Fusion Hybrid Toad tail light setup

I have recently purchased a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid and completed the setup for flat towing. The tail lights are LED and do present some problems that require some "engineering." The red diodes inside the clear lens are used for both the tail lights and the brake light/turn signals. When the brake lights or turn signals are used 12 volts dc is supplied via one of the wires to the light assembly. I tapped into this wire using a diode on each side and this function works great. The tail lights are another issue. The tail light feature also use the same red LEDs but are fed through some sort of dimmer. I found the easiest solution for this was to drill some holes through the back of the light assembly and install white LEDs into the unused red lens section of the light assembly. These white LEDs are fed from the motorhome's tail light wire. I understand the Titanium tail lights are somewhat different than the SE version but this solution may work for you as well.

Caution ... If you aren't comfortable working with electronic circuits and/or drilling into tail light assemblies costing several hundred dollars each you may be better off sticking with the magnetic light solution.

dmstwo wrote:
I just picked up a new 2014 Ford Fusion Titanium Hybrid to use as our toad. I contacted Blue Ox for a base plate and tail light wiring kit. They told me that the Fusion LED taillights operate of a single wire system and that the various functions (i.e. running lights, turn signals etc.) are controlled by control signals of differing frequencies. They said neither they, or any other manufacturer they know of, has developed a kit to use with these frequency controlled systems.

We have a 2013 Fusion Hybrid, and I can tell you that this is not the case for ours (and it has the LED tail lights). They do make tail light wiring kits for the Fusion hybrid, I've seen a couple. I installed one and use it, to wire the brake light/switch to an indicator on the MH dashboard. Soo, I know for a fact you can tap into and use at least the brake wire going to the tail lights, because I did it with ours. :)

That said, it is true that the electrical systems on these hybrids are very complicated, and it probably is best to avoid tapping into their wiring any more than is necessary. Even though I did tap into the brake wire for the MH dash indicator, that was the only thing I tapped into. I use separate, magnetic tail lights, and put them inside the car on the rear shelf right behind the back seat headrests.

As already said, you do also need to run a charge line to to the 12V battery of your hybrid (very quick, easy, and cheap thing to add). Not doing so will result in getting to your destination with a dead battery and needing a jump start.

For my Ford Cmax Hybrid, the installer ran separate wiring back to the tail lights. They pulled the tail lights, drilled a hole and installed a bulb & socket in the hole. He would not cut into or use the factory wiring for fear of messing electrical up in the car. Works great, even if the car battery goes dead! Don't forget you will also need a power charge line to keep the car battery charged. This is a regular style battery used to start the car & run the electronics of the car, not the hybrid batteries. The hybrid batteries are used only to power the electric drive motors on the wheels.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

I always just ran the magnetic lights rather than modify the toad. Wire through the grille, out the back of the hood, in the passenger side door and then out the top of the door. Wind up excess wire on the driver's side light. Pretty simple setup. Doesn't take one minute to do it. You might put felt on the magnet to avoid scratching the paint.