On the trip to Carlisle last weekend traffic was mixed. In some areas the traffic was moving slow while in other sections everyone was cruising at 80 mph +. Needless to say on the entire trip most cars followed me about 10' ft behind. At one point the guy in back slammed his brakes on hard and missed hitting me by inches. I just wondered if Pennsylvania drivers on RT 78 are going crazy. At the next truck stop I pulled out and checked my brake lights and all was fine. I have all LED lights in the rear and they are much brighter than stock so I figured that adding more illumination to the center light was a good idea . Looked around and found some 24 light LED flat boards on eBay. They should be easy to adapt as the connector is the same as the 906 light bulb that is there. Short of adding red lasers there I could use suggestions on how to get intense bright illumination on that center light.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Dennis LaGrua ...adding more illumination to the center {stop} light / adapt ... the 906 light bulb that is there.
I'm guessing you're talking the pre-1986 model as the 1986-1988 Center High Mount Stop Light uses the Halogen bulb #889, which can be easily replaced with a LED which are available from 3000K thru 6000k
*BTW: Actual Brightness is determined by lumens, not color temperature.
------------------ Original Owner of a Silver '88 GT Under 'Production Refurbishment' @ 136k Miles
Modifying the brake lights will stop people from tailgating?
Who would have guessed that?
( I despise people that tailgate. I just keep slowing down until they get fed up and pass me. )
Glad no one got you from behind, Dennis!
Not exactly a slow driver but when guys ride my tail its not a comfortable feeling. I'll gladly move over if someone wants to drive faster. My speeds go up to 75-80 but some guys want to go 90 mph. . Tailgating in mixed traffic can be scary, You are speeding up then slowing down and sometimes have to brake to a stop. When the guy in back follows too closely and you must brake he ends up coming to a full stop maybe 10 feet behind. On the trip to Carlisle the miss was within inches!!! My idea is to have a really bright third brake light that sends a better signal to stop. It won't eliminate tailgating but it may make the driving experience safer by sending a stronger alert signal. I believe my 87 GT uses a std 906 push in bulb. I have a couple of printed circuit boards that have 24 COB LED's on them and will try to adapt those.. My four taillights are already LED
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
IMO, it is wishful thinking if you think brighter brake or 3rd brake light bulbs are going to keep you from being rear ended by tailgaters. Tailgating is a purposeful tactic and they almost never change this behavior, even after a few accidents.
My advice is to A) keep your eyes open and constantly scan all around you. (If you were paying attention, you would have known he was coming up behind you and riding your ass) Surely you know when you’re being tailgated. B) Have a plan & escape route. (i.e. get the hell out of their way) My wife calls it cowering but at the end of the day, you don’t want to invite a rear end accident in a car you spent so much time and money on. If they want to be an ass, let them be an ass to the car in front of you. Let’s face it, there’s always going to be another tailgater in our future. Might as well learn how to deal with them now. Kit
[This message has been edited by Kitskaboodle (edited 06-28-2025).]
Originally posted by Kitskaboodle: IMO, it is wishful thinking if you think brighter brake or 3rd brake light bulbs are going to keep you from being rear ended by tailgaters. Tailgating is a purposeful tactic and they almost never change this behavior, even after a few accidents.
My advice is to A) keep your eyes open and constantly scan all around you. (If you were paying attention, you would have known he was coming up behind you and riding your ass) Surely you know when you’re being tailgated. B) Have a plan & escape route. (i.e. get the hell out of their way) My wife calls it cowering but at the end of the day, you don’t want to invite a rear end accident in a car you spent so much time and money on. If they want to be an ass, let them be an ass to the car in front of you. Let’s face it, there’s always going to be another tailgater in our future. Might as well learn how to deal with them now. Kit
The tailgating was on the entire trip to Carlisle with numerous cars and trucks. Most drive one or two cars lengths behind and at 80 Mph that doesn't allow much room for a safe sudden stop. Never clog the road and always move over to let guys pass but in slower traffic there is nowhere to go. The brighter stop lights may not stop tailgaters it but the stoplights are more easily noticable as guy in back gets a stronger brake signal. Even GM used a stronger Halogen bulbs on third brake light (on Fieros that had them). I just finished gluing two 24 COB light boards in the third light housing, clipped out the halogen light and attached the board wires to the tabs that the Halogen light leads were soldered too with wire connectors.. All of the other lights in the rear of my Fiero were replaced with LED lights that are a lot brighter than the bulbs that were there I found direct fit 2057 units and they are bright. Kept the red lens and used bright LEDs there as well BTW really like Fierosounds install as in the above post,
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
If they want to be an ass, let them be an ass to the car in front of you.
That's how I feel about it.
I maintain the two-second rule behind the person in front of me. Yes, that gap encourages people to cut in front of me... but so what. I then just back off a bit further. Quite often, the tailgater behind me will pass me illegally to get in that gap in front of me... only to be stuck behind the next car for miles and miles. At least the idiot isn't on my ass any longer.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 06-28-2025).]
Mounted the 2 12V COB 24 element boards in the third brake housing using E 6000 adhesive.. Made connections from the LED boards to the plug by clipping out the small Halogen bulb and using two crimp on wire connections to run the wires to it. The only extra tip is that the third bake light case is held in place by two M4 20 metric screws. Be careful not to lose them as this is the only place on the Fiero that I have found where that size is used. I did drop one but had a couple screws in the garage that fit. The third brake lights are now much brighter and can more easily be seen from a greater distance. That is the benefit
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
The third brake lights are now much brighter and can more easily be seen from a greater distance. That is the benefit.
Making any of the brake lights brighter is a worthwhile endeavor... but it's probably of little benefit against tailgaters. They're simply too close to stop in time in an emergency situation, no matter how well they see and react to brake lights in front of their vehicle.
I usually try for 3 seconds. I can't believe how many idiots are on the roads nowadays. Cars running bumper to bumper at 80 mph.
Maybe NASCAR shouldn't be televised ....🤔
I tell ya Joe the highways out this way can be scary. I follow the one car length for each 10 mph rule. An accident by following too close won't end well. I told my neighbor about my recent adventure and he said "I never tailgate on the highway , I follow at least a full car length behind" .
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Very worthwhile mod. Drastic improvement in visibility and not hard to do. When you remove the housing and clip out the old halogen bulb you are left with the stubs of two tabs. You can easily attach your LED wires to them by using a crimp on wire connector. Some say that you can solder to those tabs but soldering did not take when I did it. While you are at it you can buy direct fit LED lights for the taillights that also make a difference.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Honestly, it probably is more like three seconds. I have no interest in banging up the front of my car(s).
