

 

I was stopped in an OT car with LED taillights an still got rearended by the idiot on the cell phone at 40. So no even LEDs won't help stupid

 

Not calling BS, Police never cease to amaze me….but…I’ve been in a few accidents over the years, most times as a passenger in the vehicle that got hit. I’ve never seen a cop check the rear lights. You hit someone in the rear and case closed. Good chance they aren’t going to work anyway when hit with a decent impact.

 

I tried several types of LED bulbs in my sedan they were only a little bit briter.
Then I bought the lenses with built in LEDS now I have very bright tail and stop lights.

 

As much as I dislike LED lights, I love the way my hotrods look now and hope they'll stay that way!
I too had a close call where I watched somebody slide up to my car when I think they didn't notice my brake lights were on and I was sitting still. It was enough for me to change my thinking, and I went a bit overboard. I not only changed all my taillights to LED, but I bought a LED strip light that bolts to the rear license plate too.
Since my little Austin has a license plate location up near the middle of the trunk lid, it positions the LED on the license plate frame up high where it's extremely visible when I hit the brakes. It's a dual circuit for running lamps and brake lamps, but I wired them together so they're all brake lamps that really get the driver behind's attention. It's not really noticeable on the license plate frame when it's off, so I don't even think about it or notice it. But it gets other's attention when I want it to.
I retrofitted my stock taillights and glass lenses on my '39 coupe with Harley retrofit LED's inside the stock housings when I built the '39. They're bright enough I didn't do the license plate light.

 

We do have one of those, but thats a 40s era isnt it?
This is the light in question, its a Rheostat equipped one.


Oh, reminder that 1957 was 65 years ago.

 

If you can find them there was a 1257 2 element bulb back in the day, they are brighter than 1157 bulbs.
I also like to paint inside my light housings front and rear White. I want to try a get a pair power coated white to see how they do.

 

My car came from the factory with a single trunk mounted brake light. The tag was mounted above the trunk handle and had a clear light that shone on it, I moved the tag to the bumper and used a lighted frame. The fender mounted lights were tails and turn signals. They hadn't learned yet how to make one bulb do all three functions with the turn signal switch. The wiring kit I installed had a third brake light wire, so I wired it as well as the fender lights to work as brake lights. It's high enough, actually level with the outboard lights, that if they are looking for a center brake light, they will see it and the others at the same time. I'm using 1157 bulbs in white housings and they are plenty bright. I did recently have to take one of them off and clean up the ground on one side, over time it was losing it's ground. Lights aren't on in pic.

 

Maybe metallic silver will help better?