The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay rear light problems

I was hoping that the '58 1/ ton I bought just needed the wires hooked up in back but that didn't do it. Looking for clues. My headlights,front park lights and front turn signals work fine until I hook up the tail lights. I should also note the turnsignal stop working on the left when the headlight is on, just glows. I get no rear brake lights ever and only a faint glow from the rear signals with the headlights on. I get current at the rear wire when the brakes are on and I know the brake switch is o.k. Is my rear wiring shorted or could it be the light switch? The filaments in the rear bulbs look o.k.

There's definitely some kind of a short happening with those rear lights, bro'.

Have you traced the wires from the cab all the way back to the lights? You're bound to spot the problem somewhere along the line.

It could be a faulty ground at the taillight housing. Sounds like it's trying to ground back thru the hot wires.

It was a ground problem. I hooked up a ground wire from the taillight housing to the frame and the brake light came on-constantly! even with the brake off. My brake switch tested out O.K. on the bench but in the truck the lever didn't come back enough to shut off. Stuck some 1/4" hose over the lever and now it works fine. Maybe that's why the p.o. yanked the tail wires to begin with. Thanks