Trailer tow wiring question

[retirednak]

I have a friend who is attempting to hook up bigger back up lights on his '03 3500 SRW. He wants to tap into the plug under the bumper which already is being used with a light strip. Does anyone know what color the reverse wire is in the harness out back? He is 90 miles away and is working on his back in the snow and hopes I might find someone to answer his question.

Thanks fellas

 

[sag2]

It shows two back up lamp circuits, One is WT/LG (white/light green tracer) the other is RD/VT (red/violet tracer).

 

[HBarlow]

I hope your friend is going to use the rear lamp voltage only to activate a relay. Adding additional large lights to existing circuits may blow fuses or trip breakers and may overheat wiring.

I have a pair of working lights mounted on the header of my flat bed to assist with coupling a fifthwheel or gooseneck trailer. A separate circuit was created with a relay and a wire capable of greater current from one of the batteries to power the relay.

 

[retirednak]

I should have said better rear lighting,he bought some high dollar LED's. I agree 100% about using a relay for items that draw lots of power,I wouldn't think the LED's would cause any issues. Where he lives street lights are few and far between and he hopes these lights will make his plow bidness easier to live with,that is if we ever get any snow... ... .
Thanks for the help

 

[Prairie Dog]

Bright LEDs can draw some power, I would still install a relay because the current for these runs through the B/U light switch on the trans and it won't take much.

Or, just wire them through a switch in the cab. Then you can turn them on anytime you wan't. Great for lighting up walk ways and camp sites.

 

[retirednak]

I'll pass on the info.

 

[DGamelin]

Your right on top of things HBarlow as usual, I just rewired a melted plug on a truck that someone wired a set of old KC lights to the back up wire on his trailer. Until just now I figured he had wired it wrong. I bet that melted mess was from those heavy lights.

 

[HBarlow]

Thanks but I was just passing on information I learned from other TDR members eleven years ago.

 

[retirednak]

Looks like I will be working on my friends truck,guess his lights quit working. I'll be hooking up the White Nights lighting system I got from genosgarageand I already have the relay. Has anyone ever used these lights? If I hadn't put on,taken off twice trying for a better fit I would have returned them. There are two design issues,which is not the fault of genos. (They did warn a person about the safety chain issue on their site) Once installed it will be a royal pain to hook up the safety chains and second,one must be very careful when backing up,backing out, because the lights stick out past the bumper. When closing my garage door,the safety kept reacting when going down(didn't think it reacts to shadows)after some fine tuning its back to normal. I've not wired the lights yet and will update when finished. Did I mention I hate dealing with any form of wiring? Thanks to everyone offering advice.