brake lights - toyota design theory

[euclid]

Brake lights are staying on. At first I thought it was the spring that holds the brake pedal back, but it's fine. Turns out that the switch that turns the brake lights on and off is clicked by a little piece of metal that is tacked to the brake pedal arm. The metal tab had a small hole in it which is covered by a rubber gromet. The rubber gromet on my truck had a hole on it, allowing the post on the switch to poke through the hole. The lights were staying on because the switch wasn't getting pushed in.

So here's the question.. why the hole in the metal tab? Why didn't toyota make it so that there is a rubber gromet that can wear out turning the brake lights on and off? I am thinking of JB welding a penny over the hole to make my brakes lights work. Would this be a good solution?

 

[lovetoski]

I had a similar problem. That rubber piece is replaceable. The hole in the metal tab is to attach the rubber piece. There is supposed to be a pointy-shaped tail on the rubber piece that you pull through the hole in the metal tab. The tail has a notch on it which holds the rubber piece into place on the metal tab.

In your case I bet the pin on the brake light switch has worn a hold through the rubber piece and the tail has fallen off.

 

[euclid]

lovetoski is right. The pin wore all the way through the hole till I didn't know there was a tab on the back of the rubber tab.

The photos show the hole. The second one shows my fix. I superglued a piece of thick rubber to the tab.

I decided that Toyota used a piece of rubber there to keep from haveing a clicking sound every time you let off of the brake pedal.

 

[srplus]

a friend of mine had used a plumbing washer there. he used a small brass bolt thru it to hold it down. he torqued the bolt enuf so that it was countersunk and only the rubber came in contact. cheap fix and looked stock.

 

[euclid]

Yeah, mine doesn't look stock.

 

[toy60]

Built in redunency???