Silver76

I would like to make the cargo lamp brighter..Has anyone tried putting brighter bulbs or halogen bulbs in the cargo lamp fixture? Anyone seen any aftermarket fixtures? (I've seen the Recon, but I dont think LEDs will give me the amount of light I'm looking for) I have H3s mounted on the hitch now, but H3s in the cargo lamp would be so much better. Any Ideas?

Boz007

Are you looking for something to light up the bed? Which Recon part are you talking about, the third brake light or the under rail bed light (see pic). Ive been eyeing this bed light myself.

Silver76

Ideally, I would want very bright bulbs in the Cargo lamp- that could be used for backing up and could be used when working in the bed.

LittleDan

Just do what people have been doing for many many years and instal some generic tractor or back up lights in the bed. A pair of 25-50W lights will work wonders and I think Cabelas or JC witney sells a nice kit just for beds and install under the rail lip.

I have the recon fire and ice and the white LEDs that are used for reverse lights are more cosemetic then function. They dont help the situation very much and I think the Recon bed light may look cool but you'd be way better off with reguale old lights like people have been usung for years.

Silver76

LittleDan
Original post says I already got H3 fogs mounted under the rear bumper. Thanks anyway

LittleDan

What are you getting at???

This thread in titled Brighter Cargo Lamp and that exactly what im talking about.

Why did you have to bring up the fact that you have two H3 lights under your bumper???

I'm not talking about some bumper lights im talking about cargo lights and the reality that the same LED techology that Recon uses in their bedside cargo lights are the same as in my Recon fire and ice bar which does NOT give off alot of useable light.....

I dont see your point???

Silver76

Not picking a fight- Let me clarify:

Just saying that I already have generic 55w lights mounted and am not satisfied with them. Also, don't want to mount generic lights under the bed rail. I'm looking for a solution to make the cargo lamp brighter

Anyway, did some research and it looks like sylvania part #921 bulbs are about 1.4x as brite as the stock bulbs and are a direct replacement.

Stock bulbs are part# 912 12.8v X 1 amp = 12.8 watts
Other bulbs are part# 921 12.8v X 1.4amps = 17.92 watts

guess I'll try them tomorrow to see if there's a noticeable difference.

LittleDan

Ok now I got it.

You never said you wernt happy with the lights in your posts. That would of made alot more sence..

Dan

carcrz

What??? He asked how he could make his cargo light brighter. How was that misconstrued? READ!!!

carcrz

Silver - Are those the brightest replacement lights you could find? Sounds like a good idea for me to try out too!

Silver76

Those are the brightest incandescent bulbs that would fit as a direct replacement.. You can stuff Halogens in there, but they would definately melt the housing. I only checked Sylvania bulbs that would fit as a direct replacement. There may be another manufacturer that has something brighter.

K5KRAZIE

I think you would be surprised with the LEDs....

LittleDan

No you read carcrz.... I even took my time to quote his first post.....

He asked about aftermarket fixtures and already knew about the one and only Recon piece. Well there arnt any more option's except a regular tractor light/ LED reverse trailer light, backup style light or the Recon Led's as pictured

Although there are many 921 series LED bulbs they wont out shine a regular bulb. Trust me ive tried. My truck uses many LED's and while they give off a more blue light they didnt light the bed up as well as the OE bulb.

Silver76

OK, went to walmart and got the 921 bulbs. No noticeable difference I replaced one and left the other in so I could compare. If I didn't know, I probably wouldn't have noticed. I'll try another style bulb next. I'll post as soon as I figure something out.

Silver76

On my way home from work, I picked up a 38watt halogen bulb to try it out. It is about 3x as bright as the stock bulb. Very noticeable difference. Good light output. Exactly what I was looking for.. I left it on for almost 10 minutes checking the fixture every minute or so. After about the 9th minute, the plastic reflector inside the housing started to get a little soft. Seems like this would work well if you only had it on for a few minutes at a time. I know I'd forget sooner or later and melt it, so I took it out.

I bought a Sylvania 893 bulb and cut the two prongs as close to the base as I could. It plugged right in.

I only tried one bulb. I'm not sure if two bulbs would overload the circuit. The wires did not get hot at all, so it may work with two bulbs.