Wiring help!! Tail lights

I just removed the old tail lights that came on my 1954 IHC R100. they were put on by the old owner. I replaced the old trailer lights with a set of lights from a 31 ford. I had all the lights working and then they just stopped. any idea's? could it be a short or some sort of fuze? also it is a 6 volt system but the lights are modern, is there anyway that the system is not pushing enough power for the bulbs in them?

thanks,
Patrick

 

When using 12 volt parts on 6 volt systems, expect problems. The bulbs may be too dim to see through the red lens. Another problem could be grounding. Some taillight housings have the bulb grounded to the chassis, others have a wire which is grounded to the chassis. My 67 IH has the ground through the housing.

 

Don't assum you have a good bed to frame ground. run a wire from the box to the frame, or ground the fixtures to the frame seperately. I woud assume you put your 6 V bulbs in the new lamps. 6V likes clean tight grounds.

 

Make sure the ground is good. Sometime on these older light the buckets themselves are your ground. Make sure the back of them are cleaned off nicely for a metal to metal contact.

 

thanks for the help gents, I think I got it figured out and after a trip to the parts store today we'll know for sure.

-Patrick