In a day and age when almost every new vehicle on the road has taillight lenses bigger than a basketball, there doesn't seem to be a lot of drivers who are real bright. Couple this with either a cell phone stuffed in their ear or eyes glued to a dash-mounted TV screen, and the odds of getting rear-ended are real good. For classic truck owners with smaller original equipment taillights, the chances are even greater. Even in brand-new condition, the effectiveness of a stock truck taillight fixture with a typical 1034 tungsten dual-element bulb is not all that great. Add years and years of UV exposure from the sun causing the lenses to fade and haze up and the taillight beam becomes almost invisible. Sure, you can adapt much larger taillights from another vehicle, such as a '65 Ford Mustang, to the rear of your truck, but nothing adds "old man smell" to a classic truck faster than a pair of big goofy taillights. The development of light emitting diodes (LEDs) in recent years has been a great boon to increasing the visibility of truck taillights, but additional problems arose, the least being poor aesthetics, but more importantly, possible legal annoyances. In a worst case scenario, a guy gets pulled over by the police for illegal (not DOT approved) taillights, and the cop doesn't stop writing the ticket until he's gone from one end of the truck to the other looking for violations.
First, we removed the taillight...
First, we removed the taillight housing by unscrewing the two Phillips screws on the top and bottom of the taillight lens, and then removed it to expose the two Phillips screws attaching the taillight housing to the bed.
Of course, the bottom line is no one wants some idiot plowing into the rear of their customized classic truck, so we thought we'd share what we believe is a great solution with our valued readers. Starting from the inside out, we installed a pair of Dakota Digital's latest offering, LED taillights for '60-66 Chevrolet Fleetside pickups. Our subject vehicle was Custom Classic Trucks' newest addition to our stable of project trucks, a '66 Chevy shortbed Fleetside. After being bought brand-new in Yucaipa, California, the '66 spent all its life frying on Southern California's high desert. Amazingly, the truck still has what's left of its original paint, but although intact, the original taillights were deeply hazed, with the light buckets packed full of desert silt.
The first step of the Dakota Digital LED brake and taillight installation was to remove the stock lenses by removing the two CAD-plated Phillips head screws attaching it to the taillight fixture. For replacement parts such as the lenses, mounting screws, taillight bezels, and gaskets, we turned to the fine folks at Brothers Trucks in Corona, California. Often as not, the quality of aftermarket replacement parts can sometimes be a disappointment. To the contrary, the quality of parts we obtained from Dakota Digital and Brothers far exceeded our expectations. The Dakota Digital LED fixtures exhibited the precision of custom-made street rod components, while the Brothers' parts were flawless and faithful reproductions.
Peeling back the dust boot...
Peeling back the dust boot on the taillight housing exposed the taillight plug we removed by twisting. It was easiest to cut the taillight wires where they were spliced into a trailer plug and the main harness.
The first step to installing...
The first step to installing the Dakota Digital LED brake and taillight was to cut the plug receptacle off the taillight housing.
We used a die grinder with...
We used a die grinder with a cutoff disc to trim the receptacle flush with the taillight socket.
A rat-tail file dressed the...
A rat-tail file dressed the socket's inside diameter.
Solvent cleaned the taillight...
Solvent cleaned the taillight housing and loosened up the original taillight lens gasket for removal.
Using a brass wire brush....
Using a brass wire brush...
...along with #0000 steel...
...along with #0000 steel wool, we cleaned up the taillight housing and prepared it for paint.
We used bright silver enamel...
We used bright silver enamel to seal the bare metal exposed after cutting and restore reflective qualities to the taillight housing.
We took extreme care not to...
We took extreme care not to cut any portion of the Dakota Digital LED taillight assembly while removing it from the bag.
The brown, green, and black...
The brown, green, and black wires were coated with dielectric grease, then carefully pulled through three of the four holes in the aluminum plug supplied by Dakota Digital. The center (fourth) hole for the mounting stud was capped with a nut and not overtightened.
Notice the wires were coiled...
Notice the wires were coiled around the light socket to allow an easy installation of the OEM protective boot.
The Dakota Digital LED taillight...
The Dakota Digital LED taillight assembly must be grounded to the truck using the black wire.
Before installing the completed...
Before installing the completed taillight fixture, we tested it with a 12-volt source (battery).
The stainless steel mounting...
The stainless steel mounting screws supplied by Brothers exceed the quality of the original CAD-plated screws.
Ditto for the taillight lenses...
Ditto for the taillight lenses from Brothers; they were an exact match of the original and exhibited unbelievable quality.
Care was used not to scratch...
Care was used not to scratch the silver-anodized bezels.
We used a garden hose to flush...
We used a garden hose to flush out 40-plus years of dirt and grime from inside the bed, checking to make sure the existing drain holes were clear.
We used an assortment of Mother's...
We used an assortment of Mother's products to bring the '66's original paint back to life.
Before we installed the taillight...
Before we installed the taillight fixture, we used Mother's to clean and polish the taillight opening in the bed.
The taillight wires were fed...
The taillight wires were fed into the opening, ensuring they were routed the same as the original wires, then spliced back into the harness.
The Dakota Digital LED taillight...
The Dakota Digital LED taillight can be mounted either way, but the stock Chevy taillight housing must be installed with the two drain holes at the bottom.
Even in the bright California...
Even in the bright California sun, our brake lights are plenty visible, and that's just what we wanted.