Military Taillight Question

I just recieved a set of trailer tailights in the mail. They have the blackouts over the red lens. i want to remove the blackout portion that is covering the lens. My question is is all i have to do is bend back the housing that holds the lens and remove the lens? Looks like i need a punch or screwdriver to bend the metal, so i use the same means to bend it back? What have you guys done?

 

X2. Evil things.

I agree with the post about using the newer lenses. The older ones like Dan described don't put out enough light to be considered safe on today's roads. I'd be afraid of getting rearended.

 

I was testing them at work with 12 vols nad yeah it is not that bright. I still am going to try and take the lens out. I wonder how hard it would be to convert the bulbs to LED style. I know i will need to get LED sockets and figure out how to work them, but I am curious. And tell you the truth, with my trailer being transport yellow, i do believe every car will see the thig boy is it bright to look at. I can always look for a new cover, it is only the round style lamps and i think i can get another type of cover to use if need be.

 

same round light but i have a differnt cover. my cover is not cut out fully for the large oval reflector, and the oval light is actually white. The bottom is the same but it has a black blackout plate over the reflector that only lets a little bit of light out.

 

Sounds like what you have Dan are actually the FRONT turn signal / blackout lamps for a deuce & a half truck, since the lens isn't red. Alot of the 50s-60s -era military vehicles had different rear lenses left and right also, because the left rear was the only one with a true brake light. The tiny light above your larger lamps was the blackout brake light.

If this were my project, I'd swap out the 24v bulbs for 12v units, and find a set of the later military lenses with the larger RED lenses in them. They are fairly inexpensive used, and they are a bolt-on swap. I know this because in the mid-80s my battalion swapped out all the old lenses on our trailers and M-151 MUTTS to the newer style in the name of safety.

 

i will keep an eye on the the other lens, i was actually thinknig bout useing differnt colored bulbs, possibly LED to take into account of the white lens. I willget some pics of the lamps later tonight.