Brighter tail lights

[Scott]

George, watch those pot pies (loaded with sodium..LOL listen to me) I
recently finished the insulation of my genny compartment (thanks to
Stephen Birtles) and I had lots of foil tape left over works
wonderful cut it to fit..then take the back off...EZ
Scott
86FC35 "RUBY"
Murrells Inlet SC (still next to heaven)
--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mrdonut12" <mrdonut12@y...>
wrote:
> My old 81 FC didn't have very bright tail/brake lights and
> I'd read here about using aluminum foil (chicken pot pie)
> dishes put behind the bulbs to make a reflector to brighten
> them up.
> Do you have any idea how hard it is to find aluminum
> plates in a microwave world? I ate a bunch of pot pies
> in search of the elusive metal plates. ;o) I finally
> learned how to peek into the packaging to see if the plate
> was the right one or not before I bought them (and had to eat it).
> Armed with 4 new clean plates, I cleaned up the tail
> light lenses, trimmed the pie plates and installed them.
> Yes, it did brighten them up, but it greatly reduced the
> lit surface area. Only part of the red lens lit up. It looked
funny.
> So, I made a visit to my local glitzy auto parts store
> (the one with the yard signs in front advertising a deal
> on cashews). Cashews in a parts store?
> I found a roll of chrome tape. Wooohooo. I took the lenses
> off, cleaned everything again and installed the "custom, cut-to-fit
> chrome tape" and it worked great.
> The entire red lens now lights up brightly. It worked so good
> I did the front turn signal lenses as well.
> Brighten up your life for only a few bucks. ;o)
>
> George Witt
> 81 FC 35
> Lincoln, Nebraska

[Chet Geist]

Another solution might be to put on new LED tail lights. I put two on the
rear of mine and what a difference. They seem to love the low voltage. Got
them from Blue Bird school bus dealer at $47.00 each. Not a perfect fit,
but within 1/4" of old holes. Also neat to see the LED's light up before
the old filament type bulbs on the lights above them.

Chet Geist
1981 FC33, Austin, Texas
-----Original Message-----
From: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Tom Warner
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 8:57 AM
To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] Brighter tail lights


Guys those taillights on the FC models at least are the very same ones
that
are used in school buses . If they are dim its because of low
voltage. They passed Federal standards when they were new. I ran new
larger gauge wires to mine and that corrected the problem. Same with the
headlights.

Tom
1982 FC35
Vernon Center,NY

At 06:15 AM 6/9/2005 -0700, you wrote:
>George
>You shoulda put 6 volt bulbs in,
>That's what the parts man at the cashew selling parts house would tell
you!
>Fred & Jeanne Hulse
>Morristown Arizona
>1997 Wanderlodge PT41
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jeff Miller]

My thoughts on the <'86 taillights.

They were made to pass the standards, based on proper voltage, and
new lenses. The base was originally black, BlueBird painted (primed)
the bus with the metal base on the bus because there was no reflector
so painting it made masking easier. Adding a reflector does improve
the light output, in essence a candle has one candlepower, a candle
in front of a flat mirror has two candlepower. You are increasing the
light output with a reflector.

However, there was no reflector because the optics of the lense
collect enough light from the bulb, ... when new and properly
powered. The optics (pillow and Freznel for those interested) degrade
over time, the plastic degrades and loses some of its qualities over
time and exposure to the elements. The voltage is also not what is
probably should be, the lights passed DOT standards on a bench-test
in a lab, not on a Wanderlodge.

Buy new lights. The lenses are pretty cheap and readily available
(Red, Amber, and Clear) from Truck-Lite and others. If the socket
isn't reliable anymore you can buy the entire fixture. New lenses
work much better and even look better, even cleaning the dust out of
the light helps.

Improving the voltage to the light is a little complicated, long
wiring runs with many old connections caused this. A new headlamp
switch will benefit many old coaches, readily available at NAPA
(sorry, I don't have the number at-hand). Be ready to replace any of
the connectors to the switch that don't look good or have good
retention force, you will likely find at least one heat-damaged wire.

A good solution is to add a relay in the Left Rear overhead to power
the taillamps from a local power source there, pretty simple
conversion if you can do some minor wiring. It has to be simple, Gary
has done it ;~) This gives better voltage and current available so
that a towed vehicle will actually be visible at night, ... kind of
helpful.

I've also had good results from replacing the light assemblies with
new LED lights, from my local BB dealer for around $35/ea. The lower
current requirement of the LED light greatly reduces the voltage drop
across the wiring and connections (and switch), and even leaves more
for the towed-vehicle wiring.

- Jeff Miller

[Jeff Miller]

On mine I've replaced all four with LED. When wiring them, since the
original setup only used the lower two for tail, I ran this wire up
to the upper lights so that I have four running lights in the rear
instead of two.

- Jeff Miller


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Chet Geist"
wrote:
> Another solution might be to put on new LED tail lights. I put two
on the
> rear of mine and what a difference. They seem to love the low
voltage. Got
> them from Blue Bird school bus dealer at $47.00 each. Not a
perfect fit,
> but within 1/4" of old holes. Also neat to see the LED's light up
before
> the old filament type bulbs on the lights above them.
>
> Chet Geist
> 1981 FC33, Austin, Texas]

[John]

Shame on you George, you didn't look at my web site, that is exactly
what I used, but i found the tape at Lowes, all the same though, see;

http://www.pbase.com/image/25297168


"REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001"
John Finn
'82 35FCRB
BLUEBIRD WANDERLODGE
TO VISIT THE "FINN'S INN EXPRESS" REMODELING ADVENTURE
GO TO;
http://www.pbase.com/image/24977457
'66 SUPERIOR / IH 392 GAS V8 32' PUSHER "FOR SALE"
SEE THE OLD COACH AT:
http://www.pbase.com/image/26052733
HOPKINS, SOUTH CAROLINA

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mrdonut12" <mrdonut12@y...>
wrote:
> My old 81 FC didn't have very bright tail/brake lights and
> I'd read here about using aluminum foil (chicken pot pie)
> dishes put behind the bulbs to make a reflector to brighten
> them up.
> Do you have any idea how hard it is to find aluminum
> plates in a microwave world? I ate a bunch of pot pies
> in search of the elusive metal plates. ;o) I finally
> learned how to peek into the packaging to see if the plate
> was the right one or not before I bought them (and had to eat it).
> Armed with 4 new clean plates, I cleaned up the tail
> light lenses, trimmed the pie plates and installed them.
> Yes, it did brighten them up, but it greatly reduced the
> lit surface area. Only part of the red lens lit up. It looked
funny.
> So, I made a visit to my local glitzy auto parts store
> (the one with the yard signs in front advertising a deal
> on cashews). Cashews in a parts store?
> I found a roll of chrome tape. Wooohooo. I took the lenses
> off, cleaned everything again and installed the "custom, cut-to-fit
> chrome tape" and it worked great.
> The entire red lens now lights up brightly. It worked so good
> I did the front turn signal lenses as well.
> Brighten up your life for only a few bucks. ;o)
>
> George Witt
> 81 FC 35
> Lincoln, Nebraska

[Jack & Donna Smith]

George:... What I did was to visit the local 99¢ store and buy a
number of ladies make up compacte.. I removed the mirrors and
DoubleStickyTape/Silaconed them behind the Tail/Turn/stop light
bulbs.. worked great!!!
FOR THE TOAD: In addition to the Towed lights, I bought a reciver
light from H.Freight, $4 or so, cut the connector off and soldered
both filiments togather, and wired it into the Toad light scheme..
This ome is vrey bright and different so it gets attention!!
Jack Smith
1973FC31
Near "Shakey Acres" in SoCal.

=============================================================

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "John" wrote:
> Shame on you George, you didn't look at my web site, that is exactly
> what I used, but i found the tape at Lowes, all the same though, see;
>
> http://www.pbase.com/image/25297168
>
>
> "REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001"
> John Finn
> '82 35FCRB
> BLUEBIRD WANDERLODGE
> TO VISIT THE "FINN'S INN EXPRESS" REMODELING ADVENTURE
> GO TO;
> http://www.pbase.com/image/24977457
> '66 SUPERIOR / IH 392 GAS V8 32' PUSHER "FOR SALE"
> SEE THE OLD COACH AT:
> http://www.pbase.com/image/26052733
> HOPKINS, SOUTH CAROLINA
>
> ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
>
> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mrdonut12" <mrdonut12@y...>
> wrote:
> > My old 81 FC didn't have very bright tail/brake lights and
> > I'd read here about using aluminum foil (chicken pot pie)
> > dishes put behind the bulbs to make a reflector to brighten
> > them up.
> > Do you have any idea how hard it is to find aluminum
> > plates in a microwave world? I ate a bunch of pot pies
> > in search of the elusive metal plates. ;o) I finally
> > learned how to peek into the packaging to see if the plate
> > was the right one or not before I bought them (and had to eat it).
> > Armed with 4 new clean plates, I cleaned up the tail
> > light lenses, trimmed the pie plates and installed them.
> > Yes, it did brighten them up, but it greatly reduced the
> > lit surface area. Only part of the red lens lit up. It looked
> funny.
> > So, I made a visit to my local glitzy auto parts store
> > (the one with the yard signs in front advertising a deal
> > on cashews). Cashews in a parts store?
> > I found a roll of chrome tape. Wooohooo. I took the lenses
> > off, cleaned everything again and installed the "custom, cut-to-fit
> > chrome tape" and it worked great.
> > The entire red lens now lights up brightly. It worked so good
> > I did the front turn signal lenses as well.
> > Brighten up your life for only a few bucks. ;o)
> >
> > George Witt
> > 81 FC 35
> > Lincoln, Nebraska

[Blair]

Hi Jack,
Re: tail lights....forget all that tape and shinny AL
surfaces...When at Randy's this last winter,
I had the same problem with the dim rear lights. A couple of the housings
where either cracked or
broken and we did surgery with some glass and resin.......The "reflective"
area of the housing was thoughly
cleaned and prepped and painted with this ultra shinny CR paint that dried
to a mirror finish. Looks like
a factory mirror on these new molded headlight assemblies....and the lights
are bright!!!!

Blair





At 02:49 PM 6/9/2005, you wrote:
>George:... What I did was to visit the local 99¢ store and buy a
>number of ladies make up compacte.. I removed the mirrors and
>DoubleStickyTape/Silaconed them behind the Tail/Turn/stop light
>bulbs.. worked great!!!
>FOR THE TOAD: In addition to the Towed lights, I bought a reciver
>light from H.Freight, $4 or so, cut the connector off and soldered
>both filiments togather, and wired it into the Toad light scheme..
>This ome is vrey bright and different so it gets attention!!
>Jack Smith
>1973FC31
>Near "Shakey Acres" in SoCal.
>
>=============================================================
>
>--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "John" wrote:
> > Shame on you George, you didn't look at my web site, that is exactly
> > what I used, but i found the tape at Lowes, all the same though, see;
> >
> > <http://www.pbase.com/image/25297168>http://www.pbase.com/image/25297168
> >
> >
> > "REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001"
> > John Finn
> > '82 35FCRB
> > BLUEBIRD WANDERLODGE
> > TO VISIT THE "FINN'S INN EXPRESS" REMODELING ADVENTURE
> > GO TO;
> > <http://www.pbase.com/image/24977457>http://www.pbase.com/image/24977457
> > '66 SUPERIOR / IH 392 GAS V8 32' PUSHER "FOR SALE"
> > SEE THE OLD COACH AT:
> > <http://www.pbase.com/image/26052733>http://www.pbase.com/image/26052733
> > HOPKINS, SOUTH CAROLINA
> >
> > ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
> >
> > --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mrdonut12" <mrdonut12@y...>
> > wrote:
> > > My old 81 FC didn't have very bright tail/brake lights and
> > > I'd read here about using aluminum foil (chicken pot pie)
> > > dishes put behind the bulbs to make a reflector to brighten
> > > them up.
> > > Do you have any idea how hard it is to find aluminum
> > > plates in a microwave world? I ate a bunch of pot pies
> > > in search of the elusive metal plates. ;o) I finally
> > > learned how to peek into the packaging to see if the plate
> > > was the right one or not before I bought them (and had to eat it).
> > > Armed with 4 new clean plates, I cleaned up the tail
> > > light lenses, trimmed the pie plates and installed them.
> > > Yes, it did brighten them up, but it greatly reduced the
> > > lit surface area. Only part of the red lens lit up. It looked
> > funny.
> > > So, I made a visit to my local glitzy auto parts store
> > > (the one with the yard signs in front advertising a deal
> > > on cashews). Cashews in a parts store?
> > > I found a roll of chrome tape. Wooohooo. I took the lenses
> > > off, cleaned everything again and installed the "custom, cut-to-fit
> > > chrome tape" and it worked great.
> > > The entire red lens now lights up brightly. It worked so good
> > > I did the front turn signal lenses as well.
> > > Brighten up your life for only a few bucks. ;o)
> > >
> > > George Witt
> > > 81 FC 35
> > > Lincoln, Nebraska
>
>
>
>
>
>----------
>Yahoo! Groups Links
> * To visit your group on the web, go to:
> *
>
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WanderlodgeForum/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/W\
anderlodgeForum/
>
> *
> * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> *
>
Wanderl\
odgeForum-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> *
> * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the
> <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>Yahoo! Terms of Service.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[randydupree]

they did come out good,painting them with oklahoma chrome paint! randydupree93wb
----- Original Message -----
From: Blair
To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 8:26 PM
Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Brighter tail lights


Hi Jack,
Re: tail lights....forget all that tape and shinny AL
surfaces...When at Randy's this last winter,
I had the same problem with the dim rear lights. A couple of the housings
where either cracked or
broken and we did surgery with some glass and resin.......The "reflective"
area of the housing was thoughly
cleaned and prepped and painted with this ultra shinny CR paint that dried
to a mirror finish. Looks like
a factory mirror on these new molded headlight assemblies....and the lights
are bright!!!!

Blair





At 02:49 PM 6/9/2005, you wrote:
>George:... What I did was to visit the local 99¢ store and buy a
>number of ladies make up compacte.. I removed the mirrors and
>DoubleStickyTape/Silaconed them behind the Tail/Turn/stop light
>bulbs.. worked great!!!
>FOR THE TOAD: In addition to the Towed lights, I bought a reciver
>light from H.Freight, $4 or so, cut the connector off and soldered
>both filiments togather, and wired it into the Toad light scheme..
>This ome is vrey bright and different so it gets attention!!
>Jack Smith
>1973FC31
>Near "Shakey Acres" in SoCal.
>
>=============================================================
>
>--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "John" wrote:
> > Shame on you George, you didn't look at my web site, that is exactly
> > what I used, but i found the tape at Lowes, all the same though, see;
> >
> > <http://www.pbase.com/image/25297168>http://www.pbase.com/image/25297168
> >
> >
> > "REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001"
> > John Finn
> > '82 35FCRB
> > BLUEBIRD WANDERLODGE
> > TO VISIT THE "FINN'S INN EXPRESS" REMODELING ADVENTURE
> > GO TO;
> > <http://www.pbase.com/image/24977457>http://www.pbase.com/image/24977457
> > '66 SUPERIOR / IH 392 GAS V8 32' PUSHER "FOR SALE"
> > SEE THE OLD COACH AT:
> > <http://www.pbase.com/image/26052733>http://www.pbase.com/image/26052733
> > HOPKINS, SOUTH CAROLINA
> >
> > ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
> >
> > --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mrdonut12" <mrdonut12@y...>
> > wrote:
> > > My old 81 FC didn't have very bright tail/brake lights and
> > > I'd read here about using aluminum foil (chicken pot pie)
> > > dishes put behind the bulbs to make a reflector to brighten
> > > them up.
> > > Do you have any idea how hard it is to find aluminum
> > > plates in a microwave world? I ate a bunch of pot pies
> > > in search of the elusive metal plates. ;o) I finally
> > > learned how to peek into the packaging to see if the plate
> > > was the right one or not before I bought them (and had to eat it).
> > > Armed with 4 new clean plates, I cleaned up the tail
> > > light lenses, trimmed the pie plates and installed them.
> > > Yes, it did brighten them up, but it greatly reduced the
> > > lit surface area. Only part of the red lens lit up. It looked
> > funny.
> > > So, I made a visit to my local glitzy auto parts store
> > > (the one with the yard signs in front advertising a deal
> > > on cashews). Cashews in a parts store?
> > > I found a roll of chrome tape. Wooohooo. I took the lenses
> > > off, cleaned everything again and installed the "custom, cut-to-fit
> > > chrome tape" and it worked great.
> > > The entire red lens now lights up brightly. It worked so good
> > > I did the front turn signal lenses as well.
> > > Brighten up your life for only a few bucks. ;o)
> > >
> > > George Witt
> > > 81 FC 35
> > > Lincoln, Nebraska
>
>
>
>
>
>----------
>Yahoo! Groups Links
> * To visit your group on the web, go to:
> *
>
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WanderlodgeForum/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/W\
anderlodgeForum/
>
> *
> * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> *
>
Wanderl\
odgeForum-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> *
> * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the
> <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>Yahoo! Terms of Service.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links

a.. To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WanderlodgeForum/

b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
WanderlodgeForum-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]