Reverse Lights

[Bushc]

What I am looking for is advice on how to hook up my 55w back up lights. I want to hook up these lights so I can turn them on with out being in reverse but still have them come on when I put the truck in reverse with out frying somthing any help would be appreciated.

[mcreyaufmiller]

There are several ways to accomplish this. I would first place diodes in line of the orignal back-up lights to avoid backfeed to the sending unit. After the diodes are in place, get a relay and hook it up per instruction. Tap the hot wire on the light side of the diode, and run it to the pin on the relay (I do not have numbers with me, but someone else can help with that i hope), this will power the light when you flip the switch. next, find a power source and a good ground, hook them up to the relay (this is where you want to wire the switch, the switch will interrupt the power to the relay, but it will also power the switched side of the relay to provide power to your lights, so this will connect to two places, for the power to the lights, you will need to tap it before the switch). Connect the ground and you should be set!

[citydriver]

What I am looking for is advice on how to hook up my 55w back up lights. I want to hook up these lights so I can turn them on with out being in reverse but still have them come on when I put the truck in reverse with out frying somthing any help would be appreciated.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Welcome to the Forum

 

You will need to power the lights with a RELAY! DO NOT tie them directly to the back-up light wire , the 55w bulbs require to much power and will pop the fuse or worse the back-up light switch

 

mcreyaufmiller is right about the diodes also. You can put a diode inline between the back-up light circuit and pin# 85 of a bosch style relay USE THIS LINK as a guide to relay use...you can also run a switch wire to that same terminal, the diode will keep +12v from backfeeding to the back-up lamp circuit...hope this helps

[Ranger354]

I have had back up lights on my last 4 trucks. All tied into the original backup light wire and the also tied into the main hot wire in the trailer wire harness.

 

All have worked just fine. I have mounted switchs near the rear of the truck so I could have light when needed, and also mounted toggle switchs on the dash so I could turn them on from inside.

 

I pull trailers about 30% of the time and these lights work like a charm.

 

I haven't blown a fuse or bulb on any of my trucks. Maybe I am just lucky!

[Bushc]

What I am looking for is advice on how to hook up my 55w back up lights. I want to hook up these lights so I can turn them on with out being in reverse but still have them come on when I put the truck in reverse with out frying somthing any help would be appreciated.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Welcome to the Forum

 

You will need to power the lights with a RELAY! DO NOT tie them directly to the back-up light wire , the 55w bulbs require to much power and will pop the fuse or worse the back-up light switch

 

mcreyaufmiller is right about the diodes also. You can put a diode inline between the back-up light circuit and pin# 85 of a bosch style relay USE THIS LINK as a guide to relay use...you can also run a switch wire to that same terminal, the diode will keep +12v from backfeeding to the back-up lamp circuit...hope this helps

 

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What size Diode should I use?

[mcreyaufmiller]

What I am looking for is advice on how to hook up my 55w back up lights. I want to hook up these lights so I can turn them on with out being in reverse but still have them come on when I put the truck in reverse with out frying somthing any help would be appreciated.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Welcome to the Forum

 

You will need to power the lights with a RELAY! DO NOT tie them directly to the back-up light wire , the 55w bulbs require to much power and will pop the fuse or worse the back-up light switch

 

mcreyaufmiller is right about the diodes also. You can put a diode inline between the back-up light circuit and pin# 85 of a bosch style relay USE THIS LINK as a guide to relay use...you can also run a switch wire to that same terminal, the diode will keep +12v from backfeeding to the back-up lamp circuit...hope this helps

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

What size Diode should I use?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Go to radio shack and get a diode that will work on a 12v DC system. tHE guys there should be able to help, I think the smallest will work fine.