n the never-ending quest to improve and update our classic trucks, the subject of lighting is one area often overlooked by most people. Many of us are looking for ways to improve the functionality of our pickups without compromising the looks.
     LED’s, (light-emitting diodes) are a revolutionary form of lighting that can do just that. LED’s use solid-state semiconductors that emit visible light when an electrical current passes through it and excites the photons.   This technology is currently used in traffic lights, scoreboards, message centers, and in the semi-truck and trailer market, and the benefits over incandescent bulbs are numerous. LED’s are vibration resistant, use less power, and illuminate faster--- producing very little heat.
     Early Classic Enterprises now offers custom LED inserts for the ‘60-’72 GM trucks that replace the original light bulbs with a patented plug in design. These inserts can literally be installed in seconds using only a screwdriver to remove and re-install the lens.
     In addition to the taillight inserts, ECE also offers a third brake light insert for the ‘69-’72 trucks with a factory cargo light. By simply running a single wire to the brake light switch under the dash, you can now have an LED cargo light and third brake light to update your classic ride.
     Follow along and we’ll show you just how simple it is to install better lights in a ‘72 Chevy pickup.

1. The LED panels are custom-made to fill the inside of each specific taillight housing to maximize the effect when the lights are on. The ‘67-’72 inserts feature a whopping 160 individual bulbs per panel! Compare that to the small LED replacement bulbs that have only 10 LED’s and you will see the difference immediately. The smaller panel is designed to fit the ‘60-’66 Chevy GMC Fleetside taillight housings, and feature 84 LED’s per panel.

2. The installation begins the same way you would replace a burned out bulb. Remove the two screws that secure the lens, and then carefully pull it away from the housing.  The lens may stick to the gasket material depending on how long it has been since it has been removed. The old bulb is then twisted out and discarded to make way for the new LED panels.

3. Probably the biggest advantage of this new design is the patented plug-in wiring pigtail with a bulb base insert that plugs directly into the original bulb socket.  This design requires no splicing to install.  Every board is sized to fit each application to allow the maximum number of LED bulbs per unit.  Because each bulb only generates an average one degree Fahrenheit, the boards can be mounted close to the plastic lens without causing damage.

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