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Tow mirror rear facing flood lights...

mikeyk101

By mikeyk101
in Modifications & Accessories

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mikeyk101 Senior Enthusiast

mikeyk101

Posted
Posted

A while back I swapped out the regular mirrors for some OEM tow mirrors as I have a camper trailer that I travel with. Thanks to the wiring harness I purchased from @pgamboa, it went pretty smooth. As part of the order, optional resistors were included that I could install to have the rear facing lights activate when in reverse. That wasn't a big deal for me so I didn't use them. I found out it's just as easy to hit the cargo light switch and they will stay on while reversing. On my setup, I also have a topper so the cargo lamp is pretty useless but the interior light for my topper is wired into the cargo light circuit via the bed lights. There are occasions where I'm out in the back country at night, I have to get something out of the bed. So I will activate the cargo lamps and get out. But as soon as I do, the rear facing mirror flood lights will kill my night vision. And same after coming from the bed back to driver's seat. 

 

TL;DR... So has anyone come up with a way to turn off the mirror flood lights so they don't always activate with cargo lamp switch? I do like them and they serve a purpose so I don't want to completely kill the feature. I just want to be able to have more control over it.

MikeBMW Senior Enthusiast

MikeBMW

Posted
Posted

Seems like it would need a wire removal from the harness and get it connected to a separate switch?

mikeyk101 Senior Enthusiast

mikeyk101

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, MikeBMW said:

Seems like it would need a wire removal from the harness and get it connected to a separate switch?

Thats kind of what I was worried about. I'm really not interested in diving into all kinds of wiring in the cab. If that's the case, and you're probably right, the only choices I have are to just deal with it or to find a constant 12v supply and wire it up and a switch in the bed to activate the topper interior light. That would probably be the easier way to go.

Edited by mikeyk101
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  • 3 weeks later...
Banjo5 New Member

Banjo5

Posted
Posted

I had a similar issue with the rear facing flood lights, however my cargo light goes off when I put the truck in reverse. I didn’t like the idea of the rear facing flood lights coming on when I unlocked the doors at night as well, kinda blinds me when opening the door.

I made the following modification:

got a 12 Vdc relay with com- NO ( normally open) and NC ( normally closed) contacts).

I wired the hot wire for the cargo lights to the NC contact, then wired the marker light hot wire to the NO contact. Then connected the wire to the rear facing flood lamps, to the common (com) contact. I added a SPST switch near my steering column ( you could put it anywhere that you like.)

I picked up the hot wire from the marker light circuit, ran that to the switch, then the other side of the switch down to the relay coil. Negative side of the relay coil to ground.

this all works the following way: 

cargo light switch in the cab normally operates the rear facing floods, switch on dash operates

the rear facing floods any time the switch is turned on when the marker lights are on (have power) this way I can use them when in reverse, any time I choose, and no blinding me when entering the truck at night.

  • Like 1
Banjo5 New Member

Banjo5

Posted
Posted

I forgot to mention that the relay and majority of wiring was done down at the junction box down by the emergency brake, where the cargo light wire was picked up and the marker light wire came in from the under hood fuse box.

  • Like 1
MikeBMW Senior Enthusiast

MikeBMW

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Banjo5 said:

I had a similar issue with the rear facing flood lights, however my cargo light goes off when I put the truck in reverse. I didn’t like the idea of the rear facing flood lights coming on when I unlocked the doors at night as well, kinda blinds me when opening the door.

I made the following modification:

got a 12 Vdc relay with com- NO ( normally open) and NC ( normally closed) contacts).

I wired the hot wire for the cargo lights to the NC contact, then wired the marker light hot wire to the NO contact. Then connected the wire to the rear facing flood lamps, to the common (com) contact. I added a SPST switch near my steering column ( you could put it anywhere that you like.)

I picked up the hot wire from the marker light circuit, ran that to the switch, then the other side of the switch down to the relay coil. Negative side of the relay coil to ground.

this all works the following way: 

cargo light switch in the cab normally operates the rear facing floods, switch on dash operates

the rear facing floods any time the switch is turned on when the marker lights are on (have power) this way I can use them when in reverse, any time I choose, and no blinding me when entering the truck at night.

Isn't that how it works with a stock tow mirror install?
My floods on the tow mirrors only come on when when I put my bed light on via the switch.
I might be misunderstanding your issue.

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