token7888

Has anyone ever installed additional back up (reverse) lights? Any tips?

I need to back up into a dark and narrow garage area and the factory lights are a little inadequate when the weather is bad. I think that I should be able to splice a relay into the factory back up light positive lead and then run a power wire from the battery to the back of the truck to power the light. Or maybe get power from my hitch cable. Any potential problems with this?

Thanks in advance for any help.
J

cootees

There are many threads about this. A lot of people have done it using fog lights, ect.. Do a search and you can find lots of good information.

celica

I used to have tractor lights on the back of mine but they didn't last very long in the snow, rain, backing the seadoos into the lake. I ended up putting an extra light attached to my garage door opener. My mom put up a motion light in her garage.

Robinhood150

Moved to newbie section.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

One thing you might try is swapping in a white 1156 LED bulb for the stock bulbs. I but a set of narrow beam, 30-LED white bulbs in my '85 and it is a huge improvement in light output. The main problem with the stock lamps is the reflector, if you want to call it that. It is more a light scattering device than a beam focuser. The LEDs don't rely on a refflector and the narrow beam version puts almost all the light out straight behind you.

But yes, add a relay and separate lights if you want. I'll be doing this on my truck, with a 3-way switch, mainly for off-road use. Switch positions will be down for automatic activation from the reverse light switch, center will be off and up will be manual on for lighting up at camp or vehicle repairs, etc. on the trail.

celica

this won't work for his truck. He has a runner with the 912 bulb as a backup light in the tailgate.

token7888

Yep, found 64 hits in the overall "SUV and Truck Tech" section versus the 4 threads I found in the "86-95" section. Thanks for everyones help. Now to do some reading...
J

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

OK, did not know the bulbs changed with the 2nd gen backup lights. Learn something every day. Assuming a 921-style bulb, they only go up to a 9 LED version, so that probably would not be that bright.