Installing extra back up lights, Only one wire?

[JCasper]

I picked up some round tractor style lights that I am going to mount on my rear bumper. They are mounted in rubber and Made in USA thought I would try them out. My question is they only have one black wire on them. I assume that is the power wire and they will just ground through the mount. Is there any problem with that.



Thanks



Joe

 

[FTwardoch]

Yep, they ground through the mount.

 

[lumberjack98]

nope same as mine on my jeep for undercarage lights. it is grounded through the bracket. hope this helps

 

[Cowboy Medic]

I have used the same style of lights for years for auxillary backup lights on different trucks. I usually run a switch for them as well that allows me to turn them on without having the truck in reverse so that I can turn them on when I am working on hitching up trailers, etc. I love the wide angle lights because then I get the most area covered that is right around the truck.



Here's a pic showing mine



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[JCasper]

Has anyone found a good place to mount these on a 3rd gen truck. I have the round tractor style lights but did not see a real good mounting location.



When I wire these is there any hints you can give as to what size wire, relay size and anything else I might need to know. I have a toggle switch that I am going to hook them to that has 3 prongs on the back. It is the switch that came with my fog light kit and I already have it mounted in the dash. I didn't use it for the fog lights, instead I bought a factory switch and wiring harness for those.



Thanks for the help,

Joe

 

[DSullivan]

I mounted mine on the top of the bumper under the tail lights so the tailgate will still operate and the lights will not get broken when you back up into snow while plowing :{

 

[05mxdiesel]

I mounted mine under the bumper on the bumper brackets. Its hard because it is not a flat mounting sufrace but using a center punch and a small drill bit helped. If you need any pics I can post them later. I also ran both lights in one 4 guage wire to a cab mounted switch. I just need to add a fuse.

 

[sethAdams]

Has anyone found a good place to mount these on a 3rd gen truck. I have the round tractor style lights but did not see a real good mounting location.



When I wire these is there any hints you can give as to what size wire, relay size and anything else I might need to know. I have a toggle switch that I am going to hook them to that has 3 prongs on the back. It is the switch that came with my fog light kit and I already have it mounted in the dash. I didn't use it for the fog lights, instead I bought a factory switch and wiring harness for those.



Thanks for the help,

Joe

what i did with mine was get a DPDT switch the ones with the on-off-on then i wired the switch so that when the switch is in the 1st on position the lights are on all the time the off is self explanitory and the other on is is fed power from the backup lights so when left in this position the lights will come on when kicked into reverse. i tend to stick with 12 gague wire. the pic below is a rough scetch what i did. If you decide to use the 3 prong switch that you have already one prong is power in, one is power out, and the third is a ground line.

 

[TRCM]

I don't have them on the truck yet, but I did wire some white driving lights up on the underside of my trailer.



Where I park it, there is NO light, and with the tires being under the deck, it's hard to tell where they are. I have to put them in the same spot within 3", otherwise I take out the neighbors fence, or the side of my garage. I also have some treated 2x12's that the tires sit on to keep the weather off them, and to keep the ground somewhat level.



I wired mine so that they come on and shine right down the side of the trailer and tires. They will only come on if the parking lights are on AND the truck is in reverse.







OH yeah, 1 wire for power, they ground thru the body/chassis. I used relays to take the extra load off my factory b/u lights wiring.



I used the factory b/u light wire at the drivers side taillight to trigger the relay, and I used an existing 12v switched power wire from my multiple towing harnesses (factory on hitch, 4 pin flat in bed, 7 pin in bed)

 

[JCasper]

Is 10 gauge wire o.k.

what i did with mine was get a DPDT switch the ones with the on-off-on then i wired the switch so that when the switch is in the 1st on position the lights are on all the time the off is self explanitory and the other on is is fed power from the backup lights so when left in this position the lights will come on when kicked into reverse. i tend to stick with 12 gague wire. the pic below is a rough scetch what i did. If you decide to use the 3 prong switch that you have already one prong is power in, one is power out, and the third is a ground line.

I stopped at the Radio Shack to pick up a relay and some wire. All they had was 10 gauge, will this be o. k. ? How many of these lights can I run off of the 10 gauge wire and a 30 amp relay? If I like them I thought about mounting some mid way back on the truck that shined on the back tires, could I splice into the power wire and add them later? Also where do you find is a good place to buy wire? At radio shack I payed 13. 49 for 35 feet of 10 gauge. The auto parts store didn't have anything more then a 20 foot spool of 12 gauge. seemed a little expensive at radio shack.



Thanks for all your help. I plan on installing them on Friday.



Joe

 

[Nate]

Well it depends how many watts those lights are. Figure 100 watts would be ~7 amps. 10AWG is good for around 50amps I believe.

 

[Suprmn]

As an add on question here, does anyone know if there is an extra wire in the factory wiring harness that could be tapped to run the lights rather than running another wire? I am working with a 3rd gen if it makes a difference.

 

[JCasper]

Thank you Nate

Well it depends how many watts those lights are. Figure 100 watts would be ~7 amps. 10AWG is good for around 50amps I believe.

It does not say on the lights how many watts they are. I am sure they aren't any more then 55 each. With that said I would be plenty safe running 4 if I decide to.



Thanks,



Joe

 

[JCasper]

Just a little more help please

I am getting ready to wire these up, but it looks like I need to pick up a few more wire connectors to get it hooked up properly.



I was going to mount the relay under the hood, is this o. k. or should it be in the cab?



On the relay there is a ground, power in, power out, and the line from the switch. That much I think I understand.



Now on the switch there is a ground, one wire that goes to the relay and one more I assume is power in. Where does that power need to come from? Is that where I would tie into a power wire so that the lights only work if they are getting power from that source? I thought about wiring them with my parking lights so that I don't have to worry about leaving them on. If that is correct is there a good place to tie into a wire that has power with the running lights under the dash so I don't have to run a long wire.



Thank you, everyone has been so helpful. I like to keep everything as clean and neat as possible so I hopefully don't have any problems later on.



Thanks, Joe