Date:         Wed, 25 Apr 2001 11:37:41 EDT
Reply-To:     Cotsford@aol.com
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Cotsford <Cotsford@aol.com>
Subject:      Re: Tail lamp bulb specifications
Content-Type:  text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

The Bulbs used in my '84 Vanagon tail lights are as follows.     These are still the factory fitted originals for the most part and match the owners manual.
I would guess that they are the same for other years too.

Tail light (running light)
                           Base BA15s, 5 watt, 3 cp
                           5007, Hella 78232
Stop light, turn sig,reverse light
                           Base BA15s, 27 watt, 32 cp
                           1156,Hella 78239
                     or    7582,Hella 78192

There are no Hella equivs for 50 watt halogen bulbs as they are not Tuv approved for Germany yet.

Some people are recommending using the 1156 bulbs as running lights but this is not DOT approved.
My personal recommendation is 5008 bulbs which are 10 watt which are DOT approved.   This doubles the light wattage but does not make them as bright as the original brake lights.
Another modification I am going to make to mine is the add an additional 5 watt bulb to the rear fog light socket behind the reflector and wire it in with the running tail light.
This will make a 60% bigger light without make it too bright for DOT regulations.
Steve Cotsford