Third Brake Light?

I will be putting one one every car I have. This is what happend to me alittle over a month ago pulling into my drive way.

 

I made up a simple one using a Harley brake lamp and mounted it to a homemade box. These are old shots but you get the idea.

Not sure if anyone pays attention to them though as was stated earlier but it is probably safer than nothing, and you can make them look traditional too.

 

Guilty to above...Seems that doing the speed limit is not good enough anymore; probably hasn't been for along time and the number of people running red lights is phenominal...I put one in my shoebox years ago, just under the rear window rubber with a flush mounted red plexiglass lenz, 3/16" high by 7" wide..very visible when lit but as previously stated if the driver behind you is brain dead then only a rear vaporiser will save you..

 

Then you're going to have a bad case of road rage.

 

I bought a LED red brake light bar (part no.13-c-09) from United Pacific Industries.
I made some aluminum brackets that allowed me to fasten it to the two top holes on my license plate. It sits above the license plate so it is in clear sight of someone following me. They have a website which shows there whole product line.

 

Holy You alright man?

 

I'm currently in the process of adding a 3rd brake light to my '34 5-window coupe's rear window. I'm using the Model T accessory stop light pictured below. The unit is 2" high x 4" wide x 2 1/2" deep. The lens has a deep color that matches the purple glow of my blue dot brake lights. The face was brass that I had chrome plated to match the car's trim better. The housing will be painted to match the interior garnish mouldings. I plan to install a flasher to pulse the light when the normal brake lights illuminate. I've fought adding a 3rd brake light for years, but after a close call with a teen driver on her cell phone, I decided to install a light for safety.

Jim

 

I'm a big believer in safety. Too many idiots on the road. Here's my third brake lights.
The one on the roadster was found at a truck swap meet.
The one on the sedan was found in a box of parts. It's a '40 Ford front turn signal, backed by a Harley bullet like 73roundlight used.

 

so be it..at least it wont be distracted road rage..

not that i really understand why if a cell phone wont work how that translates to road rage, but whatever

 

I have this one from a G M astro van mounted @ the beltline + the 51 buick tail lights but if the guy behind you isn't paying attention then all the lights in the country ain't much help. click on the pic for a better view.

 

I think everyone agrees that if the people behind you arn't paying attention nothing will save you. But traditional or not, at least there are a lot of you taking that extra step in hopes of preventing one more accident.

 

How are they gonna know? VRF I like your thinking.

 

I am thinking about a red light off of an airplane for my third brake light. Maybe something with 100,00 candlepower.

 

If it saves you once, they're worth it.

 

I am going with a "Street Rod" type licence plate frame with a light across the top. Not traditional but safer.

MY CAR, MY MONEY, MY WAY

 

this is what I did on my 40 coupe. 7-little LEDs from radio shack. mounted them right in my plate topper.

 

Nothing like a fallen brother that makes you think safer, like said earlier thoughts and prayers to family and friends. Here's the 3rd brake lite I made for my 37, kinda hard to see, it's under the rear windows, not traditional but functional...

 

Lots of good ideas, but like some have said, if they're not paying attention, they won't see the lights. Been lots of times I've wanted a tail gunner.

 

Beatnik.......thanks for the 40 Ford parking light/bezel idea, might use this as third brake light on my 40 PU. After today's bad news this is a must have I think.

 

I'd agree that we should be thinking about making sure that someone coming up behind us can see not only the brake lights and turn signals but the tail lights themselves.
How many of us have followed our own rods or customs in another car in different light conditions. It might do well for guys to do just that so as to be able to see what others are seeing in both daylight and in the middle of the night. Do you positively know that someone else who is not fully familiar with the back end of your car can see the lights in all light and traffic conditions?
We have several cars on here with very small custom lights mounted in the bumper guards. Very low and very small. Too low for someone in a tail dragger a few feet behind them to be able to see over the hood of their car let alone someone in a work truck or daily with a long hood. If you were to go out and get in the daily right now and pull up behind your rod or custom until you couldn't see the tail lights at all, how far back would your daily be if you got out the tape and actually measured the distance?

One more thing and I'll climb down off the soap box. I got a wake up call on the way home today. I was wheeling along and traffic in the other lane was moving but, the truck directly in front of me was standing still with his foot on the clutch and no foot on the brake. It took a second to realize that he was sitting still and he was in a newer full size pickup with huge tail lights and a third brake light. How many of us are in the habit of sitting at a light on level ground with foot on the clutch and foot on the gas and not holding the brake pedal down?

 

I glassed in a bump on my rear window garnish molding to hold an LED strip light. It shows up well and is very bright. Hardly noticable from the inside.

 

I rearended a minvan a few years ago. It's one of those with the tail lights way up high. It was stopped on the highway waiting for the car in front of it to turn left. I wasn't paying enough attention and ran into it...I can't help but wonder if the high mounted lights had something to do with it? I have noticed that I don't see high mounted lights, I'm looking down low for them, because they were always mounted low when I learned to drive.

 

I had a pro street Anglia and above the deck lid and below the rear window I mounted a 3rd brake light off a old ford tarus station wagon, fit perfectly. Gordon

 

That's the key............people don't pay attention anyhow to 3rd or 4th brake lights.
I just make the stock lights brighter, also none of my cars are ground scrapers.

 

Thats because your a normal driver Jim..you know where to look for the tail lights because like you, thats how I was taught..but these non driving MFers these days it seems all they can do is either stare straight a head, or down in their lap at the dam cell phone.

I should have also been a bit more clear with my placement..more like mid rear body..or low in the rear window of customs and or hot rods

 

I have had my wife get out and double check my tail lights on my '59 Ford because people seem to be unaware of a giant red car stopping or slowing in front of them. I think it is because people are getting more accustomed to seeing the 3rd "eye up high" on modern cars and don't look below their line of sight. She's getting a 3rd brake light before she gets back on the road. The car, not the wife!

 

That same setup could be used on the back deck panel on As and other cars using the parking lamp lenses which are available for 41 Ford Pickups which use the same bezel. The 41 parklamp lens is clear rather than frosted and stands up out of the bezel and actually has a bullseye in the front.

Do you have a red bulb inside, or LEDs or what?

 

We can't eliminate the risk of getting rear-ended, but we can reduce it. Every vehicle built in the past 40+ years has taillights that are HUGE compared to the taillights on our traditional hot rods and customs. A '59 Chevy is probably among the few HAMB-friendly vehicles with taillights that are close to the size of the taillights on more contemporary cars. Our cars were built before most drivers on the road today were born, let alone before they learned to drive. All '86 and newer vehicles (an '86 is now 25 years old)have the third brake light, so the typical driver on the road--even if not distracted--is used to everything having big taillights and a third brake light. The best we can do is make our tailights and brake lights as bright as possible and add a third brake light. On Henrietta the '38 Ford pickup, I used a 3" diameter vintage aftermarket light with STOP on the glass lens, mounted in the back window. The one on Ozelle the '55 Ford is a junkyard item, don't remember what it came out of, mounts on the package tray up against the back window, very unobtrusive but very visible when it comes on.

 

Something about turning 40 has made me look at everything in a different light. I am constantly thinking about safety issues with my cars now.

I bought one of these without the license plate window to run as a 3rd brake light on my 32 Fordor P.O.S.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Moto...3811967QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

No red bulb. No LEDs. Although either of these should work. I just used what I had and made an adapter to fit a Harley bullet (which had previously been on the roadster), red lens and all, behind the bezel w. clear/frosted glass.
It looks clear but lights up red, not as bright as LEDs but bright enough.