did the blinker still work when the brake lights didn't?

the reason the blinkers don't blink now when the brakes are on is that you have bypassed the blinker with your "just run a wire" setup, that's normal behavior

the blinkers work by interrupting the power to the brake lights, so the problem may be the switch itself, but more likely a connection from the brake light switch to the blinker assy

Bill

Moved over to the Passing Lane

"When we tug a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world" ~ John Muir
"When we tug a single thing on an old truck, we find it falls off" ~ me
Some TF series details & TF heater pics