1951 Meadowbrook dim directionals

[51_Meadowbrook]

My ‘51 Dodge Meadowbrook has very dim rear turn signals when the tail lights are on. They are almost unrecognizable. Were these directionals dim from the factory or were they clear and recognizable like today’s turn signals? When the taillights are not on you can see the turn signal clearly but when the taillights are on the turn signal doesn’t make a bright enough light for the signal to be obvious. Unless you are really focusing on it it doesn’t even look like it is on. I know that some people are suggesting LEDs and I’m not sure which to go with since this is a positive ground system. Any suggestions on the current dim situation would be appreciated. Any ideas on the correct LED bulb I would need is helpful too. 

[Los_Control]

To me it sounds like a poor ground wire or whatever it is that grounds the tail lights.

 

To me this is a perfect learning moment .... yeah the lights work but not as good as I think they should.

Good time to go through your ride and clean and replace, repair all grounds on your car. Really not that many, You can add a couple extra ... You will find your lights work better, your starter works better, engine may run better ... Positive ground system, really is important to keep all grounds clean.

I think positive ground system is good, and possibly should be standard today ... possibly just some big corps that forced the system to negative ground.

 

Just saying, nothing wrong with your positive ground system, it probably needs a little love.

[51_Meadowbrook]

Being unable to make the lights any brighter than they were, which probably was right for the car, I converted them to LED. I picked a bulb that was about the same brightness for both dim and bright filaments. The LED is very distinct on the bright light. You can tell I’m hitting the brake and when the directional is on. And the bonus is that it barely draws on the battery. Since I bought the taillights I bought the front directionals and the flasher. They work beautifully now.