Drum tail light LED

I ordered the LED inserts from Synders.....they are great and nice and bright. My only complaint is that they tend to move around a bit in the housing.
 
I have one of those for my 28 drum tail light. It is a pretty easy installation. I prefer the one bulb LED rather than all those LEDs in one tail light, but it works pretty well. You need a good ground for the LEDs. That is the only caution.

A funny story as to mine. I bought my car and it started well and ran fine. I put the LED in and it didn't work. I tried all manner of things to get a good ground. I decided to take the ground strap off of my battery to clean the connections and discovered that my battery was in backwards! Instead of pos ground, negative was grounded. I turned the battery around and my tail light worked great!
 
I installed the LEDs from Bratton's in a drum tail light. There is nothing in the light to hold the card full of LEDS up tight to the lens. I used a small wad of packing bubble wrap behind the card and it held them in nicely.

They are pretty much plug in and go. It looks like the parts that Snyder's sells are the same as the ones that Bratton's sells, but Snyder's says they won't work on a drum tail light. I don't know why.

You get the full lens lit up for a tail light and then the full area goes really bright for a stop light. This is the main advantage of them. You are seen much better with them, both tail light and stop light. But you lose the original 2-bulb (up/down) look back there.


mhsprecher said:
A funny story as to mine. I bought my car and it started well and ran fine. I put the LED in and it didn't work. I tried all manner of things to get a good ground. I decided to take the ground strap off of my battery to clean the connections and discovered that my battery was in backwards! Instead of pos ground, negative was grounded. I turned the battery around and my tail light worked great!
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You should double-check your coil polarity. There is a 50% chance it is backwards. The spark plugs will fire just a wee bit weaker with the polarity reversed.
 
Didn't I read somewhere on the tea cup leds there is a wire you can cut so both of them aren't on all the time, and the top one just lights up when you hit the brake like original? Can you do that with the one for the drum lights too?
 
Franchise_24 said:
Didn't I read somewhere on the tea cup leds there is a wire you can cut so both of them aren't on all the time, and the top one just lights up when you hit the brake like original? Can you do that with the one for the drum lights too?
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My friend's '30 Tudor is that way. In fact he opted for the LEDs that have amber in the top as well.

I left mine uncut to get the full advantage like Jim said.
 
Carl which wire do I cut if I decide to do that? Would you just tape them off then if cut? I may not do it, I will have to install them and decide from there, just want to know in case I do.
 
Franchise_24 said:
Carl which wire do I cut if I decide to do that? Would you just tape them off then if cut? I may not do it, I will have to install them and decide from there, just want to know in case I do.
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If I remember correctly, there is only one wire that connects the upper part from the lower. I haven't cut one myself, but if I did, I'd just tape it up. If you don't like it, just splice it back together.
 
CarlG said:
If I remember correctly, there is only one wire that connects the upper part from the lower. I haven't cut one myself, but if I did, I'd just tape it up. If you don't like it, just splice it back together.
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OK I'll check it out both ways. Thanks for the info.
 
Cutting that wire permits the taillite to separate from the Brake light / turn signal circuit. my LED block on my 1931 are as bright as most any 2015 car's.
I went with ALL RED since I feel I cannot teach all other drivers encountered about amber versus red lamp uses.
 
These LED's are excellent. The difference is amazing and the safety factor is huge. I no longer get pulled over by the local police for weak tail lights.
 
I am installing my kit from Brattons today. I am experiencing a clearence problem. I have an original duo-lamp unit on my 28 leatherback. There doesn't appear to be sufficient room betwenn the bezel and the lower LED assembly when I try to put it back together. I think I have a replacement lower socket. Are the replacement sockets taller than the originals? Did anyone else have this problem? Do I need to grind the lower socket so it is shorter? I actually broke one of the small diodes off the circuit board but was able to re-install it. Other than that the unit works perfectly.
Thanks,
Supergnat
 
It has been a few years since I put the leds in the drum tail light. I think the reason they say it won't work is the baffle in the can that separates the brake from the tail light. I think I notched it so that the wires would connect and both sections would light as one giving a larger light source.
 
Thanks for the response John. I did cut the notch into my separator plate. My problem was that the lower circuit board bottomed out on the top of the connector which plugs into the lower tail light bulb socket. I resolved the problem by reducing the height of the lower board connector by about 1/8". After that modification I was able to reassemble the tail light successfully. The LED's work great. I have no idea why I had this problem since I have not seen it mentioned in the past.
Thanks again,
Rich Winans
 
I tried to look up the led lens that you guys were talking about for a '28 drum brake at both Bratton's and Snyder's with no luck. Do you have part numbers?
 
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