Turn signal bulbs front

[casper50]

I've done a search and can't find an answer.  Do I use the stock one filiment bulb or do I need to change to dual filiments?  Mine had a turn signal unit on it but I'm not sure that the front lights were connected to it.

[YukonJack]

Look inside of the socket and see if it has a single or dual contact. 

[knuckleharley]

1 hour ago, casper50 said:

I've done a search and can't find an answer.  Do I use the stock one filiment bulb or do I need to change to dual filiments?  Mine had a turn signal unit on it but I'm not sure that the front lights were connected to it.

How many contacts do the bulbs in there now have? Take them out and look at the back of the bulbs,and look inside housing to see how many contacts are in there.

If there are two contacts,make sure you put twin filament bulbs in there. If there is only one contact inside the bulb housing,you can easily replace it with a dual element pigtail. If your car is still 6 volt,make sure  you replace the pigtail with a 6 volt dual element pigtail because the 6 volt bulbs draw more amps than 12 volt bulbs and will cause the thinner 12 volt wires to get hot.

You are probably not going to have much luck finding and buying 6 volt turn signal pig tails locally,so buy them from a source that supplies cloth-covered wiring harnesses for restorations.  If your car has a 12 volt system,you can buy new dual element pig tails at any auto parts store. All they are is two short sections of wire that plug into your existing wiring harness on one end,and have a dual element bulb  holder at the other end. Simplest thing you have ever done.

Just make sure the bulbs you already have in your parking light housings are dual element 6 volt bulbs,and not 12 volt bulbs.

BTW,just realized who I was responding to. You just bought and installed a new original or repo wiring harness,but turn signals were an option when your car was new,so chances are it came with single element pigtails in it for operating the parking lights only. If you still have your old wiring harness,check the pig tails on it and  use them if they are dual element (most likely they are or you wouldn't have the signal box on the column) and in good condition.

Edited January 20, 2017 by knuckleharley

[casper50]

It had single element pigtails in it but the new harness came with twin pigtails.  That is why I asked the question.  lol   I believe a PO only hooked up the turn signals to the rear on my car.  I'll start searching the internet for pigtails.  Thanks KH.

[knuckleharley]

7 hours ago, casper50 said:

It had single element pigtails in it but the new harness came with twin pigtails.  That is why I asked the question.  lol   I believe a PO only hooked up the turn signals to the rear on my car.  I'll start searching the internet for pigtails.  Thanks KH.

If the new harness came with twin element pigtails,all you need now is dual element bulbs and a couple of pieces of wire to run from the turn signal switch to the front pigtails. You should have plenty of left over original wiring to allow you to cut a couple of pieces and splice them in.

Or just buy the repo turn signal hookup wiring kit,which will most likely include another set of dual element pigtails. No big deal since the cost will be minimal. Maybe even cheap enough to not make it worth your while to cut and splice old stuff into a "new" car.

The older I get,the more I realize that time is more important than money. You can always get more money,but nobody gets more time.

Edited January 20, 2017 by knuckleharley

[desoto1939]

The pigtails are not 6v or 12 volt. They can be used in either configuration.  What is more important is how the two button lineup withint he socket.

They can line in the position of 9 and 3 oclock  or they can line up as 12 and 6 oclcok.  It all depends on how the bulb contacts at on the bulbs that you are using.  The bulbs need to be double filament if you plan on using the turning signal and then as a running light. If only using as a turning signal then only a single contact pigtail setup is used.  So go to the local NAPA store or auto parts store of your choice and get the correct pigtail orinataion.

 

I have a 39 Desoto and then headlight socket used a bulb and not sealed beam setup. Found out that the socke itself would work for the Bulb 3230 and 3231 but the orientation of the contacts is what is different. I went to the NAPA sotre and just changed the  pigtail orientation to be the correct setup for my car and it worked and pigtails do not have any 6v or 12v setup current is current.

Rich Hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[knuckleharley]

6 hours ago, desoto1939 said:

The pigtails are not 6v or 12 volt.

Rich Hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

Well,yes,they are different.. The 6 volt wiring is of a much heavier gauge and is covered with cloth. 12 volt pigtails are covered with plastic and are of a smaller gauge. Besides the more amps=more heat deal,it makes it slightly harder to mate a male and female plug due to the different wire and covering material thicknesses.

Granted,the thicknesses are really no big deal,but the point is they are different and not really a direct plug in. I know of people,and I'm sure you do too,who run modern wiriing with 6 volt systems,but I have been told my whole life that can cause a wiring harness fire.Can't swear to that being an actual legitimate concern,but the 6 and 12 volt wires of different diameters,and I feel certain there were good reasons for this to be true.

Edited January 20, 2017 by knuckleharley

[DonaldSmith]

6 volt wiring would be more than adequate for 12 volts, but for old and cracked insulation. 

[knuckleharley]

5 minutes ago, DonaldSmith said:

6 volt wiring would be more than adequate for 12 volts, but for old and cracked insulation. 

It's not that it's less adequate. It's MORE adequate because it is a thicker gauge than 12 volt wiring.

The problem comes when using 12 volt wiring gauges with 6 volt systems,not the opposite.

[maok]

Most 12v wiring has 7.5 or 15amp wires depending on the circuit. Check the wattage of your bulbs and divide it by 6v and see what current is running to the bulbs.

Ie. if they are 21watts then only 3.5 amps maximum running through the wiring, but it would be less that 3.5amps generally because your system voltage would be higher, more like 7volts. Therefore, the 12v wiring wont be any issue at all.

 

[desoto1939]

I have a 39 Desoto and the original wire that was used in the car ranged from 16g, 14, and 12g.  The pigtail internal setup for a 12 v wire should be very adequate for the 6v system.  On the old Mopar wiring the different strike or mark on the wire indicated the size of the wire. so if a single strick  then 16 gage and then the more stickers then it became thicker.  So in the minmum 16 worked for our cars.

When redoing a car that is still 6v the remomended suggestion is to increase the original wire size or gauage to go at least 1 gauge heavier than original.  So 16g should go to 14 g 14g goes to 12, and 12g to 10.

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[JerseyHarold]

I'll throw in one of my cheapskate ideas for re-wiring old bulb sockets.  Start with an aluminum pop rivet, push the 'nail' out of it, then put the wire through the hole in the rivet head and crimp or solder together.  You now have a new bulb contact for your existing socket.   I've done this a few times and it works fine. 

[desoto1939]

they do make the wire end buttons for the light socket pigtails. Any good wiring supplier will have them like Rhode Island Wiring.

 

Rich Hartung

[rb1949]

I got the inside pigtail assembly (both single & dual) from O'Reileys.

[Dartgame]

I went through the same dilemma with my 52. I could not put dual filament bulbs in the oem sockets, because the lugs on the dual filament bulb bayonet are offset vs the single filament which are symetrical. I should also mention that i changed from 6 v to 12 v so this was for 1157 NA bulbs. what I ended up doing was remove the old socket by carefully grinding away the peened over end of the socket in the end of the bracket. I had some good used 1157 style sockets from a dart laying around, so I fitted them to the bracket and then tack welded them to the bracket. The bracket I refer to is the roughly V or U shaped metal piece in the attached pictures. Hope this helps.

[rb1949]

If you stick with 6V, there are dual pin 6V bulbs with symmetrical pins that fit original sockets (to make contact if you change the pigtail to double). Order extra. 50¢ ea.

[casper50]

I've ordered new pigtails and new 6 volt bulbs with pins straight across.

[Branded]

1 hour ago, rb1949 said:

If you stick with 6V, there are dual pin 6V bulbs with symmetrical pins that fit original sockets (to make contact if you change the pigtail to double). Order extra. 50¢ ea.

Symmetrical pin bulbs are  also available in 12 volt. I used them when I rewired and added dual filliment parking/turn signals on my 49 Wayfarer 

[DrDoctor]

   Our ’46 Plymouth is rewired with a Ron Francis “Git It Runnin’” harness, and after many years of service, I’ve had NO problems of any kind with the electrical system. I went from one fuse to eight (the circuits that I used…). As for the turn signals, I replaced the single-contact sockets with dual-contact sockets – again, NO problems. In the back, just for the record, I used ancillary lights installed in the rear fenders (they look almost stock…), and the system works GREAT. Thx.