Technical Brake light switch failure

Rat Fink.

 

I had/have one on my 48 and replaced it about every two years. Even the Echlin ones didn't last much longer 30 years ago when they still made pretty good units. I attributed it to the switch being under the truck rather than up on the firewall but remember that I changed them fairly often on Fords that had them when I was twisting wrenches too.

 

I have the original style lever switch in my 59 chevy pickup...it failed (again) recently...the shaft seized in the housing. But I think I got well over 10 years out of it, so it's better than the hydraulic one. I've had two of those fail in the past several years, on cars that I only had for a short time. One was already on the car, the other I had replaced with a new one, it lasted a few weeks of driving, at most.

 

I went to a mid 60's Chevelle push button switch on my hanging pedal setup. Would take a little thinking to put one on a floor pedal setup, but it could be done.

 

One more vote for a pedal switch. The hydraulic one on my Model A worked, but the brake lights wouldn't come on until significant pedal pressure was built, usually only while at a light. That's not enough.