Trailer running lights/separate switch

[dvieira]

Hi. .



last week had to make a mad dash from L. A. back to the S. F. Bay Area, left L. A. at 1000 pm, drove all night, pulled in

front of my house at 4:50am, family emergency...



anyway, isn't there a way to wire the trailer running lights on it's own switch, so you can switch them off/on to thank truckers that blink it's lights to let you know you passed them, have always done this with trucks myself, it just plain courteous.



i think i will have to cut into the main trailer harness that

plugs into my truck trailer socket and run that line and a separate line to a switch on my dash, ?????





anyway, driving around 68mph on hwy 5 at night, 2 stops,

Buttonwillow for fuel/coffee, 1 rest stop past Los Banos for

flushing the coffee.



thanks in advance



dave

 

[B.G. Smith]

Lights

I just hit the 4 way flasher and let it flash 3 times then hit it again. bg

 

[baby.driver]

I opened up the PDM (?) where all the relays are and cut the power lead to the coil of the trailer tow relay.

I ran power from the main bus through a fuse, the firewall and to a toggle switch I installed to the right of the kick panel.

Then took this switched power back through the firewall to the cut coil lead for the relay.

Wirenut the unused lead (power from the headlight switch).

Now the trailer running lights are independent of the headlight switch. You can use them as markers when stopped at night and not run all the power as if the trucks parking lights were on.



Works for me!



Jay

 

[pwknapp]

Spent a long, long night on the side of the Interstate rewiring and trying to figure out why the running light fuse would not last more than 45 seconds. Just couldn't handle all the 40ft trailer lights and extra chicken lights on the truck. Easily added two fused switches, one for the trailer and one for the chicken lights. Never have any problems with it now.



Sure is a pain when you can't find a short in the trailer running lights and it kills your truck lights also.



Tapped into the hot side under the hood at the auxillary post in the engine compartment relay/fuse box. (15 amp) Fused those lines to switches and then back to the trailer plug and chicken lites.



Now late at night I can run incognito with different light combos to outsmart those who don't need to know when and where I am going.



Paul

 

[tgbol]

Beacause I hook on to a number of trailers, I rewired my trailer connector through relays for all circuits except the brakes. Each circuit is also independently fused. This takes the load off of the truck circuits.

 

[Loren]

Dave,



I haven't done it on either of the Dodges, but I had a set-up like that on my 1967 Ford. I think I did it exactly as you want to. As I remember it, I cut the tail/running light wire (and nothing else), ran a circuit from the cut to a switch in the cab and back. The switch then would allow me to turn the running lights on and off. The brakes, brake lights, turn signals, etc. , all worked normally.



I did it for the same reason -- to thank the truckers. Now I do what B. G. is doing. I just flash the four-way flashers a couple of times. It's not the method, it's the thought that counts.



Loren

 

[Jammar9082]

Relay Receptacle/socket

I went to the local auto parts stores yesterday for a relay to isolate the trailer running lights from the OEM running/tail light circuit. I found the relay but no one could supply the socket that holds the relay. What do I ask for or where do I look for the socket? The relay I bought is a "Bosch" type, it that is needed.

 

[tgbol]

Try Radio Shack. They have the relays and the bases. Any electronics house has them.