3rd brake light conversion...

[Ripley Bryant]

Commuting to/from work the last week or so, I have been thinking about converting my cargo light on my '77 to a cargo/3rd brake light like the newer trucks have.

During my commutes, I have been scoping out the lights on other trucks as I pass them trying to figure out what would work best with the least modification to the sheetmetal. Looks to me like any Chevy/Ford/Dodge setup should work looking from the outside, my issue is what will work with the stock hole in my truck.

Has anyone done this mod? Any suggestions as to what would be the best fit?

I'll probably be hitting the junkyard this weekend as I have a list of things I need to get.

Thanks,

[bigblock73]

I was going to attempt this once, and actually purchased a Ford light off a newer truck (at the time - late 90's). Turns out since our cabs are double wall construction, it would not work since the light was deeper than the opening on the cab. I didn't want to cut the inner structure to make it fit, so I passed on the idea. Your best bet would be to buy a recessed LED third brake light, weld the orig cargo hole shut, and install one of these. It would work pretty good cause you could install it right along the cab seam.

Just a thought.

[Prerunner1982]

or rewire your cargo light into the brake system and paint the lense red..... of course you would lose the cargo light function...

[apstguy]

Instead of painting the lens you could just stick in a red bulb or build your own custom LED board. It is really simple.

[Russell]

One guy installed LED lights throughout the back of the reflector and hooked em up to the brake lights, that way he could have the LED brake light, and also the stock cargo lamp bulb in there.

[arveetek]

I installed a third brake light. I bought one out of JC Whitney and mounted it to the rear window Louvre I installed. I ran a wire directly to the brake pedal so the light would function properly.

[KIILew]

Ripley:

There is a guy at our local Chevy dealership who has done exactly this with his '76 C10 pickup.

He used the 3rd brake/cargo lamp assembly from a '94-'98 C/K series truck. He told me that the installation simply amounted to lining it up, drilling a couple of holes and running the wire to the appropriate brake light circuit.

I have long admired how "factory" his rig looks with this modification, and have been thinking about doing the same with my '79.

Ken

[Ripley Bryant]

Thanks Ken,

That's the answer I was looking for!

I was sure someone had to have done this before.

[75stepside]

Originally Posted by KIILew

He used the 3rd brake/cargo lamp assembly from a '94-'98 C/K series truck. He told me that the installation simply amounted to lining it up, drilling a couple of holes and running the wire to the appropriate brake light circuit.

update!



i bought one of these units on eBay after doing a message board search. Well, the conversion can be done, i did poke some holes in my extra cab first... you'll need a 1 3/8" hole saw to cut the 2 extra holes (if you have a standard cargo light) From what i can tell, the conversion will work... and you'll just have to run the wires... but, its more than i want to do with my cab... i'm selling this light for $35 shipped. comes with wiring harness.

[DBLSPRT68]

Originally Posted by 75stepside

update!



i bought one of these units on eBay after doing a message board search. Well, the conversion can be done, i did poke some holes in my extra cab first... you'll need a 1 3/8" hole saw to cut the 2 extra holes (if you have a standard cargo light) From what i can tell, the conversion will work... and you'll just have to run the wires... but, its more than i want to do with my cab... i'm selling this light for $35 shipped. comes with wiring harness.

75stepside, does the light look like it will seal up good to the body? I've been thinking about doing the same thing. I don't mind putting holes in the cab, but it's got to seal up very tight. Has any one else done this ???? Let me know. David

[piecesparts]

Go to the Nissan dealership and get one of their third brake lights from the 97 and newer trucks. It is big enough to fit right over the hole and can be mounted with a couple of sheetmetal screws. The light is clean and well shaped with a good red light for the brakes. It is also the right shape for the type of cab a 73 through 87 Chevy truck has. I have mounted a couple of then and they work great. Just run the wire through the sheetmetal cab down the driver's side along the floor to the brake light switch under the dash. Tap into the wire there to ensure that your light does not flash with the turn signals. That way it is a brake light only. By the way it is big enough to not leak water in either.

[screwballl]

i would think that the hardest part would be getting the brake wires to it while keeping the cargo light functionality... it is easy to remove the inside cab light and should have close access to the wiring and such for the new light... i wanted to do this for my 76 but never had the chance.. although i did have the cab light off looking at the underside... also since mine just has the hole and no light on the outside i wanted to seal that hole...

[piecesparts]

There is metal between the domelight and the outside light, but you can feed a "Fishwire" through the cab towards the driver's side and it will come out from under the metal in the corner by the door striker post. The wire to the outside light is fed through that way, so the brake light wire can go that way also. I used a two filament wire to run my ground wire to a spot that I could easily reach and get a good ground.

[jermasaurus]

grab a LED one off the back of a newer blazer