The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay interesting brake light switch difference

I ordered a new brake light switch for my '57 Panel from LMC Truck. When it arrived, it looks close, but not the same as my OEM one. Is it possible that someone, over the years, bent my OEM one?

Maybe the pedal return spring was missing so they bent it to compensate for the gap. All of the ones I have seen are straight.
Fred

Thanks for the quick response- I'm hoping it's not bc the one I ordered was for a pickup, and mine's a panel..

Either way, I'll see what I can do to make it work in my application.

It looks like it matches the way yours should be. Some models have the lever come out the other side. Being a panel would be the same as a pickup but there is variation in the years.
George

pan31man The originals were bent so the lever got up close to the floorboard. that one in the picture is a knock off I believe.

Never seen a bent one .if your peddles are the same setup as a pickup it should be straight so it contacts the underside of the peddle arm ,when the peddle is pushed it switches the light on then when the peddle is released it pushes the arm on the switch to shut the light off.Maybe the arm was bent If your peddle bushings are worn or changed from origional .If the new one works then if you are careful maybe you can fix the old one for a spare .

Which way are the bolt holes in the firewall oriented? That will tell you which switch is going to work. Those two have holes that are 90 degrees from each other in reference to the arm, but otherwise appear identical. On an AD, the switch arm is perpendicular to the pedal arm (and parallel to the pedal pivot shaft and horizontal). Here's a picture from before I removed mine (t's a little fuzzy, but you should be able to see how it mounts.) I would guess that a 57 would be very similar. My opinion is that someone bent the arm on your original.

The switch you received is correct for 55-59 Truck, Panel, Suburban. There is no modification necessary for a stock 55-59. The reason it was bent by someone is unknown.

kevinski just looked at a beater original switch taken off of some of mine (all Pickup) is bent,not much.Is like the ones I have changed over the years. I think standard ignition still offers it.

pan31man That right picture is it slight bend??

The angle of the lever is correct in the replacement part.
The angle you see in the picture of the replacement part is not in the same direction (XYZ) as the bend of the used part.
None of the replacement switches or N.O.S. switches are bent.
If you have a bent one, it has been bent by someone or from useage.

You are getting mixed up. There is no bend. The lever is flat and straight and has an angled shape. Let's move on.

The poster's old switch has a very radical bend put in it to operate or to clear some non stock situation. He will figure it out when he tries to mount the new switch. We can't see what he has going on from our house. His old lever switch could have been abandoned/bent out of the way... and he has another type somewhere.