620 Taillight Replacement and Questions

[r@+5un620]

okay so long story short in the day and a half my 620 has been back on the road i have almost been rearended a total of 5 times, this has been a major concern of mine for quite sometime as i see a few trucks on here not take an accident very well. So to maybe help remedy this i have been toying with the idea of removing the original tail lights and mounting two of the taillight bars on the truck one above the bed below the cab window and one below the tailgate. My first question as i have a hard time reading and understanding this mumbo jumbo, is this legal? 

 

Signaling Devices (11 CSR 50-2.190) 

 

 Turn Signals. Turn signals installed by the manufacturer or their equivalent in number, size, and 

intensity shall be in operating condition. The front signal lights may be white or amber and may be 

in combination with the parking lights. The rear signal lights may be red or amber, except when in 

combination with a taillight the lens must be red. 

 

Stoplights. Stoplights installed by the manufacturer or their equivalent in number, size, and 

intensity shall be in operating condition. Stoplights may be red or amber, except when in 

combination with the taillight the stoplight must be red. Stoplights must operate when the service 

brake is applied. 

 

Every vehicle manufactured after January 1, 1954, must be equipped with mechanical or electrical 

turn signals and a stoplight if the distance from the center of the top of the steering post to the-- 

 

 Left outside limit of the body, cab or load exceeds twenty-four inches (24"); 

and 

 Rear limit of the body or load exceeds fourteen feet (14'). The limit of 

fourteen feet (14') shall apply to both single and vehicle combinations. 

 

 Inspect Vehicle for Proper Signaling Devices. The headlights must be on with the engine 

 running, when inspecting the operation of the signaling devices and stoplights. Move turn 

 signal lever up and down and observe function of turn signal lights. 

 

 Reject vehicle if: 

 

 Not equipped with the required signaling devices 

 A signaling device is obstructed 

 A required signaling device fails to function properly. Do not reject if turn signal 

fails to self-cancel or will function properly by manually holding the lever in the 

engaged position 

 A signaling device or electrical switch is not securely mounted 

 A light shows color contrary to law 

 Wiring or electrical connectors are defective 

 A lens is missing, incorrectly installed, repaired with tape or broken to the extent 

that moisture or contamination could enter the reflective area or light socket.

 

And my last question is anyone done this on here?

if so Oics please to how it appears on these trucks

thanks yall

kyle

[r@+5un620]

this is the one im looking at

 

http://www.jcwhitney.com/rampage-led-tailgate-light-bars/p3067366.jcwx?skuId=1240437&filterid=c2923u0j1

[datzenmike]

Perhaps it's you.

 

Stopping suddenly because you follow too close to the car ahead.

Pulling out into traffic when there isn't enough room.

Not signaling turns.

Brake lights not working

Running lights not working

Signal lights not working

Improper lane changing.

Driving in the 'fast' lane

 

Get one of those separate rear brake lights that mount higher up like in the rear window.

[r@+5un620]

lol i never do any of that except drive in the fast lane only on the interstate as i know it directly affects my mpg as thats the sole reason i still have the datto and the right turn signal doesnt work but i ALWAYS use my hand signals and ive never had an issue with that or been ticketed

in fact ive had 3 highway patrolmen commend me on my use of hand signals which i thought was odd. 

[datzenmike]

Get the signal working... 99.9% of most drivers are not expecting or looking for a hand signal. Can't see it at night and takes too long to roll the window down if you are in a hurry. 

 

 

Got to ask why you've been stopper 3 times by patrolmen who mentioned you hand signals. Technically you are in the right and correct to use them but be honest, they are for emergency use really like a hand brake when the main hydraulic brake fails. To continue using the hand brake is foolish. Get your signals fixed. .

[r@+5un620]

the first time i actually knew the guy his son went to school with me, second i was in school parking lot and there is a highway patrol station in front of my college and he noticed the truck and pulled me over to ask about it, third the guy was an asshole but he said he couldnt see my license plate because it sits too far underneath the bed ( trying to check up on my registration) even though it is illuminated by a bright ass light idk but i cant fix the right signal i started threads on here found out that it was inside the switch one of the copper pieces wore off and so i went on ebay and bought a replacement from atomboyz in thailland took like 2 months to get here and the connector was the wrong one from the picture so i wired it correctly and yes ive double checked it multiple times. but all lights work except for the right turnsignal. i found a used 78 turn signal switch from a junkyard in a cab about to be crushed and so basically ive come to the conclusion to get rid of the old and maybe buy these to replace them just run my own wires just curious to see if anyone else on here has tried them or used them 

[MikeRL411]

JCWhitney and other sources sell LED auxiliary brake light assemblies.  It's a snap to wire them into your brake light switch.  They mount inside the cab on the rear window with included mounting tape and are adequately bright.  I put one in my 1967 Datsun RL411 because I got tired of seeing the pop eyes and paniced expressions of teen aged drivers [i live near a High School] who were too busy talking, texting or just playing grab ass to notice that I had stopped.  After all "Don't all cars have high mounted third stop lights?  Every car my parents owned have had them!"  In a rear end collision you are usually in the right, but then you have to convince the idiot appraiser that your vehicle is worth more than the equivalent weight in scrap metal.  CYA and put a third brake light assembly in!

[KlassicMotion]

3rd brake lights for 620:

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/57887-3rd-brakelight-what-to-use-on-a-620/

 

I'm going to put mine under the rear glass, above the bed.

[GRpufnstuf]

I have plans to do a 3rd brake light.

LA drivers don't have my trust.

 

I'm also going to swap all my bulbs to LED in the hope they get a little brighter than the stock bulbs.

 

I wouldn't mind finding something that has amber at the edges for extra signals as well.

 

For now I think I'll mount that GoWesty lamp at inside top of rear glass.

[datzenmike]

YES to above 3 posts

[Aibast]

First things first - make sure all the needed lights on the truck work. Maby with the right idicator not working also causes your brake lights not to work properly. Usualy the lights have problems with the common ground. That can cause all kinds of strange things.

After that mount a 3dr brake light/lights nice and high, then everybody can see them when braking. No more problems after that I hope. 

[datzenmike]

The 620 uses the same bulb for brake and signals. What the turn signal does on say, a right turn, is first disconnect the right brake signal wire, then connect it to the flasher unit. The brake/signal bulbs on the right flash. On the signal being returned to the off position the flasher is disconnected and the brake light connected.

 

You can't wire your own because you would have to disconnect the brake light on each side to connect the flasher. Start a wand ad here and have someone send you one and do it right.  http://community.ratsun.net/classifieds/category/7-electrical/?sort_key=date_added&sort_order=desc

[BOZO]

This is what I did to my old bumper to make my truck a little more visible. The four big clear looking ones are bright red LED brake and turn signals, the four very small round ones are LED backup lights. I also added a receiver hitch, 2 license plate lights, and a 6 pin trailer connector. It is so bright now that I can look in my rear view mirror and see the road signs behind me at night by the reflection of my tail lights. I didn't have to use a LED specific flasher unit because I tied  the bumper lights into the regular tail lights. NOBODY climbs up on the Datsuns ass now. It is highly visible,

 

 

[Z-train]

If properly functioning,the factory stuff is good.But,you must make sure of full voltage and that the reflector(in the housing) is not rusted,allowing maximum light to be dispersed.Not to mention clean & clear lenses. LEDs,while seeming like the fix to all things that are dim-are not.Make sure there is enough variance between running light mode & brake light mode.If they "blend together"or are minimal,the result will be the same as the people behind not seeing your lights.

[KlassicMotion]

^ Reminds me, if you your tail light housings are rusted inside;  for a cheap fix, hit them with a wire brush and spray them with Chrome spray paint.  It makes a big difference.