I got new tail lights for christmas but....
 

i don't know what to do with one of my holes....

i got these for my 04 Ranger from my roommate

http://www.symmicauto.com/images/auto/4590.jpg

but since my truck is an 04 it only takes up 2 of the holes

The Top Reverse Light and the Bottom Red Brake light leaving that light in the middle without a workin bulb, I was thinkin of wiring that bulb to the brake light and just adding a red bulb to it also and making it work the same but then i remeber i'm not good a wiring anything but audio stuff so any ideas? i don't wanna get ghetto and put strobes there cuase i'd get my ass kicked here for that and it's illegal in most states so will someone please help?

Those are just about the same taillights I have. Mine were a biotch to put in, I had to hack up behind the taillight for it to fit because they put the holes for the bulbs reverse from stock.

mine are basically the same except my are chrome and i have a on clear lense for the top and to red for the bottom ones. and what i did was have the top a reverse the middle i tapped in to where its only on when i turn the lights on and the bottom is lights turn and brake. if you want to do the same as i did i can get you pics of every thing i did and give you a little how to. its not as hard as you think.

that would be great

I don't know how you all feel about them, but I honestly like the amber turn signals instead of the red ones. I have an older tri-color tail lite so I don't know how your newer truck is wired, but I think it'd look nice if you wired in that middle one for an amber turn signal somehow.

yeah my brake light is amber and i might just run the wire to the middle button from it and let it serve as an additional brake light

unfortunatly on the 04 there are only 3 wires ones a ground ones for when you turn on the lights and the other one is for brake/turn signal. im not sure if its the sure for 01-03. but thats how mine is wired and i orginally wanted one to be the brake and one a turn signal but i cant figure out a way to spit the two apart.

i"ll get on it tomorrow after church.

2000~2003 Rangers had wires to the back of the DS frame rail for both 2-bulb and 3-bulb OEM taillights. U.S. Rangers from these years would need to have two wires added to the tail light subharness to convert to 3-bulb.

The Wiring Manual shows that the 2004 only has the wiring for the 2-bulb style at the rear of the truck. To wire independent signal bulbs would require that 2 new wires be run back from the front turn signal circuits to the rear signals.

Thanks bob thats what i thought would have to happen in order for it to work. And if i am not mistaking order to make the other just to be brake (not a brake/turn combo) i would have to run from the third brake light right? When its all said and done i could have the middle and bottom light function when i turn the lights on, then middle would blink when the turn signal is on, and the bottom would light up brighter when the brake is applied right? But i would probably have to up 2 extra bulb sockets (cant remember exactly what they are call) to use to and just keep the factory ones with bulbs in them so it wouldnt think i had a burnt out bulb making it blink really fast, and just leave the factory ones tucked back in the fender.

Yes, that's how it was done in the factory harness on the 2000~2003. There was a wire just for the brake light that was spliced off of the CHMSL power. Unlike the 2004+, those trucks had all of the wires (8) for both types of tails at the end of the DS frame rail. It was probably done that way so that the main rear harness would work in different markets. The short subharness across the back of the truck is different though depending on whether the truck needed 2-bulb or 3-bulb OEM tails.


The blinker self adjusts for load so you might not have to go to extremes to have the correct flash rate.

You could alwasy do what I did (because I didn't consult with Bob first) and run three new wires from the cab, one solid brake (tapped in to the CHMBL wire) and two turn signals (from the front right and left turn signals.)

ok i think you guys have lost me? can you tell me what each wire does? i know the black is the ground wire but the other 2 wires make it brake and blink? correct? so how can i make the extra light just light up when i turn my lights on and brake? can i not just splice the extra bulbs wire with the wires already in place and do that

The wires on the driver side are Black (ground), Black with Pink strip (lights), Green with Pink strip (brake/turn). The pass side is basically the same but the brake/turn wire is orange with green strip.

First did yours come with an extra light socket? If so how many wires are on it

If its this one. You can only have it come on when the lights are turned on or a brake/turn.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12...Picture240.jpg

ok heres 3 easy ways you can wire them.

1. Hook the 2 blacks together and hook the black/pink to the red. This will functions for lights only.


2. Hook the 2 blacks together and hook green/pink on drivers side to red on pass side hook orange/green to red. This will function as brake and turn


3. Your going to need a light socket with three wires coming out the back for this one. Hook 2 blacks together, hook red to black/green, and depending on the other color wire left hook them to the left over wire on the stock harness. This will function exactly same as the stock one.


If you want them to function different then those ways your going to have to run some wires back there. Which Bob can help you better with that than I can. BTW I have tried options 1 and 2 so i know that they will work.

i choose door number 1

The black is ground, of the other two, one is your TAILLIGHT (the light thats always on when your headlights are on,) and the other one is a COMBINATION brake and turn signal. The easiest thing, in my opinion, would be to cut the brake/turn wire, and run it to the third bulb, so the one bulb you're using from your stock turn signal is now just a taillight. Connect that wire you cut to the new third bulb, and splice the black ground wire from that new bulb into the existing ground wire. Now the third bulb is both brake and turn signal, while the original bulb is ONLY a taillight. If you wanted a more "factory" look (where one bulb is the taillight and the brake, and the third bulb is turn signal ONLY, you'll have to run new wiring from the cab like I did.)

Yeah, I had the same issue. I made the bottom one (the big light) my running lights and brake lights and the middle bulb my turn signals. I cut the ground wire and used a butt connector to place the black wire from the 3rd light and the original other half of the ground. Then I cut the wire for the turn signals and connected it to the red wire. I don't quite remember the color. I had my multimeter so I didn't worry about it. I wanna say it was like Green/Red but I don't know for sure. It was about a 20 minute job but it took me about an hour because I have a father that smokes 2 packs of cigarettes a day but doesn't keep a bic lighter in the house with fluid in it so I went on a mad hunt for one to melt the connectors it was sad.

i think i'm just gonna leave the bottom one the brake/turn light since it's the biggest and have the third just turn on with the lights, i'll post pics later this week close to next week when i'm finish

Attachment 213322
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...taillights.jpg

this is what those look like, i'm still not sure what to do with them cuase all i could find was amber lights to replace that middle one on there so............

IDK about everyone else...but I wish my roomate would buy me stuff like this....

:stupid:

it's all good just glad he's my friend and roommate