Thread: Tail lights

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Have been doing a few things to the 53 chevy. After a few things I was checking out tail lights and there seems to be a problem. Haven't started chasing wires yet. But the relay or what ever it is, is in the trunk. Is this stock or something some one has added. Any ideas?

Looks like aftermarket, maybe for trailer lights?

I think RSpears nailed it! Fuses inside to protect the car wires from a trailer.

Thanks, that would make sense. I will take it out and see if the lights work any better.

Yep, its for trailer lights. I'll get it taken out this week and see if that helps. May need to replace the turn signal switch in the column too. It feels a little weird.

In my experience tail light problems have almost always been tied to a grounding problem. Bulb grounds through the socket, relying on the spring clips to make good contact on a bare metal edge of the mounting hole, which gets rusty and corroded over time caused me a lot of headaches. The wiring you show is the old woven insulation wire, so who knows what problems lurk in the depths of the '53 after 60 years. I'd double check every ground before chasing much else.

Now that I know what this box is, chasing down other problems with this wiring shouldn't be to bad. I've rewired lots of horse trailers and had to rewire other peoples messes on tail lights. I've already found several places the old wires need replaced. Thanks!

Took out the relay, solved most of the problems. Turn signal problem seems to be switch in steering column. Now, bulbs in lights are single pole. So which light is tail, top or center and which is signal, top or center.
Bottom is backup.

There should be numbers on the bulbs and if memory serves me right the larger # bulb will be stop and turn signal. If that doesn't work the bulb with the larger filament will be the stop/turn signal. I believe, now that I think about it, that the center should be stop/turn signal.