Back up lights

One of the first mods I did. I mounted some rectangle white bright fog lamps and ran a wire from the plug terminal and a battery hot to a DPDT switch mounted near the rear of the trailer. Switch one direction, the lights illuminate off the reverse position. Switch the other direction, and they're manual "on" for whenever I want light back there without the truck. Very handy, although I very seldom use the manual setting. Extremely bright, white light. Never fails to get the attention of whoever is back there.

On my 5th I bought 4 of the smallest fog lights from wallmart , mounted 2 by the front jack legs so you can see where tires are at, then 2 under rear bumper on the frame angled out at 35-40" so you can see in to campsite from the road. I picked up power from camper Batt. and put switch in side the on drivers side compartment {you have to stop and get out and look at site to make sure it's clear to back into anyway. } I just turn them on when I need them plus they work when we are set up if you need to work on something outside. Very Good mod. No Vehicle Insp. in Michigan so no worries about lights.

On my 5th I bought 4 of the smallest fog lights from wallmart , mounted 2 by the front jack legs so you can see where tires are at, then 2 under rear bumper on the frame angled out at 35-40" so you can see in to campsite from the road. I picked up power from camper Batt. and put switch in side the on drivers side compartment {you have to stop and get out and look at site to make sure it's clear to back into anyway. } I just turn them on when I need them plus they work when we are set up if you need to work on something outside. Very Good mod.

Just be aware the when mounting BACK-UP LIGHTS on the rear of your trailer they have to be DOT APPROVED type otherwise you will most likely fail your DOT SAFETY INSPECTION and have to remove them... The LENS of the back-up light should have a DOT NUMBER stamped into the lens... This is the way it is in our Virginia DOT SAFETY Inspection Stations at any rate...

Mounting side lights on the trailer frame near the rear of trailer will not come under the same DOT RULES as mounting them on the rear of the trailer.

Actually for us the side mounted lights are better as you can't view directly behind your trailer anyway. My 5th wheel trailer has the two 7-inch scare lights mounted up high on the rear side of our trailer. These guys light up the neighborhood when being used... I just turn them ON when backing up...

On my OFF-ROAD POPUP the BACK-UP lights wiring is terminated in the 7-way Electrical Junction Box where my trailer hookup cable is terminated and is covered with one of those large YELLOW twist-on connectors. The BACK-UP lights wire is PURPLE in color but I imagine this color varies with the different manufactures on the 7-way trailer hook-up cables. When connected to the truck trailer connector I do have 12VDC on this wire when in REVERSE and with my 2010 Ford Truck Ignition Key turned on...


Roy Ken

Also have to back in at home and the driveway is about 400 feet to the parking spot with fences, trees and other obstacles to get back around. I have also been thinking of disabling the TV backup lights through a switch and then 3 or 4 lights on the camper - 2 facing out the back end and one or 2 underneath to light up the camper tire area.

I carry two shop rags and a roll of electrical tape. Before backing at night I hang the shop rags over the TV tail lights. Getting rid of all that reflection makes a huge difference.

If I added additional lights, I would mount halogen fog lamps under the front of the trailer and point them at the trailer tires. My spotter worries about what is behind the trailer, I need to see where the tires are tracking.

Can you hang a towel or jacket over the corners of the truck bed to block the reverse and backup lights?

The center pin of your 7 blade connector is for reverse lights. You'll have to get a meter or test light to see if it's connected to anything though.

I want to add reverse lights at some time and will probably use some LED fog lights from Harbor Freight. I'm thinking I'll mount them in front of the trailer tires pointing back down the side of the coach. I really don't need that much light on the rear as I can't see back there anyway.

matt_r wrote:
Any suggestions on how to resolve this? I read in Truck Camper forum the suggestion to blue tape reverse lights on the truck when the trailer is connected. Are there other suggestions? Cut off switch to disable reverse lights?

How hard is it to install reverse lights on a camper?

As ScottG suggested, there is a connector on the 7-pin plug to the reverse light circuit on the truck. I used this and wired up some driving lights I picked up at Walmart on my previous trailer. They came on when I shifted in reverse. Have yet to do this mod on my current trailer.

Just wire up some reverse lights on your camper. You can do a simple little switch inside the cab to disable the trucks reverse lights. If you don't wanna mess with the stock wiring then some masking tape over the lights sounds like a good idea

You may be surprised to know that your trailer actually has the wire for b/u lamps.
The 7 pin connector and its cable have the wire in it but it dead ends at the end of this umbilical cord. If you open up the termination box at the end of this cord you'll find the wire. From there you'll have to add more wire to where ever you want to mount some lights.