Toggle for Cargo Light?

[Ben Rumson]

I HATE having to turn on my inside cab lights just to get the Cargo light to come on! This is the BIGGEST peeve I have about my truck. Why the heck did Dodge design it his way.



We've all been there. Tooling down the road in the dead of night and decide to flip on the Cargo light to check on the gear in the bed of the truck. Problem is, the only way to get the Cargo light on is to FIRST turn on the inside cab lights and POW! you get a face full. Having cab lights on at the same time makes it virtually impossible to see anything at all in the bed of the truck - even when your eyes have fully adjusted.



Has anyone been successful in toggling the Cargo light so that you can check on the gear in the bed of the truck WITHOUT turning on the inside cab/dome light?



Which wire is used to supply power to the Cargo light and where's a good place to tap into it?



Thanks

 

[DieselDoghouse]

Hate to say it but they probably HAD to do it that way - some sort of murky DOT reg. requiring an in-cab indicator for cargo lite. Anyway, I just added heavy duty cargo lites to the bed and tapped that same circuit for relay control (I threw a mini-ISO relay in the PDC). I picked up the cargo ciruit at that toggle-latch plug under the left of the dash (C213??) It should be the Pink/DB lead for that circuit.

 

[Dbonzi]

wire swap

I hated the same thing so I ifxed it

I swapped two wires around so now the cargo light comes on, on the first click and the dome light on the 2nd

Let me know if this is the kind of fix you are looking for.

Dennis

 

[KWentling]

Ben: I put a toggle on my '98. I happen to still have the service manual for my '95 I traded, so I checked to see if it was the same, and it is. The light is hot all the time and is switched to ground by the headlamp switch. The wire for the ground coming from the cargo lamp to the headlamp switch is a 20 gauge dark blue wire with a pink tracer. You should be able to find it coming down from the left side of instrument panel. Just tap into it and run it to a switch and run a ground to the other side of the switch. Hope this helps.

Kim

 

[illflem]

Dbonzi, When I tried reversing the dome and cargo light wires at the switch on my 95 years ago it worked great except that the cargo light came on when I opened the door.

 

[Dbonzi]

wire swap

Illflem

the main switch has 8 wires going to it and on the side there are two others.



I swaped the pink and blue stipe wire on the main switch with the yellow on the secondary wire connection(the one that only has two wires going to it). It works great. Dome light comes on with the switch turned all the way counter clockwise or if the door is opened. cargo light comes on it the first position.

Dennis

 

[Dbonzi]

Ben

Swapping these two wires around works great

If you open the doors only the dome light comes on.

 

[Ben Rumson]

Dennis...?

Good info.



Thanks for the info.



I'm glad that by using the secondary portion of the switch you maintain dome lights when opening the doors.



Dennis, did you have to cut (completely sever) the two wires and solder them to the opposing wire OR did they simply unplug and therefore all you had to do was plug them into the different locations?



- Bruce

 

[Dbonzi]

no cutting required, If you look at the wire plugs there are small slots it the ends of them and you can slide a small wire tie end into it, this should release the wire connection from the plastic housing. Do this on both wires and reinsert them in the correct location and you've got yourself a useable cargo light.

Dennis

 

[Ben Rumson]

Great!

YEHAW ! That's FANTASTIC !!!!



That's the best news I've heard since I bought the truck five years ago!



I should have asked a long time ago. I kept hoping the next TDR issue would have a shade tree fix for it, but it never came.



I didn't hook up with all this online stuff until just over a month ago when my TC started shuddering badly and I knew I was in for some major upgrading. Look where my signature has taken me since then. Dont' get me wrong. I'm not braging. It's hard to brag when everything costs so much.



"Hand me down that can a beans. I'm throwing it away".



Thanks so much.

- Bruce

 

[Cooker]

Seems odd that swapping these two wires still allows the dome light to come on when the door is opened. The door pin must be fed by a separate circuit and the switch is only the trigger for it's operation.



I'm thinking if I do this wire swap will it affect the operation of my alarm. (alarm goes off if door is opened, and dome light stays when disarmed) Hmmm... . If my above statement is correct, I'd have to say no. I guess I'll give it a try.



Also this will be nice to tie my backup lights into the cargo light switch. That way I would have both (cargo and backup light) on with the flip of one switch.



Thanks for the info fellas.

 

[DieselDoghouse]

Cooker, the two door jamb switches and the dome switch are three parallel switches to ground. Swapping the positions still leaves the same number of switches to close the circuit. The 'pole swap' for cargo and dome is a great and SIMPLE idea. I was thinking that then the doors would switch the cargo light and like Howard Cosell, I was wrong (the change is mechanical not electrical - DUH). I hadn't gone that route as I was adding firepower anyway.

 

[Ben Rumson]

Originally posted by Cooker

Also this will be nice to tie my backup lights into the cargo light switch. That way I would have both (cargo and backup light) on with the flip of one switch.

Hey Cooker,



I like your idea of hooking the back-up lights into the same switch/line as the Cargo light.



What color is the back-up lights wire? AND is it located at or near the same headlamp pull switch. Perhaps it's one of the 8 primary wires... ?



Thanks

 

[CumminsPower98]

Dbonzi, great idea on swaping the wires to get cargo lights first. I too, like many others, was irritated by how this was set up. Mine is now fixed and I know I will like it this way.

 

[Dbonzi]

thanks cumminspower

Doesn't make a lot of sence to have a light back there that can't be used. I know when I pull the fifth wheel I like to see how every thing is doing back there and now it can be done.

May be somone should post their fix so the TDR magazine readers could benifit from this as well. I thought it was just me who couldn't stand the dome light on at the same time as the cargo light. Just paying my dues for all the help you guys give me everyday

Dennis

 

[Ben Rumson]

Thanks Dennis !

Dennis,



We're not worthy, We're not worthy, ...



I did as you instructed and had it fixed in less than 20 minutes. Everything at the switch was just as you said. I simply switched places with the Pink (with blue stripe) wire in the primary cluster and the Yellow wire in the secondary plug in.



Cab lights still work when opening the doors. First click = Cargo and Second click = Dome. For the first time in 7 years and 145k miles I can actually SEE past the rear window into the bed of the truck and beyond while driving at night.



I can't tell you how glad I am to have that dang light working "properly" now. I LOVE it.



If I had a digital camera I would have documented the fix for the TDR Journal, but I don't. Somebody else will have to take it from here...



"You da MAN!"

 

[Cooker]

I'll take a pic tomorrow when I do it.



Thanks,

Ryan

 

[Cooker]

Sorry no pics. The batttery on the camera was dead when I had things torn apart.



All turned out fine. Getting the old wires out was a little trickier than I had planned, but after a few four letter words they came out ok



Very, very easy mod if anyone is thinking about attempting it. Well worth the little effort IMO.



Thanks Dennis.

 

[SS]

Help a brother out

Can anybody say if the wiring is the same on the 99 and later switches? Thanks. If not, I guess I'll have to tear into the dash.



BTW - I heard the 3rd gens have it wired the right way from the factory. Somebody must have heard us.

 

[Ben Rumson]

'99 and later...?

Not sure, but you can have the instrument bazel off in 2 minutes and see if there's a pink w/blue in the Primary side (8 wires) and a Yellow in the Secondary (2 wires).



If they're there, I'd try switching them and see if it works.



Give it a whirl.