Dietz "Lollipop" brake lights. anyone know how to wire? got a diagram?

[SonOfaTomP]

i was fortunate to pick up a pair of old dietz brake lights at Carlise last week. these were put on the rear decks of many police cars in New York and Pennsylvania back in the day. they show the car braking and are turn signals too. issue is, i'm not sure how i'll actually wire these up. they have a small wire sticking out the bottom of them. what exactly do i link them too? i can't find any diagrams or instruction manuals from back in the day regarding these. i'm guessing you run a wire to the corner light bezel and run it along the side of the turn to the bottom of the light? not sure how to link it off from there. if anyone has an AHB with these lights i'd love to see how they're done up. thanks

 

[Mikes5thAve]

If that's what they're doing you'd connect that wire to the wire for the tail light bulb it's going to mimic.
Most of the ones I've seen they were flashing only since light bars were so basic or an addition to the single rotator.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

The harness for the taillights runs down the driver side of the trunk. It should be easy to just splice in to the lights you want to mimic like Mike said.

I only remember seeing them as brake lights and as wig wag taillights, like a school bus

 

[SonOfaTomP]

The harness for the taillights runs down the driver side of the trunk. It should be easy to just splice in to the lights you want to mimic like Mike said.

I only remember seeing them as brake lights and as wig wag taillights, like a school bus

and you're from NY so you likely saw em. swore they were turn signals too. i've seen them act as hazards in old footage. maybe it was different for other depts. i was looking at old footage of the NYPD.

I'm clearly no electrician so forgive me. i'm just unsure how i'm gonna have it join the lights rather than me cutting the wire off and it replacing em. should i cut the insulation of tail light wire in the middle and join the lollipop wire there then wrap it up or join them at the lightbulb bezel?

or do i just use a splice connector?

 

[Mikes5thAve]

I would join them further down the side past the plug for the tail light harness so that you are working on part of the wiring that's easily replaceable (unless you don't care).

You're going to get a bunch of different answers for the proper way of doing it and they're arguments for every way. Some people strip some insulation off, wrap the wire around solder it and tape it, others skip the solder. The easiest way since you don't do wiring is to use those scotch lock connectors and you'll get a lot of people freaking out about that too but they're quick and easy to deal with in tight spots and easy to remove if you're cleaning stuff up in the future. I've used them for quick gotta get it done things or more temporary to make sure something works before committing to it and years later it's still there with no problems.

The lights usually ground through the housing so if there's only one wire off it make sure it's bolted to something solid on the car that it can make contact through.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

You could also get some kind of relay to run them

 

[SonOfaTomP]

the white and black wire that go into the light bezel that goes into the tail light? or before then?

 

[Mikes5thAve]

To the wires to the tail light. Should only need one wire the other is ground.

 

[toolmanmike]

i was fortunate to pick up a pair of old dietz brake lights at Carlise last week. these were put on the rear decks of many police cars in New York and Pennsylvania back in the day. they show the car braking and are turn signals too. issue is, i'm not sure how i'll actually wire these up. they have a small wire sticking out the bottom of them. what exactly do i link them too? i can't find any diagrams or instruction manuals from back in the day regarding these. i'm guessing you run a wire to the corner light bezel and run it along the side of the turn to the bottom of the light? not sure how to link it off from there. if anyone has an AHB with these lights i'd love to see how they're done up. thanks

View attachment 53654

You mentioned that they have "a small wire" If so there is only a single circuit and tail, brake, and turn signals won't all work. Do you have any information as to what lites aere hooked up to them? I would think 4 way flashers but that's a guess.

 

[GregG48213]

join the lights

The thing about police lighting is that they ran their own wiring from the battery, with distinct relays and controllers. All three Mopar squads I've owned had different levels of modification performed on the vehicle, which then had to be removed when the car was decommissioned.
Assuming that the lights you're adding have incandescent bulbs, you will be increasing the load on the flasher circuit if you tie them into your stop/turn signal lights.

 

[Aspen500]

Worst case, you might just need a heavy duty flasher (or an electronic flasher) so the signals won't blink too fast. Those lights will be no more load than plugging a trailer in.

If you want them to ONLY be brake lights and not signals, you'll need to run a wire to the brake light switch and hook it up there.

LOL, electronic flasher.....Sounds like a robot in a long overcoat

 

[SonOfaTomP]

You mentioned that they have "a small wire" If so there is only a single circuit and tail, brake, and turn signals won't all work. Do you have any information as to what lites aere hooked up to them? I would think 4 way flashers but that's a guess.

these lights aren't hooked up yet. we had a car that had em but they've long since been taken out and i was a toddler then so i can't remember how they're hooked up. they're supposed to be brake and turn signals from the footage i've seen though i believe some depts had them flash when the lightbar is activated as well. i don't plan to add full police lighting just these deck lights to be brake and turn signals.

Worst case, you might just need a heavy duty flasher (or an electronic flasher) so the signals won't blink too fast. Those lights will be no more load than plugging a trailer in.

If you want them to ONLY be brake lights and not signals, you'll need to run a wire to the brake light switch and hook it up there.

LOL, electronic flasher.....Sounds like a robot in a long overcoat

sounds a but easier. brake light switch is under the brake pedal right?

 

[Aspen500]

Brake light switch is above the brake pedal, bolted to the pedal bracket.

It will look similar to this. If.you have speed control, there will be 4 terminal but still look pretty much the same.

 

[wolfmandip]

Live from NY... the 'lollipops' in the back were from various manufacturers. NYSP used Peterson PM334's, I've seen Dietz, Grote's from other agencies. These were typically only for the brakes (not turn signals) and were <crudely> tapped-into the rear harness with whatever wiring the outfitter had around. If installing for the first time there will be some measuring required, because of the rear speaker holes/remaining package tray area to drill through and mount.

 

[wolfmandip]

images... tapped into 3rd brake light

 

[wolfmandip]

images

 

[wolfmandip]

please note, reference measurements from parts that move/may be different on your car. even through the passenger side measures differently to the C pillar trim, both lights are centered on the car

 

[wolfmandip]

measurements I used to install. derived from numerous photos/reference materials. this is what I used for the images above, measure a bunch of times because the punched holes in the package tray are not parallel/possibly different on your application. The outfitters roughed these in, I probably over-thought the whole process

 

[wolfmandip]

I have an image of the rear of the car to show how they look, will post once the camera battery charges up!

 

[SonOfaTomP]

I have an image of the rear of the car to show how they look, will post once the camera battery charges up!

exactly what i needed! thank you so much. even the measurements! those black connectors are just an extension not a factory plug? then one black wire from each lollipop on either side goes into one of the two white wires to the third brake light? or both into one? appreciate it!

say... you were at Carlisle. are you the guy who sold me these?