MTFCA Forum

I am in the process of putting lights on our 1929 Zagelmeyer trailer we are pulling with our Model T. I have ran a new 4 pin wiring harness to the trailer lights from the T. I will be adding turn signals later but for now I will have 2 Model A STOP tailights and 2 small red clearance lights at the rear of the trailer. So I have a yellow and brown wire to the left side and a green and brown to the right side. Since the trailer is wood I carried the white wire to every light as a dedicated ground. Pretty much standard trailer wiring. I will pick up power for the brown wire from the stock T tailight wire currently powering the 2 tailights on the car . The brown wire will power the tailight part of the Model A tailights and the 2 red clearance lights. I have switched out the stock 1156 bulbs for LED 1156 equivalent to lower the power load. So that leaves me at my question of best way to hook up and power the brake STOP light part of the Model A tailights. I know I will be using the green and yellow wire to operate both the STOP light and also use them for turn signals later. But I'm at a loss on best way to utilize the stop light switch on the Sure Stop Brakes. It is a hydraulic switch on the master cylinder.. I assume it is normally open, and then closed when brakes applied . So best place to pick up power and best place to add a fuse ???. Thanks for any help you may give.

I'm running two cars with Surestop brakes. The hydraulic switch does not operate well with light braking, it doesn't close the switch. I'm fitting mechanical switches on both cars this winter.

Donnie google T master low psi brake light switch they make a 45 psi switch. When you install a turn signal switch the brake light will need to
be wired into the T/S switch so that it will allow the brake light to come on the side that the turn signal is not on.
Craig.

Pat has the ideal solution.Old tech that you can actually see in operation. It works for standard brakes, and will do the same for Sure Stop discs, independently of the hydraulics.

Allan from down under.

Allan wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 22, 2024 2:27 am

Pat has the ideal solution.Old tech that you can actually see in operation. It works for standard brakes, and will do the same for Sure Stop discs, independently of the hydraulics.

Allan from down under.

Allan can you explain this more or provide a link? I’m looking to add brake lights this winter. Thanks

Langs sells a frame mounted brake light switch that hits on the brake pedal shaft.
I would inline splice into the tail light wiring just before the light, adding an inline rubber sealed fuse to each circuit at the splice. If you can get your hands on marine Ancor plated splices that have waterproof adhesive heat shrink that would be for the win.

I've put brake lights on all 9 Model T's I've owned and every one had a 1949-54 Chevrolet mechanical switch. They are easy to make a mount for and have a long bendable arm that makes them easy to operate from the brake pedal.

For my 27 Tudor, I am using the hydraulic operated sender that came with the Sure Stop kit. I wired it in place of the factory switch that mounted on the Bendix cover. I also have it wired to a small pilot light on an auxiliary panel below the dash. I can see when it activates. I have not had any issues with delays from the sender.

I have disc brakes - I noticed the brake lights would not com on with only light pedal pressure. My solution, I bought a "low pressure" brake light switch and replaced the one that came with the brakes. Some guys use Harley Davidson switches with success. The brake lights now come on when I want them.

Thanks for all the replys. I'm probably going to try the hydraulic switch first to see if it works OK. Until I get my turn signals installed I'll just run a quick temporary wire and fuse to test with. I never thought about the switch not working at low pressure. If it does not work I'll go with a mechanical switch. Thanks again ..

If you would, come back with your results. Interested.

I can't help much with the Brake light part but since you went with LED,when you add turn signals later,you will need to use the electronic flasher ,not the old clicy thermal flasher because the leds ,unless they have a built in resistor,will not load the thermo flasher enough for it to work

That's good to know about the LED bulbs not working with the old school flashers. I only changed out the tail light bulb to LED. The turn signal/brake light bulb is still stock 1156 old school bulb. The bulb that came with the repro 28-29 STOP tailights for the tail light part of the light was some small low watt mini bulb. By changing it out to LED it gave me a brighter tailight and low wattage and no heat build up from being on all the time when driving. I like the old school 1156 bulb because it gives a real bright turn signal/brake light. So maybe I can get by with 1/2 LED and 1/2 standard 1156 bulb

dobro1956 wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2024 11:48 pm

So maybe I can get by with 1/2 LED and 1/2 standard 1156 bulb

I have front turn signal incandescent bulbs with rear LED turn indicator bulbs and use the 6 volt standard flasher. It works fine.

This is how I did my '19 Hack. It has everything turn/4-way/brake.

Works well, only had issue when I tried full LED all the way around...made some incandescent all is good...

Just take the 100/200/300/400 connector points and make a trailer plug...

OK, I have the trailer completely wired. And I ran a temporary brake light wire, as well as have the tailights and running lights wired to the car thru my 4 pin plug. No turn signal wiring on car yet. Everything works as it should, except the hydraulic brake switch does not respond well to a light pedal pressure. Works great if you hit the brakes fairly hard. So next step will be to install a mechanical switch for the brake lights. But for right now we have tail lights and clearance lights and a somewhat OK brake light. Good enough to take the 29 Zagelmeyer camp trailer for a short camp trip next week. Then I'll tackle the turn signals. This old man needs a rest/recuperation period between anything that requires rolling around on a hard concrete floor under a vehicle ...

Donnie, rolling around on a floor is hard. A creeper, complete with adjustable headrest, has been known to be a little too comfortable! The hard part is getting back on my feet.

Allan from down under.

Allen. The getting up is also the hard part for me. No matter how many tools, parts, supplies I get and put on the floor in reach of where I'm working, I still have to crawl out from under the car, get stood back up, get what I forgot and then crawl back under the car again what seems like a dozen times before I'm finished ... But I'm still waking up each morning. So the alternative is not a good thing either....

dobro1956 wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 27, 2024 6:28 pm

Allen. The getting up is also the hard part for me. No matter how many tools, parts, supplies I get and put on the floor in reach of where I'm working, I still have to crawl out from under the car, get stood back up, get what I forgot and then crawl back under the car again what seems like a dozen times before I'm finished ... But I'm still waking up each morning. So the alternative is not a good thing either....

This is what you need https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ68kjRMHys