The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Brake light switch wire terminal question

Newbie to AD trucks so I apologize in advance for what may be a very silly question to some folks.

I purchased a 1950 3100 a while back and have been working on a few minor things to make it a good weekend driver.

As I'm chasing down the non-functional brake lights, I believe I've isolated the problem (or at least one of them) to the wire that runs from the mechanical switch to the fuse box. As I've looked at it, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to attached a new terminal on a replacement wire that would fit onto the switch and stay snug.

The existing switch has two stud terminals and both "push on" terminals are all bent and broken. The studs on my switch do not seem to have any threads on them, not sure if they did at some point or not, so I don't believe I can just stick on flat, circular terminal over the stud and hold it with a nut.

I acknowledge I'm no electrician, but am I just missing the obvious way to attach a replacement wire? Do the reproduction wiring harnesses have the correct connectors?

Thanks in advance for the help.

They take a female 'bullet' connector, available at your auto parts store. They simply push on and grip the terminal.

They are a odd size if I remember right. A standard female bullet connector won't fit so don't expect to find one at a hardware store. I replaced the pressure switch on my '38 with a Chevy mechanical switch like this one. I finally got the correct terminals at my FLAPS but even then it took an old timer to know what I was talking about.

If the new terms are too loose you can squese them together a little with a pair of pliers. Another way is to solder pieces of wire to the bullets & connect them to the harness.

Thanks for the advice. I'll give that a go this weekend. Clearly what was on there now has been "engineered" to make it fit.

Bullet connectors come in .156 and .180 diameter. Both available at FLAPS.
Don't remember which one fits that switch, usually keep both sizes in the shop just in case.

When I was doing mine the standard sizes were too large and too small.

I'm pretty sure the small fit an AD light switch but I'd buy a small package of each just to keep around the shop. I have male and female of both sizes.

Thank you, Cletis. Your recollection was spot-on. The smaller ones fit perfectly.

I have another question related to this, but I'll start another thread.