bulb holders

[pflaming]

Debugging my new harness. Bulb holders must be made out of some form of pot metal tin. They come out hard but will not snap back in. On one park light holder I tried to bend the 'lip' that holds it in an it broke off like a piece of cookie.

Seems I need to buy new bulb sockets. There are not that many so that's not the issue, just a bit frustrating when the light burns but the apparently good socket will not hold, especially when one has been on his back for a time.

Also learned that the taillights ground through the body. That means ALL things related must be clean for the current to pass through. Is it a practical thing to run a ground wire to the frame to assure a good ground? How about the cab, if it is one good rubber mountings, should it then have a ground wire?

[Merle Coggins]

On my bed there are a couple of metal brackets that go between the side panels and the frame near the rear lower portion of the side panel. These would help to provide a ground between the bed and frame. However, when I wired up my tail lights I also ran a ground wire from the lamp assembly to the frame to ensure a good ground for the lights. The cab does have some ground connections through the fender mounting, or via the park brake cable (if you have the under dash type). But if you wish, you can also add a ground wire between the cab and the frame. Again, when I wired up my head lights I added a ground wire to the radiator mount.

I'm not sure I understand the bulb holder issue. My parking lamps had integral sockets. I was able to unsolder them and install new ones for dual filament bulbs. The only lamp sockets that "snap" in are for the dash lights, and I reused the original ones.

[greg g]

Iran extra ground wire from all my rear lamps. For the time involved its worth knowing they have good grounds.

[Dale Uhrich]

I was able to buy jeep turn signals that were factory dual element and chrome instead of painted. they bolted with little work and look better chrome. My truck is a 1948-1950

[mikesinky]

I was able to buy jeep turn signals that were factory dual element and chrome instead of painted. they bolted with little work and look better chrome. My truck is a 1948-1950

what year jeep lights did you use?

[Dale Uhrich]

I bought them off ebay but I believe they were around 1956. maybe look on ebay at the jeeps around that vintage. I could send you an installed picture if I had an email address. I haven't mastered posting pictures here.

[Dale Uhrich]

look at ebay number 110335499023 or 290292840635 they look close to what I have

[grey beard]

NAPA sells dual filament bulb sockets. They must look them up in their catalog and order them for you next day. Be sure to get the ones for indexed bulbs - they sell both indexed and non indexed; Indexed bulbs have the pins staggered so they fit in only one way. I got the wring ones and now have to live with them.

By the bye, go to <superbrightlet.com> and order their led bulbs for front and back. They're really the berries. These things are available in six or twelve volts and are NOT polarity sensitive - work with either pos or neg ground. Cost about $25 for a pair. Be sure to get the red blubs for the rear red lenses. I got the clear first, and they are useless - hardly show behind the stock lenses. Anybody need a set of indexed clear led bulbs for their parking lights? Can't use them on mine cause I got the wrong sockets, remember?

Anyhow, if you use the NAPA sockets, get your new ones in hand and measure them. Mine were 5/8-inch diameter. I just drilled out the old sockets and these snapped right in. I then sealed them with 3M drip check sealer to make them waterproof. Works for me. JMHO

[Merle Coggins]

Here's a thread from a while back on how I changed my front parking lamps over to turn signals.

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=8602&highlight=conversion

I then used Amber LED's from Superbrightleds.com. They work great behind the original glass lenses. My real lights use regular bulbs, so my flasher still works normally. If I had used LED's in the rear too, I would have had to add resistance to the circuits to get the flasher to work. An electronic flasher unit would eliminate that problem, but I couldn't find one in 6 volt.

Merle

[Jerry Roberts]

You can't have too much ground , when in doubt , run another ground wire . I ran a heavy ground strap from my cab to the frame and lots of other extra ground wires just to be sure .

[Frank Elder]

A quick note on flashers, if you are running 12V, and want LEDS just add a regular filament bulb somewhere inline.

It will provide enough energy to work your stock flasher without having to buy an expensive LED flasher.