The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Wiring up that second tail light

I have a 1958 Apache stepside I am restoring to absolute stock (about half way done). I have made two exceptions: shoulder seatbelts and a second taillight (Ido drive the truck on sunny days). The second tail light was on the truck when I bought it (factory bracket, reproduction light). The break lights work great and I have a left turn signal but I do not have a right. If anyone knows how to wire this up properly please let me know. Thanks fellow stovebolters.

hopeless: Welcome to the board, I haven't had to figure that delima out yet on my 59 but hold on one of our electrical wizards will help you out.

popcorn The Truth is Out There (Ok guys somebody help the rookie out and do your good deed for the day )

I'm a bit confused. Your '58 should have already come with two tail lights + turn signals. Each of the tail lamps should be dual-filament (1157) bulbs with a dedicated line from the signals switch to each of the bulbs.

If the right rear is the only one that won't light, check for bad connections between the switch and the bulb. If you have continuity through that line but no power, it may be time to pull apart the signal switch. Inside the signal assembly is a curved sliding contact plate with raised contact points. All the signal wires come out of that and run to the bulbs. If the outside contact points are worn or misaligned the rear signals won't work.

I strongly recommend dedicated ground wires for each bulb; I soldered a wire to the outside of each socket and ran it to ground (on my panel it's the body, but the frame is a better choice). That chased off a few electrical gremlins and made further diagnostics much easier.

edit: "Washington State" is a big place. Maybe one of the 'bolters can help you with the diagnostic, if you care to be more specific.

Thanks for the reply Hedgehog and Popcorn 3023. Hedgehog, I'm new to truck restoration, this is my first, I've done numerious old show cars but now I like trucks best. The person I bought it from was the second owner and the truck had only a left taillight, no bracket or bolt holes on the right. The truck is Canadian, maybe this was an option (2 lights in Canada). I've been finding there are a fair amount of differences between US and Canadian. Thanks for the tips Hedge, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner but I was out of town. Also my new Stovebolt name is "58 stepside". My friend played a joke on me.