There is a lot of surface area on the bulb bayonet body to make good contact. I cleaned up my sockets and they work well. A little bit of bulb grease keeps them working well. I suggest use a dremmel tool to get in there and get it all cleaned up. I would be surprised if you continued to have trouble.
If I were inclined to not use the 1157 style socket, my approach would be different depending on what type of bulb I was getting ready to use.
1. if conventional bulb or LED direct replacement for a conventional bulb, I would get a plastic twist-to-seat 3157 holder out of a junkyard or new like this:
Then I would glue it to the back of the tail light assembly after removing the old bulb holder. Use machine screws and strap of metal across the back of the socket to reenforce the mounting of it. I think you will want the socket to be entirely behind the tail light assembly just like it is with the 1157 socket, so filament of the bulb is held at the right depth in the reflector. Then just stick a 3157 bulb in there.
or
2. if using one of those LED conversions where the LEDs are part of the red lens and it has a wire with 1157 plug on it, like in this example, just cut the plug off and directly wire it. Run the wires through a small hole in the back of the tail light assembly and use a grommet to protect the wiring where it goes through that hole.
