Illumination and safety mods on my 65 C10

[car10107]

Since I bought this truck, the left front turn signal and right rear taillamp would stop working intermittently. Then a couple weeks ago, I slowed for a yellow light and heard the guy behind me almost plow into me. He said my brake lights were barely visible in the sun so he didn't know I was stopping. I compared to my other vehicles and the rear lights did leave a lot to be desired.
I decided to make some repairs and upgrades. Found my front signal didn't work because the ground tab on the socket was not making good contact with the housing. Also found the PO had painted the insides of the front and rear housings with white paint which I know helps make them reflective but he had not done any prep or priming so it was a mess. I sanded all four housings smooth, primed them and then painted with gloss white enamel. I ended up replacing both front sockets, cleaning the rear sockets with a battery cable brush, replacing all bulbs and lenses. In the rear, I went with an LED upgrade bulb. At this point, the lights were all much brighter especially the rears with the LED upgrade. It's hard to show in a picture but the rear lights are literally night and day different now. The LED bulb doesn't even look like a bulb as it has no glass but it sure is bright.

[car10107]

I want to keep this truck mostly stock but I did run across an LED light bar on Amazon that I decided would be almost invisible under the tailgate except when the lights are on and then it would allow other drivers to see me much better. I felt the safety factor was worth straying from stock in this case. The light bar has tail lights, turn signals and brake lights and works great. It also has an input for backup lights so when I find a way to add a reverse switch to my SM420, I will hook up the back up lights too. The light bar comes with a standard 4 way trailer connector on it but I cut that off and hard wired it into the rear harness.

The light bar I got is 60" and tucks up under the tailgate very nicely. I centered the lighting portion across the rear of the truck. Wires went in on the left side and covered with black split loom for now.

I cannot find how to upload a video on here but you can see my review of the product on amazon that has a video of the light bar in operation.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BXFHS5D...lig_dp_it&th=1

[bigmoe]

Did you have to change your flasher to get those led's to work?

[car10107]

I was prepared to have to buy an LED flasher but the original flasher works just fine so I left it alone. Flash speed seems the same as with the incandescent bulbs. I'm wondering if the name brand LED's like these Sylvanias have a built in resistor to present the same load as an OEM bulb?

I took a still picture of the rear lightbar in operation during daylight hours today. The picture still doesn't capture how bright it is but you get the idea. I'm much more confident in the brake light visibility now, especially in sun.

[Steeveedee]

Those are nice mods! I painted the inside area on my truck's stop/tail light assembly with highly reflective silver paint, but eventually went to LED lights. I don't know what the laws are in Colorado, but if someone rear-ends you in California, it is usually their fault. Brake lights not working is one non-defense. Another one is if someone cuts close in front of you to turn into a parking lot, and you run into them because there was no room to stop in time, since they almost took off your bumper when moving over. Ask me how I know.

There are a couple of exceptions, though.

[bsarts]

Great mod, I think it was a wise decision adding more also. I would be tempted to mount the light bar along the bottom edge of the bumper so at night it looks like a smiley face

[TxCajun]

Thanks for the great info. I had been thinking about something like this after following a C10 on the road the other day; stock lights were almost invisible on a bright day.

[car10107]

I do believe that if the guy that didnt see my lights hit me, he would have been at fault. The old man is well insured through Hagerty so I'm not really worried about who is or isn't at fault in an accident. More concerned with not getting hit in the first place and I felt the lights were dim before. With cleaning and repainting the housings, LED bulbs, new lenses and the $15 led light bar, I feel much better now that I will at least be seen. I know I read threads where guys installed a 3rd brake light up high on back of the cab from a later Tahoe/Suburban. I liked the looks and function but not cutting a hole in the cab. This $15 amazon light bar gives me the increased brake light visibility and adds turn signals too without any cutting or permanent mods to the truck. Best $15 spent on this truck so far.

[Johns 66]

Better toi be seen than not...although with these texters these days you never know

[Jackson's Dad 64 C10]

I'm planning similar mods when we get the truck back together, for the same reasons. I had a 1965 Chevy II for a while, and the stock tails were about as good as a couple of Boy Scouts holding flashlights. I have been trying to figure out a reverse light that didn't involve cutting for the factory style reverse lights. The lightbar might be a good solution for that as well. Don't know why I didn't think of it, as my 2017 Canyon has the exact same LED bar on it (STT/Reverse). PO installed that, it was on there when I bought in June. The old man looks good!

[vin63]

Those are great ideas. I also added an LED third brake light.

[pdxhall]

I've been working on my tail lights and was wondering about the LEDs that plug into the stock light socket. Thanks for making my job easier with this info.

[car10107]

Glad some other people might get some benefit from these LED bulbs, the light bar or both. Awesome to finally be a contributing member of this board and it's wealth of knowledge.

FYI, I purchased the LED bulbs at Advance Auto here locally. You cannot use a coupon but you can use your speed perk bucks and I buy a lot there so I got a little discount. And they are a lifetime warranty item so if anything ever goes wrong, I just go down the street and they give me new ones. I felt all that made the name brand Sylvania bulbs a better overall value that the bottom of the barrel ebay ones I see for sale.