upfitter switches

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Jan 20, 2016 | 01:04 PM

Flatbed Ed

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Tuned

Joined: Oct 2012

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upfitter switches

Bought two aux led lights to be mounted on the rear of my flatbed to help me back up at night
They are 48 watts each so they will draw 8 amps total. I want to use the upfitter switch to control it. Question is what's the best way to do it? Do I run a wire direct to the switch or use the pass thru wires under the hood? Or I could splice into my 7 pin connector reverse wire?
Is that even legal in Texas? I get dot inspected sometimes and the trooper will ck my lights
He may not like that setup?????? Your thoughts.

Jan 21, 2016 | 04:51 PM

scraprat

Lead Driver

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From: Itinerant

You run it to the pass through wire in the engine compartment, you will need to connect the wire under the dash to the upfitter switch.

Jan 26, 2016 | 09:55 AM

R Guest

Freshman User

Joined: Jul 2015

Posts: 40

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There are many ways to do this. It depends on how you want the lights to come on. Do you want to have to hit the switch or do you want then to come on when in reverse automatically?

Feb 2, 2016 | 01:42 PM

auburngrad

Senior User

Joined: Mar 2015

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Personally I like having mine wired separate.

That way if I am working behind the truck at night I can flip it on and have more light. Plus I don't need the brighter backup lights during the day.

Jun 16, 2017 | 09:00 AM

gspv

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Joined: Aug 2016

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Quote:

Originally Posted by scraprat

You run it to the pass through wire in the engine compartment, you will need to connect the wire under the dash to the upfitter switch.

Mine is tapped into the upfitter wire as shown in the early posts in this thread. I used wire/switch 1. It is only hot when the engine or Power is on.

If if you want it always hot, pulling from the battery, you need to look into that process. There are threads on here and a good YouTube available.

Jun 16, 2017 | 11:17 AM

Good listener

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Joined: Feb 2015

Posts: 360

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From: Michigan

I see a lot of semi tractors with rear facing lights. I think it is more about using the lights on the highway than it is having them facing the rear. Some states might just prohibit rear facing white utility lights, but if they do, there are many truckers in violation.

Jun 16, 2017 | 11:24 AM

Bugzilla46310

Fleet Mechanic

Joined: Nov 2015

Posts: 1,670

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From: DeMotte, IN

Quote:

Originally Posted by auburngrad

Personally I like having mine wired separate.

That way if I am working behind the truck at night I can flip it on and have more light. Plus I don't need the brighter backup lights during the day.

I used rock climbing lights and put 2 of them on the back and one on each side of the rear bumper. Now I have added light off to the side also. I wired them into the reverse light circuit and to my switch panel in the bed so I can turn them on if I need the light at night. I have a fused lead from the battery feeding the switch panel.

The rock climbing lights I purchased have 4 led chips and only draw about .3 amps each if my memory is correct. Have 4 total tied into the reverse light circuit. I am more than happy with the light output.

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Jun 16, 2017 | 04:14 PM

spongecop

Semper Fi

Joined: Feb 2011

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White light to the rear is only illegal in Texas when the vehicle is moving forward.

Paulie the Cop

Jun 17, 2017 | 07:42 AM

#10

GSSF17

Senior User

Joined: Jan 2013

Posts: 153

Likes: 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by spongecop

White light to the rear is only illegal in Texas when the vehicle is moving forward.

Paulie the Cop

Same in FL

Jun 19, 2017 | 08:16 AM

#11

Tarster

Tuned

Joined: Aug 2016

Posts: 275

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Here is the body builders book, it will let you know what the amp rating on the relay for your upfitter switch in your year has.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas...bodybuild.html

I ran my cb/ham radio into one switch, and currently have my led lightbar for the front on another switch and then when I put in the two smaller led lightbars in the back on the rack Ill put them on a third switch leaving me with one more goody I can hook up. for the Led light bar in the front I used the pass through and wired it in the engine comp. I will do the same for the rear led bars and the CB/Ham radio got wired in the cab.