Routing back up lights wiring

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Seartrip

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I just mounted a set of Rigid Ignite (surface mounts) under my rear bumper, but haven't finished the wiring yet as it's too damned cold to finish it outside in one day. While I was looking over how to route the wiring back to the upfitter switch leads, I didn't see any obvious way to route the power wire that was clean and didn't get too close to hot exhaust or engine parts.

I'm sure I'll figure it out once I get some more time to look around, but does anyone who's wired rear lights on the Gen2 to the upfitter leads in the engine bay have any recommendations on the wire routing?

Any comments appreciated. Thanks.
 

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Ditchplains1

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Seartrip,
I made a harness and ran it along the passenger side frame to the bed. My lights are on the top of my Roll-X tonneau cover. I soldered in quick connects so that I can remove the lights/tonneau and leave the harness intact.
Eddie
 

Ruger

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My solution was to just buy the appropriate plug, wire the backup lights to the correct plug pins, and plug it into the trailer plug on my hitch.
 
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Seartrip

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No- the holes were already in the bumper and perfect. I was planning to drill, but very happy I could leave the bumper alone.

Also, I completed wiring the lights. I ran the power wire in wire conduit down from the upfitter connection point in the engine bay, and then more or less along the frame rail to the rear. In the bed area, I jumped off the frame rail and secured it along the bed seam. My original question was simply about how many good, secure mounting points there were for tie-straps to secure the wire, that didn't get too close to the exhaust. The frame rails is fully boxed, and ideal strap points were a little harder to find than I expected. I'm happy with the results (love the Rigid Ignites (flood pattern) in this case), and I'll check the wire run when I do maintenance and re-secure it if needed.

Again, anybody wanting to mount Ignites under the bumper, no holes to drill. And there are good grounding points right under the bumper.
 

Shark

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Thanks for the writeup, that's good to know as I just bought a 2017 a couple days ago. In my 2011, I ran Rigid flush-mount bumper lights but that required cutting holes in the bumper, not really interested in doing that this time. Did you just run them to an upfitter switch, or did you also wire them into the Reverse lights?

I did both in my 2011 and found some cool clips to run the wiring harness along the frame. Here is my old thread if interested in what I did:

http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f81/how-i-ran-wiring-harness-rear-front-backup-lights-31472/
 
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Seartrip

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I ran directly to the upfitter switch, as I don't really need extra backup lighting all the time. But I can understand some people wanting it wired to their reverse lights and having the option to turn off the power via the upfitter switch.

Good to hear what others have done.
 

Edbert

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I'm planning on doing this very soon. I've been unable to find a kit that is designed to use the upfitters, almost all the wiring harnesses I've found include a relay and or a switch. So I'll solder/shrink some waterproof connectors near the tailgate, locate a ground nearby, and run the primary wire through a conduit to the upfitter. Few questions for those who have done this.

  • Does anyone know of a harness that I can just buy outright?
  • If it possible to run the conduit THROUGH the frame instead of securing it to the outside?
  • If I tie into the existing backup light circuit AND use the upfitters, can I have the two completely independent of each other without having to run separate wires?
 

Qbngringo

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Fordraptorlights.com makes a wiring harness for reverse lights. I purchased their kit for the front and it worked great.

I am about to wire the rear lights myself and I purchased some wire and plastic tubing for it from Home Depot. I am going to use the plug from my Rigid's wiring harness and use a quick connect to attach it to the extra wire i purchased to the upfitter switch.
 

zombiekiller

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I built a harness that runs along side the passenger side of the truck in the tray under the door sills, I made a grommet and drilled through one of the plastic plugs in the rear cab floor. from there my harness has anti-chaffing on it and i fished it through the passenger side frame rail, and it exits just before the hitch. I did not want the reverse lights to come on automatically, so they are controlled through one of the upfitters.

My chase light harness is more complicated because i chose to add a flasher. ( like the ones used in cop cars or construction vehicles.)
 
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