I found it was better to use cheep 10 dollar lights and change them out when they break

 

Yep, I used the cheap 35 watt flood lights with rubber housings from NAPA. The rubber housings are nice to help prevent damage from the odd rock that happens to hit them. They do look a little too 'work truck' for some peoples' tastes, and I suppose they would clash with the 22" bling-bling rims I keep seeing more and more of, but I'm happy with them.

 

I got as couple of lighted switches and mounted them at the bottom of the dash above the throttle peddle.

 

I tapped the backup light wire as a trigger for a relay, tapped the 10 amp constant-power lead in the trailer wiring harness for the power, and bolted up two el-cheapo lights from autozone that have replaceable H4 bulbs.

3.5 years now, no problems. As for LEDs, they're not on long enough to warrant the power savings and you want bright lights when you backup.

KRS

 

I used the rubber housing tractor lights the were gonna throw away at work. I also removed the bolt in the bottom of the bumper, that holds it to the support bracket. I ran a 3/8 bolt thru the light mount, bumper, and support, with a lock nut and fender washer. When I traded in the 01, I removed my lights, and put the oem bolts back.

 

FWIw, I tried the Par4 rubber work lights under the bumper- as a plow truck I broke one every season. Got old fast.
I switched out the stock reverse light bulbs to 55W Halogen ones (jc Whitneys) and have not looked back. No extra wiring, no extra switches, no more broken lights when I need them... and no problems with my stock wiring. They have been in there , god, has to be 8 or 9 years now.

We used to run these bulbs in my ol mans K5 blazer. The don;t give as much spread as the Par4 cans because the light assembly is so small, but it's more than enough for me, including midnight in a blizzard.
If you really want Par cans, look at these instead (http://www.laredotrailersupply.com/M...t-p/mwl-01.htm) and put them on the bumper at the corners.

 

i would imagine the lights might work pretty well too for some of those annoying tailgaters.....

 

Heres mine , took the lights out of the front and put them in the back

 

That's a nice job, Caper!

 

Well I like these and have a set on my 95 Ram.I don`t have a problem seeing behind me now. These lights fit around the receiver and have a switch to turn them on from out side the truck. Cats a&& I think. http://www.whitenight.com/

 

Well, I started on it today. Got the on/off switch in right above my Pacbrake switch, and I wired up a blue indicator light--I mounted the light on that little plastic panel above the tilt mechanism. Soldered it all together except for the switch pigtails--I used wire nuts on those pigtails. I mounted the relay under the hood and ran a wire through the firewall and connected it to the switch. Anyway, got the hard part done. Next I'll pick out some backup lights and run a wire from the relay to the lights. Then I should FINALLY be able to see behind me at night. For many years I've been backing up by the "braille" method... back up real slow until you bump into something, then put it in drive.

 

Here are some pictures of the installation:

I just bought some 55w driving lights and mounted them upside down.



I put the switch right above my Pacbrake switch, and a blue indicator light on the top of the plastic surround above the multifunction switch. I run the lights through a relay, and I can turn them on when the key is off if I need to. That should come in handy for hooking the trailer up at night.



Looks like they work ok!

 

That's what I did. I didn't bother with a switch in the cab...at least yet. I just wired them into the tow plug.

 

Do you happen to know the part number of the 55 watt bulbs ? Thanks

 

The lenses on these lights are glass.