Tail Light Brightness

GLindley · Post by **GLindley** » August 10, 2007, 8:37 pm

I don't know if anyone else has thought of this, and I thought I'd give it a shot. My tailights are not really really bright, and when you take the tail light cover off, the area around the light is kind of a dull galvalume color. So, I thought I'd do an experiment. I removed the entire tail light body and gave it a little cleaning and painted the one on the driver's side gloss white. That night, I compared the two with tail lights on and with brake lights on. The difference was NOT staggering, but it WAS a bit brighter.I plan on doing the other side soon

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mikecarson · Post by **mikecarson** » August 10, 2007, 8:55 pm

Didn't think of paint!

Had an old truck once that the cops would jack me up for "no brake lights". I shoved some tin foil in there, and they had to find a different excuse.

Mazlem · Post by **Mazlem** » August 10, 2007, 9:43 pm

Mike I was just going to mention that; try painting the other one silver.

Comet · Post by **Comet** » August 10, 2007, 10:31 pm

When I had my chrome done, I did the buckets as well. Big difference.

Slick Fan · Post by **Slick Fan** » August 11, 2007, 12:34 pm

I painted a pair silver once, on a car. It brightened things up a ton!

jeffw · Post by **jeffw** » August 12, 2007, 5:32 pm

hey that is somthin I'd never think of!! that there is the cool thing bout this site is all the makeshift,, cheap,, and downright great ideas you all share!! gonna try that myself cause my lights are a little dim,,, and not the one above my head either,,LOL

Max · Post by **Max** » August 12, 2007, 6:12 pm

I did that to my taillights and turn signals. Eastwood sells an almost chrome paint specifically for that purpose. Haven't seen the results yet, but looks a heck of a lot better than it did.

GLindley · Post by **GLindley** » August 12, 2007, 6:29 pm

I have used other "chrome" paint with less than desirable results. I don't know, maybe Eastwood's paint would be as bright and shiny as real chrome! That was one reason for using gloss white, I thought that the gloss coupled with the white would be a tad better than a silver. I could be wrong.

shawns fords · Post by **shawns fords** » August 12, 2007, 6:49 pm

that chrome paint would be a great idea for tail lights, I never thought about it before, but it seems to me al lthe diff kinds I have tried seemed to be really soft, softer than regular paint even, mabye its just because its cheap products, but inside a housing it wouldnt matter

douglloyd · Post by **douglloyd** » August 13, 2007, 8:33 am

I did mine with ordinary silver paint, then shot a coat of clear over the silver. They're a little brighter, but I think new lenses would help about as much.

Also I worked over the bulb socket with steel wool, then masked it off. After you uncover it, rub a little diaelectric grease over the contacts and the barrel so it stays shiny.

Another cheap fix for a cheap ride - my trucks owe me nothing more the way they work for their groceries.<g>

thanks,
Doug

Max · Post by **Max** » August 13, 2007, 8:38 am

A lot of rattle can metallic paints lay down well, so you have to be careful when spraying them not to get the coats too thick.

A lot of people will take an hour and 5 passes to prime something then when they use a metallic - they do the same thing and it's why you always seem to see runs in it.

cloud · Post by **cloud** » August 13, 2007, 9:50 am

Anyone tried the plug in 1157 LED light bulbs they have at the parts store? They're a little pricey ($15/pr?), but I've been considering giving 'em a shot...

I've been burning through 1157's on my driver's side tail - not sure if it's an over-voltage situation, a bad socket, or what. Going to take it apart and clean it up and test it - might as well paint the inside bucket while I'm in there, eh?

Slick Fan · Post by **Slick Fan** » August 13, 2007, 11:26 am

cloud wrote:Anyone tried the plug in 1157 LED light bulbs they have at the parts store? They're a little pricey ($15/pr?), but I've been considering giving 'em a shot...

I've been burning through 1157's on my driver's side tail - not sure if it's an over-voltage situation, a bad socket, or what. Going to take it apart and clean it up and test it - might as well paint the inside bucket while I'm in there, eh?

If you're getting any water leaking into the socket, that will short out the bulb...usually turning the bulb cloudy inside. Otherwise, I don't know why it would go through them on just the one side.

Those 1157 LED's suck, in my opinion. The don't illuminate the whole lens area, like an incandescent bulb does. They usually illuminate a spot about twice the size of the bulb & that's it.
The only ones I've seen that really work good, are the kind that have an entire bank of LED's behind the whole lens, like these; http://www.mustangproject.com/ViewItem. ... 095fe528d5
Or these; http://www.hitechledproducts.com/produc ... 6ba73c4e21

I haven't seen any for our truck yet, though.