I'm going to repeat my suggestion of adding auxiliary backup lights.
I'll let you know what I think of the Raybrig R118 bulbs when I get them. I'm not sure where to find a light meter (I remember when all photographers carried one, but that just makes me a dinosaur), but I should at least be able to install one of them and take a comparison picture.
HB021, by now you've figured out the deal:
1. There's a rule against recommending anything illegal (probably to limit any possible liability for the forum, and just because illegal mods often lead to trouble), and this forum is serious about it.
2. If it doesn't meet the applicable federal and state standards and you hang it on a car then drive on a public road, it's illegal. I can (and do) hang any sort of big honking flood lights on the back of my old 1-ton International brush truck and use them offroad in the woods at night, but they're a no-no on a public road (in fact, I'm not sure that just having them installed isn't a no-no, though I sure see a lot of guys with a pair of "tractor floods" under the rear bumper). I know, I know, you see lots of illegal stuff all over the place. But this forum says don't recommend it. Period.
Frankly, I like to talk about anything at all to do with lighting (I collect kerosene lamps and Dad still has gas lights in the house), but the rule here is not to advocate the illegal stuff.
As a side note: This forum is generally more concerned with function than style. Human eyes evolved to see better by yellow-white light, not blue-white. People here are aware that bluish light does not help you see better and it irritates other drivers. Often, it's accomplished by blue coatings on bulbs, which block much of the red/orange/yellow light, creating a blue-white light that you may perceive as "whiter," but is actually less light. Coatings always reduce light to some degree.
Back to original issue, backup lights: Cibie used to sell some nice little rectangular auxiliary backup lights that used the 1156 bulb. In more recent years, I've even picked up a set of Peterson small rectangular halogen backup lights (was using a mounting location where typical tractor floods would be too tall). Of course, when you walk into a big box store and grab a set of those, you don't really know if they are type approved as backup lights. Many such are sold as "work lights" or "flood lights."
I've sometimes said that aux backup lights was one application where you could put a cheap set of fogs to work. Don't buy cheap fog lights to start with, but if you have some and want them to be useful -- if they actually make the wide flat fog pattern but it's just not clean enough for use in heavy fog, they'll probably make decent backup lights (if they're white; if they're yellow, they'd probably make super hazard flashers but wouldn't be type approved).
I find myself recalling my old 1978 Saab 99 turbo. It had backup lights on all four corners. I wish I knew if small backup lights on the front corners, that shine back and to the sides, would be legal on other cars. They sure were nice for parallel parking.
BTW, speaking of "truck stop bulbs," I've seen a lot of odd bulbs at big truck stops. I've long thought that if you carry spare bulbs (say you use 1157 brake/tail bulbs) you might carry Natural Amber spares (1157NA) in case you crack a lens. At least you wouldn't be putting out white light on the back. I think you could even find red 1157 or 3157 bulbs at some of those truck stops. I'm not advocating them for general use, but I wonder if a colored spare might not be a great "get home" bulb if you break a lens on the road. It's illegal to show white light to the rear when moving forward.
For your amusement, and so you know we feel the same about some things