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Gimme A Brake (Light) for My Custom Car

Simple Ways to Call Attention to Your Car's Posterior
By Damon Lee
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They may be small, but taillights carry a big burden. Namely, keeping other jokers on the road from invading your trunk space. Needless to say, it's important that brake lights and blinkers work well and shine bright.
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The problem: Lazy brake lights caused by a crusty, old pressure-activated switch.
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Our solution: Substituting a mechanical brake light switch from Watson's StreetWorks.
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The Watson's device is a very simple switch that can be activated by nearly any through-the-floor brake pedal arm. A nylon roller on the switch arm provides a contact point for the brake arm.
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The switch arm pivots as the brake arm is depressed, actuating the brake lights. An elbow joint on the switch arm (arrow) makes it easy to adjust or change the brake light "on" position.
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Here's what the switch looked like installed on our Plymouth. It probably took longer to re-route the wiring (which had yet to be done in this photo) than it did to mount the switch using the two supplied screws.
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Watson's offers many other products to improve the visibility of your car's backside. The Ultra Bright Bulbs are probably the most popular. They are more than twice as bright as stock lights and provide brake and turn lights that are 50 percent brighter than standard bulbs.
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Another eye-catcher is the Brake Light Pulsator, which pulsates brake lights at a rate of five pulses per second.
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And there's always the tried-and-true third brake light. Watson's offers several billet, pedestal-mount versions as well as flush-mount styles that can be integrated in your car's body.

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