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Adding taillights


jjrbus

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I am working on my generator box and want to add taillights to it.  I purchased a set of LED lights online and of course have an issue. The first thing I find out is they do not have a DOT # on them and will not pass an inspection, we don't have inspections in Florida so should be OK there.. 

I started out and nothing would work, turns out the ground wire had been broken at the frame, I would expect no less, at least the rest of the wires work.

These are LED and this is how I wired them.  The running lights and left and right turn signals work but not the brake lights and yes the brake lights on the Toy are coming on.

These lights have 5 wires  Blk is Gnd    Green  is running light   Red is stop White is back up and Yellow is turn.  I am 99% sure on this.   I have a four prong flat connector and am not concerned about using the back up lights and believe that I cannot use the yellow tun lights with a 4 prong plug.  I am hoping I have done something wrong and it is not an LED issue.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.                    Jim

Left click on photo to enlarge.  

 

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1st addendum to original post,  I tried these lights hooked up the way they are on my 2008 Ford Ranger with a 4 prong plug and the brake lights work?   Jim

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41 minutes ago, jjrbus said:

I tried these lights hooked up the way they are on my 2008 Ford Ranger with a 4 prong plug and the brake lights work?

So you know it's not the lights.  Got a test light?  Use a stick to hold the brake pedal down and use the test light connected to the plug ground to see if the plug is getting brake light voltage.

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A quick thought.  Does the Ford have an electronic trailer interface/controller for the plug?

Note: I've got another meeting this afternoon and will be dutifully ignoring you.  Be back later and I'll check in.

Edited by Back East Don
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I asked Bubba about the interface/controller and he said "Say What?"     Then I asked Google and got 2 million hits,  it looks like a factory install.  

I checked voltage and there is not brake light voltage going to the plug.    Jim

Edited by jjrbus
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Meaning a factory installed interface.  You'll either need a interface or you'll need to change from a 4 pin plug to 5, adding the brake wire.  Right now you have ground, left, right and running lights.  That is your 4 wire connections that combines turn and braking lamps

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Thanks Don, let me chew on that for a bit.  Going to a 5 pin should be fast and cheap, no more than 3 weeks and one trip to the emergency room so let's say  $2000.  So to go to 5 pin I would need 4 wires going to each light?  

I looked at the schematic that National supplied and it is not color coded only states they added a 48" harness. 

                                                            Jim

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