A few years ago I was given a 1982 Ford f250 as a trade for mowing my uncle's lawn during the previous few summers, I worked on it here and there when I had the money.

It was sitting in that field for over 15 years, so getting it out was a chore. I spent several hours digging to even get a tow rope underneath it (I'm only 110 pounds soaking wet, so digging and moving dirt isn't one of my talents).
Eventually we got it on the trailer and got it home, I began to work on it shortly after, I fixed the fuel pump and changed the spark plugs, along with replacing the duraspark and the solenoid (The solenoid caught fire, that was something I hadn't expected). I fixed the brakes and rebuilt the diff, and I even got the headlights working.

Then I ran out of money, and the truck sat for a few years.


Fast forward to now, I ended up homeless again and I'm staying at my dad's place. The minivan I usually drive broke down and left me stranded.
I learned a valuable lesson about having only one roadworthy vehicle, and that lesson is "don't".

Since the '82 Ford is the closest thing I have to a roadworthy vehicle, I've decided to get it roadworthy.

TL/DR: I pulled an old ford out of a field and got it running, now I need to finish the job because I don't have any other options.

Still needs work.

I think I'd likely run out of space on this post if I tried to list everything I've already done to this truck .

 

Next step is the taillights, I need to fix a bunch of broken wires.

Since someone attempted and did a horrible job of installing a trailer plug I figured I'd replace it with a 7 blade and install a brake controller, (but I intend to do it right).



A complete rats nest.

I got a 7 way connector and a brake controller at a garage sale a few years ago, and since I'm repairing the taillights I figured now was the best time to install them.

Garage sale find.
[The box that had the brake controller and the 7 way outlet in it cost less than $20]

Edit: There are only four wires going to the back of the truck, and they're all broken.
Can I just wire the trailer lights into the taillight circuit?
(I know I have to run more wires for the brakes, but I'm not sure about the taillights and signal lights.)

 

Yes you can wire the trailer lights in to the trucks taill lights.

Depending were the tail kight wires are broken there is a harness plug at the left rear corner that connects the frame rail harness to the tail light harness.
Etrailer.com and others sell a Tee harness the gose between the 2 harnesses and the wires from the Tee go to the 7way plug.

That is how my truck is wired and I pulled wires for the electric brakes and power to charge a battery in a travel trailer.
Dave. ----

 

Thanks,
The plugs that once existed at the back of the truck are long gone, but that's not a problem for me.
The big spiders hanging out in the bumper will be much more of an issue than fabricating a waterproof splice.

 

I am with you - I dont like spiders or snakes ........ and thats not what it takes ..........
Sorry bout that but for real I dont like spiders or snakes

As long as you can make a good weather proof connection you will be good.
My parts truck had the trailer light Tee and being I also used the full wiring harnesses from the parts truck and I planed on the trailer I used the Tee.
Dave ----

 

Here's the four wires coming off of the truck,

That's all folks
The rest of the wires are tangled up inside the bumper, I'm honestly considering pulling them all out and fixing it on the bench.

Although that's probably the smartest way to do it, since it looks like I'll be battling against a lot of corroded wires.

 

So I pulled out the old trailer plug and the rest of the taillight wiring harness, since it's way easier to Find issues when I'm not covered in spiders.



These weren't even connected to anything, they were just covered in electrical tape.

A complete mess.

So I cleaned it up and got it ready to to splice in the trailer plug.


Cleaned up and labeled, ready to be put back in the truck.

Sometime later tonight or tomorrow I'll put it back in the truck and install the trailer plug.

 

If you have not already installed it plug it in to the main harness and see if the lights work.
This way you will not need to pull it back out to fix it.
My truck is a little different as I dont have a ground wire for the tail lights and when testing before install I did not have lights but had power?
Once I grounded the lights I was good.

I had to make a tail light harness for my flare side from a style side as I did not have anything for the flare side.
Started with this

Removed this

Ended up with this that my new lights plug into

Even had to make a plate light harness

Lights & trailer hook up in place.

Dave ----