Is there an easy connection available under the dash to supply power to my aux light switch. I know I could try to snake it through the fire wall and jerry rig it up someplace. But in other vehicles I have had the fuse panel offered an open lead to pull power from. On the 97 f150 I have there appears to be none available...and the dealer and their mechanics say they dont have a clue as to where to get the power from???/ The fuse panel under the hood has a fuse for "aux power" , but then I would have to pull the fuse panel and snake the wires through the fire wall. I'd like to know where it is supplied to...... My lights are for when I back my boat up...cant see nothing in the dark with the little factory back up lights......thanks Bob

 

Bob,

When I installed auxillary back up lights on my truck, I tapped into the wire for the factory reverse lights. That way, whenever I put it in reverse, the lights go on.

When I want to use the lights when it is just sitting there, I put it into reverse and put on the emergency brake. It's not very safe, but it does the trick.

Jeff

 

Thats just what I DONT want to do. For one it might be illegal to have that muck light in a reverse situation on the road. It would awful bright and distracting to have so much light while backing up in a parking lot or something....someone may think someone is coming at them head on!......I had a bad switch on my jeep and the mechanic jerry rigged it with an on-off switch....but I forgot to turn it off once and a State trooper pulled me over. He said he could give me a ticket for having improper back up lights, or non working lights.....But thanks for the reply.....Bob

 

Unless you have a remote switch, you'll need to run wires through the firewall. There are plenty of gormets to go through or you can even run the wires under the cab and in through the door sills. If you remove the scuff plate you'll see a few holes leading to the undercarriage. If the wire is thin, pull the gormet off the steering linkage, slide the wire through and put the gormet back in.

For power just run the wire up behind the dash to the headlight switch. Solder or plug your backup lights into the brown wire. This is for the parking lights so you'll have power when it's practical and not have to worry about leaving the lights on. If you want the lights to only come on when in reverse (Legal but can't blind tailgaters) you can wire them into the backup lamps triggered by the transmission reverse selection. The wire is Black/Pink but I don't know where you tap into it other than behind the fuse panel or at the lights themselves.

 

Bob,

At least with them wired to the reverse lights, you wouldn't forget to turn them off.........I don't know about the laws in NY, but in Canada, additional reverse lights are perfectly legal. There are a lot of vehicles around here with them.


(Just a suggestion)

 

Do you have the towing package? I have it and am not using the brake controller, so I am using that harness for accessory power.

The red wire will supply up to 30 amps I think. You could attach the switch to the blue wire on the harness. You then have "prewired" backup light power. You would then just need to tap into the blue wire at the trailer harness. Saves a bunch of time.


If not, there is a plug under the driver dash that leads right to the engine compartment. If I remember right it is directly under where the steering wheel enters the firewall.

Hope that helps.

 

I have the tow package. By the time I asked I already had the leads running from the lights up under the carriage and into the drivers floor. Because I cant ever wait for anything, I went ahead and put the power lead through the firewall right behind the gas pedal. I put a tiny hole in the seal/grommet there and ran the wire behind the brake booster and attached it to the power source feeding the fuse block on the drivers side engine compartment. I just put a washer, and then the ring terminal on the wire and a nut on the stud there and tightened it against the original nut(that is crimped so it wont loosen up). You can pull the entire fuse panel up pretty easily. Lights are mounted on the tow hitch itself. They work great and light up the bottom of the trailer so I get a better view of were it is going instead of just seeing the boat itself. But after all this I wish I had bought better lights....they were only $ 40 for the set. At 55 w each they throw enough light for the job.......thanks for everyones input.....Bob