got me some turn signals

[Young Ed]

Ah my first thread with my new handle. Anyway stopped at napa last night and asked if they had add on turnsignal devices. First catalog came up with no results but the second one came up with quite a few. Scored a nice looking one for just under 40. This one is black and they have the same one in chrome for 50 something. For a truck black is fine and they had that one in stock. Looks like a much heavier duty unit then the one with the green tip you see on lots of cars. I think Bob posted that his was wearing out already. Will update as the installation progresses. So far I've been fixing up a pair of yankee foglights to use as front blinkers.

[daddyo23]

Young Ed,

Handle has a nice ring to it. That's the same setup I have in my '48. Just position so you can see it blinking. Reminds you to turn it off.

[Jerry Roberts]

Young Ed , That looks like it is of better quality then most . It must be american made ? How many wires ?

[Young Ed]

I'd have to look at it again to see if it says where it was made. This is the 7 wire one and I think they had one with even more wires. I'm having enough trouble getting the 7 I have in their proper spaces.

[Norm's Coupe]

That unit looks like mine, except mine is the chrome model. Bought it back about 95 or 96 from a vendor at the Back To The 50's show. Only difference is, the hazard pull switch, mine has a knob on it to pull out. I paid $19 for mine back then. Of course prices have gone up in the past 12 or 13 years. Mine is also a 7 wire unit.

[De Soto Frank]

That Signal-Stat 900 is one of the best after-market turnsignal switches you can buy today... the integral hazard-flasher switch is a big plus !

My former '48 International KB-2 has one of these in it, and I found it tremendously reliable.

De Soto Frank

[Young Ed]

Thanks Frank thats great to hear. When I looked at it at Napa it sure looked like a reliable unit. That place sure is odd sometimes. It took me 3 trips to get the high end cap and rotor for my 94 dakota. The second trip I got this turn signal unit off the shelf. Now today I went back and got 2 6v bulbs for my truck parking lights and 2 more of a diff # that go in my yankee fog lights. Those they had on hand. Plus I bought 4 wiring harness inserts to go behind these bulbs and they had all that too. So odd.

[clay diggs]

I believe that is the same 7 wire unit I installed on my 1950 Dodge 3/4 ton in about 1990. Have never had any problem with it at all. I installed another one in my P15 about 2 months ago and it is working great. I had a little trouble finding a heavy duty six volt flasher that would work.

[Paul Hoffmeyer]

Hi, Ed;

That turn signal switch has been used on heavy duty trucks for at least 40 years, probably longer. I've never seen one go bad. It'll probably outlast you.

Paul H

[Young Ed]

Update. Turn signals all installed and fuctional. So far using the cowl/parking lights as the front signals. Only issue is the indicator doesn't work. Its supposed to ground through the steering column which I didn't like. But I took a wire and ran from the mounting band screw to ground and that makes it work for 4ways but it still doesnt light for individual turns. WTH??

[BobT-47P15]

Just guessing.........are the light fixtures grounded good?

My green light on end of the lever does not work unless I run another

wire to ground it. Which I have not done. Instead I made an under-

dash pair of indicator lights hooked into the wiring close to the little

round flasher under the dash. You did run a ground, but you might

mess with that a bit more.

[Young Ed]

The front ones are grounded well. Not so sure about the rear ones because the box is 1/2 wood.

[Merle Coggins]

As I recall, my Signal Stat 900 switch has 2 seperate flasher feeds. One for the 4 ways and one for the directionals. If your flasher is only connected to the 4 way feed you won't get directionals. I jumpered the two together so the same flasher feeds both systems. It seems to be working so far.

One other possibility would be not enough current draw to activate the flasher with the directionals. With 4 ways there are twice as many bulbs to light. On my truck if the rear lights aren't connected it won't flash. This is because I have LED lights up front. With the rears connected it works OK. I'd have to assume that your rear lights are grounded or your tail/brake lights wouldn't be working. But it's worth a check.

Merle

[Young Ed]

Merle all the outside lights blink etc. Just the inside indicator will only work on 4ways. I don't believe mine has 2 seperate flasher feeds. There were I believe 7 wires from the turn signal unit and then an 8 wire from the flasher to power.

[Don Coatney]

Has anyone tried a solid state flasher? As I understand it, the solid state flasher does not require an amp load to fire.

[Merle Coggins]

I tried to locate one for 6 volts but couldn't find one. They are readily available for 12 volt vehicles and work great, flash rate is constant regardless of load.

Merle

[Young Ed]

One other thing I just remembered that maybe a clue. My dad noticed this too. They seem to blink rather rapidly. The parking light bulbs on these trucks are rather small so maybe thats causing issues.

[martybose]

I tried to locate one for 6 volts but couldn't find one. They are readily available for 12 volt vehicles and work great, flash rate is constant regardless of load.

Merle

I agree; I've got a 12V solid state in my 47, because the old one wouldn't even flash when I installed the Technostalgia taillights.

Marty

[Young Ed]

http://www.amperite.com/Uploads/d%20flasher.PDF

is this one?

[Merle Coggins]

I don't know how long that one would last with only a 2 amp load rating. Also, the 6 volt DC version has a maximum voltage rating at 6.6 volts. A good charging system will be up around 7.5 volts.

Merle

[Norm's Coupe]

I use a standard 3 prong 6 volt flasher. Have it hooked up to the parking and tail lights for turn signals, plus one extra rear led light on each side. With the hazards on it's running a total of 7 lights counting the trunk stop light. They do flash faster than normal turn signals but is ok.

[BobT-47P15]

Not all the little flasher units (the round things) are created equal.

I bought 2 n o s ones a while back from a guy......and one worked

better than the other. They were two different brands. That might

possibly be part of the problem also.

[Norm's Coupe]

I bought my 6 volt flasher from an old Ford vendor at a swap meet, but it was a new one. My son never did like it because he said it flashed too fast. Worked fine for me though so never replaced it, or even looked for another one. So...........he found one online someplace a couple of months ago and he bought it his self. When he came over I told him it would be the same, but.........he had to see for his self. Put it in and no difference. The one he bought someplace online was a #535 Flasher. The one I bought years ago from the Ford vendor was a #550. Both are the old round can type with 3 prongs.

Sometimes I think we try to get too particular with these old cars. Not everything is going to look or work perfect, no matter what you do. Just like my sons beautiful 80 Firebird he totally restored about 10 years ago. About a month ago a rock flew up on the freeway and cracked his windshield. When the glass company came out to replace it, they found some rust in the lower corner of the windshield channel. So.........he wouldn't let the guy install the windshield until he got the rust fixed. Now, I do agree that should be fixed. However, he then said he may as well have the top of the car refinished because it had a couple of bubbles in the paint. (they've been there all along and you really need a magnifying glass to see them). Then, there was something he didn't like on the spoiler, then a little chip in the paint along the bottom door seam, etc., etc. End of story. The whole interior is now out of the car again, he's pulling his nice new engine and tranny, put his old wheels back on the car and it's headed to the body shop to be completely done over again. All because of that cracked windshield. I would have just fixed the window channel and called it a day. My brother in law said the same thing. The car looked great as it was.

They don't have to be perfect, especially when you drive them.

[Young Ed]

Norm my truck is far from perfect but I do like everything to work. Not sure what # flasher is currently installed but a 535 is the other one I have and am about to install.

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed,

I think the real problem is the number of lights hooked up and the current being pulled. I don't know about now with the electronics in newer cars. However, years ago if you wanted to pull a trailer with extra signals you should use a Heavy Duty flasher. If you used a standard one, the lights would flash faster. Actually, my lights didn't flash as fast until after I added the extra LED lights on the rear. They don't pull that much current, but must be just enough to make things go a little faster.