Electrical: Tricks for improving positive ground on lights

[afgarcia86]

So my wedding day is fast approaching and the car is pretty much ready. I am pretty comfortable driving it locally however the wedding is about a 45 min drive. The only real concern I have is that the break lights are hit or miss. I am pretty sure that this is because of the ground. My best guess is that the connection is not great where the housing gets grounded. I have a similar problem with my blinker where it is very slow. I have tracked it down to the front right housing where the chrome mount is a little loose.

Ideas and tips welcome!

[skyway]

You could always run a dedicated ground to each of the lights in question?
'Specially if time is of the essence.

[rockne10]

Star washers in front and/or behind should help.
When you mounted the housings did you use new speed nut clips or reuse the old?

[Deaf Mute]

I have used a file on the side of the socket to get clean brass & then solidered a wire there, with a terminal on the other end and a star washer, I mount that to the base mounting bolt. Not real easy at times, but solved the problem 100% of the time.

[Jeff_H]

What Deaf Mute said. I put all new sockets in and soldered a ground wire on right away rather than even think about relying on the mounting screws for the housing to make a good connection.

Also, if your sockets are original, they are probably rusted/corroded on the inside and the bulb base is not making a good connection. Get a wad of scotchbright pad in there and clean them up and then use dielectric grease on the bulbs to keep water out.

[afgarcia86]

Thanks for the great tips guys. I will give this a shot tomorrow when we get the car ready to go to the hotel for the wedding.

[63 R2 Hawk]

The turn signal switch can also cause problems with brake lights being intermittent, since all the brake and turn voltage goes through it. Make sure the contacts are clean and making good contact.