License lamp tapped

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I am wondering what is going on.
2003 Chevrolet 2500 4X2

This truck has marker lamps on the roof....this looks factory.

To switch them on, there is a row of toggle switches below the steering wheel/above the three (gas, brake, clutch) pedals. It does not appear factory, but very well could be.

Only one toggle does anything to my knowledge. The toggle that lights up the marker lamps is enabled after the parking lights are switched on. I do not think they can be switched on if the headlight switch is left off.

The headlights always come on when starting the truck, but I can retract it CCW and they will shut off. I have never noticed the running lights working.


Ok, there is this red wire going from the backside of the chicken light toggle.....three prongs but the red wire uses but one...the other two I assume are for the rood marker lights. This red wire taps into the driver's side license plate lamp.



Rewind to about this time last year..I went to the man's place to pick the truck up and he was underneath apparently removing something. I forgot what he told me as I have never really towed as a consumer.

Anyway, there is some kind of brake controller under the dash that lights red when I press the brake pedal.

Also, there are four holes in a square/rectangle pattern on the rear part of the passenger side of the bed- he had some kind of crane on there.

Any idea on this red wire? I am not well versed in electrical in general but want to do away with any extra wires that have no purpose. The pigtail is there and the socket is broken st the mounting plate, but it looks all there.



As far as purpose, this truck is a sport truck to me but retaining the ability to tow legally, properly and safely is important if it shall one day need to do so.

thx
 
Those toggle switches would not be factory. It is not legal to drive public roads with some marker lights on and some out. The rule is that anywhere there is a bulb socket, it has to light up.

Three-pin toggle switches are usually the type that the handle lights up. The third pin is the ground for that bulb (often a LED nowdays).

You could remove the switches and restore the wiring so that all the lights come on from the factory light switch.

Brake controllers are for those larger trailers that have electric brakes. It would be wired to one of the pins on the trailer light socket on the back of the truck. When you press the brake pedal, the controller supplies an adjustable amount of current to the trailer brakes.
 
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He could have had dodgy trailer wiring and the switches kept that stuff off unless really needed. So his unplugged harness getting wet and shorting out wouldn't be an issue.

Or maybe he sold drugs and the marker lights were how he signalled others in the 7-11 parking lot.

Back in the moonshine running days they used to run the ground wire for the tail lights back to a switch under the dash, so all tail lights (including brake) could be killed with one switch. So SOP would be to kill the rear lights on a curve then disappear down a side road when Johnny Law was after you.
wink.gif
 
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