mounting extra brake lights on 1.5” struts, NO drilling.

[LosAngeles]

Hi all. I have a weird little project on the go.

For complex reasons I won’t bore you with …….

(don’t ask why I want to do this)
😉

... I want to mount these 3” high x 8” wide light plastic trailer brake lights on these 1.5” truck camper tie down horizontal metal struts... down below the rear of the truck camper.
but I do NOT want to drill into the struts, nor bolt into them, for obvious reasons. 🙂

I don’t own tin snips or a full shop (otherwise I could fairly easily make some custom metal brackets for the job ... that would quickly rust and be ugly)

I want to do this securely so they don’t rattle and fall off, and I’d like to keep the lights as sealed as they are, if possible.

The trailer tail light kit is less than $30 and I don’t want to have to spend a bunch of $ or time on the mounting.

One option would be to remove the front lens (on each)
Then drill small holes thru the back of the plastic box

Maybe about 2” apart... top to bottom that is. Maybe 6 holes total per box. (So 3 zip ties)

Use strong Zip Ties to secure the box to the struts

and then use a good outdoor caulk to re -seal up the holes from the outside - to keep road crud out of the back side of the boxes.

I thought about using bolts / pipe strap / wood / etc but all that gets more ugly and time consuming I think.

These lights will simply plug into the flat trailer lights outlet on the back of the pickup, so isolated from the main trucks brake lights.

Any other simple and clever way to mount these extra brake lights? Ideally something that does not rust or rattle.

The kit comes with a license plate holder that will not work in my situation, by the way.
Thanks!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004L073H8

[Grit_dog]

Overcomplicating things. Easy button, 4 wires from add on lights, to 4 flat pin, done. If you want to ground, need to make contact with bare metal on truck, also super easy, but no reason to run a separate wire to the truck frame. Heck, the hitch where you hooked might not even have a good ground if the frame and hitch, both painted or coated, didn't rub off enough paint anywhere to make contact.

Avoid extra happy homeowner wiring, like this, I can show you the ball of "electrical improvement projects" wires and plugs I gutted out of the 1986 pickup I'm restoring. None of it worked anymore. Back to just factory wiring, all the lights work fine and I can re-wire a trailer light plug the right way.

[AnEv942]

Likely not making contact to metal or the hitch itself isn't grounded due to the powder coating. Could try to touch ground wire to the larger bolt just to see if its making contact. Why 'they' told you cant use trucks ground wire beyond me, less why recommending 12ga.
I gather the included harness does not have a continuous ground wire, short pigtail at both ends, otherwise you'd simply plug it into a 4pin connector.
If the ground wire from light will reach, tap existing ground wire.
Alternatively and what I'd do, you could run a wire between both light ground pigtails to white ground pigtail at plug making it continuous from lights to plug, so when plugged in wala you have ground, no bolting.

[deltabravo]

towpro wrote:
click here

Here is a more modern looking one.

Neither of those will work on his Torklift Talon tiedowns, which are aluminum. No one else but me probably noticed that. That was the first thing I noticed in the OP's photo.

[towpro]

click here

Here is a more modern looking one.

[deltabravo]

LosAngeles wrote:
Update:

My question is - if I bolt into a pre-existing hole in the truck frame, (recent F-350) with a new, stainless steel bolt…. would the frames coating (anodized?) stop it from being a good ground?

The truck frame isn't anodized, nor is the hitch. The hitch is powder coated. The powder coat is preventing the wire from making contact with the bare metal of the hitch.

Connect all the lights to a 4 pin male connector, and plug them in to the truck's 4 pin, DONE.

LosAngeles wrote:
and they said: I HAVE to ground the white ground wire to the truck frame.

I asked “could I just wire the white ground wire to the 4 pin flat trailer lights plug?” and they said it likely will *not* work…. and i’d need at least a 12 gauge wire … but it is better to ground to the frame.

No, you don't have to ground the lights to the truck frame, you can connect them to the 4 pin trailer pigtail. In fact, connecting all the lights there is the easiest thing to so.

For two tail lights, 12AWG is totally overkill. The people at Blazer aren't very well versed in trailer/truck light wiring if they are claiming you have to use 12awg for a simple pair of tail light, and then also claiming lights won't work when grounded through the 4 pin plug.

[jimh406]

If you put the wire underneath the washer, the wire will be making contact with the frame. I don’t think anodizing stops current. You could sand the surface to remove it if necessary. It won’t matter if the bolt is SS or not.

[LosAngeles]

Update:

My question is - if I bolt into a pre-existing hole in the truck frame, (recent F-350) with a new, stainless steel bolt…. would the frames coating (anodized?) stop it from being a good ground?

see pic of my attempt at grounding (below)

I was advised to avoid drilling new holes into the truck frame… just use pre-existing holes.

so i got the trailer light kit (Blazer C6421 Trailer Light Kit) and I spoke with Blazer previously…..

and they said: I HAVE to ground the white ground wire to the truck frame.

I asked “could I just wire the white ground wire to the 4 pin flat trailer lights plug?” and they said it likely will *not* work…. and i’d need at least a 12 gauge wire … but it is better to ground to the frame.

So I wired everything up today (very simple with the kit) and plugged in… and tested the lights and they did not work at all. Never lit up. Yes the truck lights work fine, and i know that the 4 pin flat plug *is* working fine. (I tested it with something else)

I suspect the anodizing on the frame is the issue. Yes? No?

and if i have to drill a hole…. i was advised to drill into the hitch assembly, *not* the truck frame.

thanks for any guidance.

MY PIC:

https://imgur.com/a/C7g3QCK

[LosAngeles]

AnEv942 wrote:
3m tape I use-https://www.amazon.com/3M-3614-15/dp/B002JOVUO0
alot. Only because its available most auto parts to put your hands on. Tenacious stuff.
The lights though unsure as the back doesn't appear its flat enough to tape? very simular housing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071FGC2JS/ appears same light box, a bit cheaper, LED and semi sealed.

thanks for the link.... for unusual reasons that I wont bore you with.... i need the extra tail lights to be incandescent.

[AnEv942]

3m tape I use-https://www.amazon.com/3M-3614-15/dp/B002JOVUO0
alot. Only because its available most auto parts to put your hands on. Tenacious stuff.
The lights though unsure as the back doesn't appear its flat enough to tape? very simular housing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071FGC2JS/ appears same light box, a bit cheaper, LED and semi sealed.

[Grit_dog]

Tape doesn’t require time to “set” or cure. Warm with a torch, heat gun, hair dryer etc and stick on.

[LosAngeles]

update - thanks everyone for all the good ideas. Much appreciated. 🙂

So I think i like the idea of 3M VHB tape - 2 strips of 3/4” - to simply VHB tape the auxiliary brake lights to the *top* of the 1.5” strut… and the base of the brake lights are flat…. so this should work out well.

It is cold (freezing and below) where I currently am…. so I’ll have to wait a bit to install… a quick internet search indicates that VHB tape won’t adhere properly around freezing…..

I guess I could use a hair drier to first warm up the metal… but I’d be afraid that it would cool off too fast, and not bond as well as if it was warmer…..

Here is the 3/4” 3M VHB tape I’d likely buy…… sold from actual Amazon, so less likely to be a cheap fake (that 3rd party sellers sometimes sell on Amazon)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Y7E1CU

[kohldad]

Why not just take the cover off and then use square u-bolts to clamp them to the struts. Don't over tighten or the bolts could pull through the plastic. One bolt per light should do the trick. A little bit of RTV or rubber gasket under a washer under the nut should provide plenty of seal.

[NewportNic]

I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I planned to JB Weld some screws inside the light and make a bracket to go around the TorkLift tubes. The sketch is crude but maybe you'll get the idea I have.

[Grit_dog]

Don’t drill anything. zip tie the whole thing around the brackets.
Or the magnet idea sounds good.
Or good doubles sided foam automotive mounding tape if a flat surface on the back of the lights.