I just bought a camper shell for my 2003 Silverado. It has a third brake
lite in it. Is there a wire under the bed somewher that I can connect to. Do
I have to run it all the way up to the brake lite switch? If there is a wire
what color is it? Any help would be appreciated.

WildBill

Valkyrie wrote:

Bill:

The closest brake light wire is the rear trailer hitch wire harness.

Dennis Mayer wrote:
that won't work. he'll have to grab the wire from the factory third light.

Not true on both accounts. A talented person can intercept the
wiring and properly connect to either of the existing brake lights.
Just parallel the wiring off of the left or right stop light. Most
cap installers go to the driver side.

If your vehicle has a trailer harness, you may intercept the wiring
there, but that's a bit further to go.

Regardless, pay proper attention to which wire is hot with the
pedal pressed, which wire goes to ground, and do not
wire in series.

"Steve Barker" <ichasetrains (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

Oh, and the obvious thing is that you are not tapping into
the third brake light. Unless your vehicle has that annoying
flash of the third brake light, it really doesn't matter.

"Nightcrawler" <Dirtydeeds (AT) dirtcheap (DOT) net> wrote

I've seen many people tap into the wiring in the Back of the truck Bed, be
it the trailer wiring or before that. It's pretty easy. Not a whole lot
of wires back there. A Test light and someone that can step ON/OFF the
peddle so you can find the right one. A Blue Quick Connect to the wire is
about all you need. Basic simple wiring. It's just a brake light, not
rocket science.

"Nightcrawler" <Dirtydeeds (AT) dirtcheap (DOT) net> wrote

True. My thoughts were mainly on how clean the install is.
Both from an electrical/functional and a cosmetic viewpoint.

"JBDragon" <JBDragon (AT) somplace (DOT) com> wrote

Nightcrawler wrote:

that'll work if you want the FUCKER flashing everytime you make a left
turn. jeeezzee.... wake up and get real with the situation. Why have
a third brake lite if it makes you look like a moron?

JBDragon wrote:
More bad advice here. using the "blue quick connect" AKA: scotch lock
Will last about 6 months before the wire corrodes in two and then
neither the mis-installed third brake lite , NOR the one you broke into
will work. No, it's not rocket science. But you do want it to last
longer than a rocket and come on when it's supposed to.

Uh, the newer vehicles have a dedicated lamp for blinkers.
They use a dual element lamp for parking and brakes. They
have three wires going to them. One is a ground. I'll let you
guess what the other two are for.

I do agree that those quick connectors are junk, though.

"Steve Barker" <ichasetrains (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote