The Ford Barn

bbook · 07-31-2014, 01:01 PM

I purchased a reproduction tail light

Old Henry · 07-31-2014, 01:05 PM

And?

bbook · 07-31-2014, 01:09 PM

Sorry for hitting the wrong key and giving an incomplete post.

I purchased a reproduction pickup tailight for my 36 1.5 ton. It has two sockets, the upper containing a large lamp and the lower containing one the size of a parking or dash lamp. The green wire from the stop light switch goes into the upper and the black wire from the light switch goes to the lower. There is a divider between them and a clear lens to the license plate below the small one.

The upper light works well as a brake light, but the lower isn't much of a tail light, being fairly dim and only illuminating the lower half of the lens.

Is this the way it should be? Perhaps it is just a matter of putting a bigger lamp in the lower socket, although it wouldn't fit well under the divider?

Capn John · 07-31-2014, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbook

Sorry for hitting the wrong key and giving an incomplete post.
?

You can always go back and correct or add something just by going to the lower "EDIT" hitting that key, make the changes and then hit "SAVE" at the bottom

GreenMonster48 · 07-31-2014, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbook

Sorry for hitting the wrong key and giving an incomplete post.

I purchased a reproduction pickup tailight for my 36 1.5 ton. It has two sockets, the upper containing a large lamp and the lower containing one the size of a parking or dash lamp. The green wire from the stop light switch goes into the upper and the black wire from the light switch goes to the lower. There is a divider between them and a clear lens to the license plate below the small one.

The upper light works well as a brake light, but the lower isn't much of a tail light, being fairly dim and only illuminating the lower half of the lens.

Is this the way it should be? Perhaps it is just a matter of putting a bigger lamp in the lower socket, although it wouldn't fit well under the divider?

6 volt still? May not have a good, solid ground.

bbook · 07-31-2014, 03:13 PM

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I struggled with a good ground, but have that solved. I just wanted to verify the lamp configuration. Having a small lamp isolated to the bottom half of the assembly seems appropriate for a license plate light, but seems inadequate if it has to act as the tail light as well. The lamp acting as the brake light in the top half of the assembly is adequate, but is no help for tail lighting.

Thanks for the editing info Capn John. I got a phone call after I messed up and didn't get back to correcting my mistake till Old Henry had already responded. I'll do better next time.

TJ · 07-31-2014, 07:29 PM

You can get bulbs with more candle power and it helps if you paint the inside of the housing white for more reflection.

bbook · 08-01-2014, 06:19 PM

No one spoke up and said the lamps in the taillight fixture or their location are wrong, and I have since seen a ford schematic that seems to confirm that what I purchased is set up correctly. I'll move forward with the good advice offered by Green Monster and TJ to confirm my ground, get the highest candlepower lamps I can get in there and paint the inside of the housing white.

Thanks for the help.

07-31-2014, 01:01 PM	#1
bbook Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 84	Tailights I purchased a reproduction tail light

07-31-2014, 01:05 PM	#2
Old Henry Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Orem, Utah Posts: 5,762	Re: Tailights And? __________________ Prof. Henry (The Roaming Gnome) "It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” *Ursula K. Le Guin in The Left Hand of Darkness

07-31-2014, 01:09 PM	#3
bbook Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 84	Re: Tailights Sorry for hitting the wrong key and giving an incomplete post. I purchased a reproduction pickup tailight for my 36 1.5 ton. It has two sockets, the upper containing a large lamp and the lower containing one the size of a parking or dash lamp. The green wire from the stop light switch goes into the upper and the black wire from the light switch goes to the lower. There is a divider between them and a clear lens to the license plate below the small one. The upper light works well as a brake light, but the lower isn't much of a tail light, being fairly dim and only illuminating the lower half of the lens. Is this the way it should be? Perhaps it is just a matter of putting a bigger lamp in the lower socket, although it wouldn't fit well under the divider?

07-31-2014, 03:13 PM	#6
bbook Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 84	Re: Tailights Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) I struggled with a good ground, but have that solved. I just wanted to verify the lamp configuration. Having a small lamp isolated to the bottom half of the assembly seems appropriate for a license plate light, but seems inadequate if it has to act as the tail light as well. The lamp acting as the brake light in the top half of the assembly is adequate, but is no help for tail lighting. Thanks for the editing info Capn John. I got a phone call after I messed up and didn't get back to correcting my mistake till Old Henry had already responded. I'll do better next time.

07-31-2014, 07:29 PM	#7
TJ Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Napa,California Posts: 6,029	Re: Tailights You can get bulbs with more candle power and it helps if you paint the inside of the housing white for more reflection.

08-01-2014, 06:19 PM	#8
bbook Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 84	Re: Tailights No one spoke up and said the lamps in the taillight fixture or their location are wrong, and I have since seen a ford schematic that seems to confirm that what I purchased is set up correctly. I'll move forward with the good advice offered by Green Monster and TJ to confirm my ground, get the highest candlepower lamps I can get in there and paint the inside of the housing white. Thanks for the help.