creswellhick

sorry for long post im in need of help usually im good at figurin stuff out but for the life of me i cant figure out how to wire up my lights on my flatbed i got as far as got my tail lights and brake lights to work but the blinkers cant get them when i previsly tried it was either blinkers or tail and brake with the blinkers hooked up the other lights wont work now this is on my 84 and i cut the stock plug for the stock lights hoping i could wire up my cheap 29 dollar blazer lights from walmart i was told by some one that i need a 3 way light for my truck is this true if so where do i get them and if i cant figure this out i have to take it to a shop and pay for them to figure it out so please help

scuba

You win the award for longest run on sentence ever.

creswellhick

well im sorry my internet is down due to the city playing with wires so im on my crappy phone its hard to write with proper punctuation

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

a test light helps a lot.
so if you are going from a stock separate brake/tail and turnsignal to a single light you need a trailer adapter. Can't just wire the turn signal and brake light to the same wire and hope it works.
when i got rid of my stock lights I had a separate light for the turn signal and one for the brake/tail light:

creswellhick

oh ok thanks oc so single lights should work then ya sounds good il try that thanks again

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

try something like this converter:
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...questid=118924
wiring link;
http://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx

creswellhick

sorry for sounding stupid but instead of using a plug or converter can i just take my blinker wire and hook them up to some single lights and do it that way

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Yep, single lights like I have will work. It was the tail end of my break and thought you were trying to use a single light for both brake & turn signal which wouldn't work with just wiring the two together w/o a converter...

creswellhick

ya thats what i did in the first place lol but thanks again i aint very good with electrical stuff in a rig il be doing my lights tomoro before i take my truck on the freeway the first time and its first long trip since motor was built springfield or to vancouver it should be fun

binky_rutledge

For your brake/tail light did you use multi lamp lights? Did you use a trailer adapter/converter? I am wiring up some lights (4 lights for brake/tails/blinkers), is it possible to use some resistance to make the light burn dimmer for tail and then no resistance for brake?

Thanks,
Bink

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

I wired them normal, no converter.
Like stock, amber turn. The red lense acts as both tail and brake light..as long as you have an led tail/brake light or an old style dual filament 1157 no need to put a resister in there.
With my LED's I used an LED compatible flasher from autozone.

binky_rutledge

I don't have LEDs, I got the cheapest lights I could hahaha (this is mostly temporary). Any ideas what resistance I would want to run in the tail wire to dim them? Someone on a motorcycle forum said they were running a 10ohm 10watt, I unfortunately know very little about electrical math so that really means nothing to me.

xxxtreme22r

Why would you want to dim a tail/brake or any other rear light? Those blazers are what's in the rear of mine. Seperate stop/tail and amber turn. Among a few other running lights.

binky_rutledge

To differentiate between my tail lights and when I am braking. I am running 4 total blazers (not the pictured ones), 2 on the ends for r/l turn signals and 2 inside for brake/tail. They are single filament so I need them to be dimmed while running as tail lights and be full brightness for braking.

xxxtreme22r

That's not gonna work. Get the right lights. You can't wire the brake and tail light together, your asking for more problems.

binky_rutledge

Is there a reason why this would not work? What would cause issues with having both wires run to a single light with a resistor inline for one? I understand this isn't ideal but could you help me understand why this would be an issue? I may just run a trailer adapter if I absolutely have to but I would rather not.

xxxtreme22r

trailer light adapter won't work either, you'd still have to run a resistor. But by running those wires together, I don't see how that will work because you'd be running 12v in reverse direction through the wiring, I can see you frying something that way. I would just get the correct stop/tail/turn lights.

binky_rutledge

Like I said I am not terribly knowledgeable with electronics so you are saying having both wires hot (brake lights active) would cause problems since it would be getting power from 2 sources? If I was to run a trailer adapter I would do it how it is run (outside is brake/blink, inside is tail, when blink is active opposing blinker is active as brakelight), or at least that's what I have gotten from everything I have read.

Thanks for being patient with me, I am new to all this so I apologize for my ignorance.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Hooking it up like you are trying

When you stepped on the brakes all your lights would go on front markers dash lights license plate lights .

You might be able to get away if you remove the tail lights from the rest of the harness power them with a stand alone switch.

in the end it would be just easier to get the correct lights

since you admit you are challenged in the electrical area

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Sounds like you are trying to use clearance lights for brake lights: do yourself, your insurance and others on the road a favor -suck it up and get the correct lights.
Don't mickey mouse it.
Get a test light, hook the clip to a good ground and figure out which wire is for tail, brake and signal when power is applied to the circuit...no one to help with the brakes, push the seat up and jam something against it to apply pressure on the brake pedal.