Switching to halogen bulbs in rear tailights.

[Jesuschrystler]

Anyone here try using halogen bulbs on the rear tailights? My lights just arent bright enough at night and I need more "umph" in the tailights. Do I "have" to get a new alternator? Im thinking if you drill out the holes just a bit more you could get them to fit. I like the old school originals but I wanna keep from getting rear-ended too. Anybody done this?

[junior]

Get larger tailight bulbs,you may have bad ground making your lights dim,or dirty connections. You could add more lights in the back,more reflectors. Have not heard of hologen tail lights. Good luck.

[junior]

I mean,I Have heard of hologens for the headlights,but not for the tail lights. Your wiring has to be up to par in order to be able to handle hologens.

[Jesuschrystler]

Will look at the grounding situation. I hate troubleshooting wiring Any help as to where I might look first. Can I run an individual wire from each light to the frame? Or run all grounds to the battery? I dunno

[CSS-Registry]

Go to a parts house and buy two braided ground straps - run one from your engine to some place on your cab and run the other from your engine to the frame.

Then go to your tail lights and run a wire from each tail light to the frame.

While you're at the parts haus get some dielectric grease and grease up the contacts in the bulbs as well as any other wiring connection.

I am no electrical wizard but the basics always go a long way and are not a waste of time.

Ben

[Russ]

Do what everyone else has suggested to be sure you are getting full voltage to the bulbs. Also, clean the inside of the tail light housing and if they are dull paint the inside with a brite silver paint. If you run a separate ground wire from the frame attach it to the socket, not the housing. Clean the lenses and you shouldn't have a problem. Also be sure you are using 1157 or equivilent bulbs.

[junior]

Another idea would be to replace the red taillight lenses with clear lenses and installing red tailight bulbs. The clear lenses can be made.I don't know if or how much this would help.It is just a thought.

[Hobcobble]

Another idea would be to replace the red taillight lenses with clear lenses and installing red tailight bulbs. The clear lenses can be made.I don't know if or how much this would help.It is just a thought.

Are you sure that's legal?
John

[BCW]

Look at superbright led . They have the bulbs that will make a difference.

[RussRoth]

Another idea would be to replace the red taillight lenses with clear lenses and installing red tailight bulbs. The clear lenses can be made.I don't know if or how much this would help.It is just a thought.

Are you sure that's legal?
John

The big boys have them in LED's on the new stuff if ordered that way. Kind of weird when I first was seeing clear lenses on trailers, then turn red when the brakes are either hit or the lights turned on. Not sure changing to clear lenses with a standard red bulb would be legal though. These have DOT approval.

[Russ]

He said he wanted to keep the "old school originals" which are plenty bright when the wiring and sockets are in good condition. In this case, fixing the originals will be free as opposed to spending money something new.
On a Sweptline the taillight sockets are crimped on to the housings and can develop corrosion between the socket and housing and that's why I suggested conneting the ground wire to the socket instead of the housing.

[Jesuschrystler]

How do I attach ground wires to the bulb socket. Do I solder a wire to them or screw a wire in with the mounting screw? When I hook up my tag light which circuit do I cut into. And now I have the turn signals both flashing at the same time. The one thats supposed to be flashing is stronger but the opposite side is just barely flashing, enough though that if it was night it would be very noticeable.

[Hobcobble]

How do I attach ground wires to the bulb socket. Do I solder a wire to them or screw a wire in with the mounting screw? When I hook up my tag light which circuit do I cut into. And now I have the turn signals both flashing at the same time. The one thats supposed to be flashing is stronger but the opposite side is just barely flashing, enough though that if it was night it would be very noticeable.

I would suggest soldering a wire to the
socket and grounding it to the frame.
John

[junior]

screwing a wire to the light housing might work. I had the two lights flashing at the same time and I found out they were both sharing the same ground.In other words,grounded together.Hope this helps. You almost have to go completely through the wiring. P.I.T.A.

[Jesuschrystler]

The socket on one light was way loose so I soldered it in place. I took some heavy wire and ran it off each tailight and screwed it directly on the frame, problem solved! They are very bright now. The ground problem was causing so many other issues. I had my shifter light coming on with the brake lights, both tailights flashing along with the tag light, and just adding 2 ground wires solved it all. Thanks for the help guys.

[CSS-Registry]

sweet!

[Russ]

Glad you got it fixed. Bad grounds seem to e a common problem on Sweptlines. Here's how I fixed the taillight housing that I mentioned in a previous post.

[69Adventurer]

Wow I thought I was the only one with that problem!
I had to do the same to my reverse lights to get them working.