Feedback on Gowesty "third brake light"?

[Ahwahnee]

[IdahoDoug]

Just worried that I live in a small town and would like to do this on all the LED third lights I've added to my older cars. They're kinda high profile and I wouldn't want it to be an annoying thing with them.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[Californio]

To revive an old thread: I'm not so hot on these GW third brake lights.

I installed one about 10 years ago. It eventually crumbled due to heat and UV.

About two years ago I installed another, thinking eight years was a reasonable amount of time for one to last, and they're cheap.

Now this one is blowing fuses. Not sure how that's happening because I haven't taken it apart, but I've isolated the problem to the third brake light and not the wiring.

Something to consider before you click pay.
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1987 Syncro Westy/2.0L Tiico

[Syncronoid]

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but I've found that the wire from the third brake light allows water to get inside in heavy rain where it passes under the back hatch seal. I woke one morning after a night of heavy rain to wet towels in my Vanaroo hatch compartments.
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'90 Syncro Westy w/GW2.5L

[E1]

We had the same issue, so ran the wire along the top of the hatch entry and down the left side.

The directions suggested cutting some fabric from the back of a Westy cabinet. I didn’t do that as it was a *terrible suggestion*, but otherwise have no complaints about the product.
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‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[PDXWesty]

My brake light attaches to the westy shelf so no need to get the wiring from the hatch to the body.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=285490

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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[Run8Stud]

I've had mine for about a year now, stuck to the inside of the glass. I have the wiring carefully routed so as not to pinch or catch as the hatch opens & closes. Haven't had any trouble at all with it. I did clean the glass quite well before sticking it.

One thing I really like about it is the little indicator LED; since I don't have the rear shelf\AC cabinet installed right now, I can look in the rear-view and see that my brake lights are on.
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John G. - 1987 Westy 2.1 5-Speed

[Californio]

I got mine working again by reconnecting the wires inside that had snagged and were shorting.

I would pay more for a version similar in design but more robust. Any enterprising vendors out there? It shouldn't be hard to do.

Better to mount it to the shelf than to the glass, I think.
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1987 Syncro Westy/2.0L Tiico

[PDXWesty]

[Californio]

Yes of course, these are all over the place and nothing particularly Vanagon about them. Thanks for the link, I just ordered one, report back in 10 years.
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1987 Syncro Westy/2.0L Tiico

[jimf909]

Glad to hear you revived the brake light. FWIW, I installed the GW third brake light in 2015 and it still works well so it's a pretty good value in my case. Since then I've gone full-ugly to ensure that several cars behind see what I'm doing.

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- Jim

[E1]

Whoa!

“Can’t miss with that.”
— John Wayne, El Dorado
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‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[MacDude]

If you put it on the shelf don't you get a fair amount of reflection off the rear glass?

[PDXWesty]