Paveltolz
Доверяй, но проверяй
Long ago I had issues with flickering tail lights and, being in a time crunch (moving across the country), cut out the C409 four way connector at the tailgate and spliced a ‘temp’ fix.
Working with BigT and getting his tail lights operational reminded me that replacing that connector was on the ToDo list…still. When I opened up the harness where I’d done the splicing I was pleased that the heat shrink butt-splices, heat shrink tubing and the electrical tape wrap had done the job. Things looked like they did when I sealed everything up in 2008. I was kinda loath to make the repair but, when the bed comes off for frame de-rusting, I’ll need that connector or have to pull the harnesses out of the bed.
I decided to order a weather pack connector kit and learned a new skill in the process of affecting the repair.
Completed C409.
Decided to add a 7 pin trailer connection and, ‘while in there,’ remove the RECON Extreme tailgate light bar (inop, again), correct the 4pin flat trailer connector and swap in new LED license plate lamps.
Trailer Brake & Auxiliary Power leads from the firewall get a Two-Way connector.
Mid project, it was looking more like a snake pit than anything else. I was using a lot of zip ties to hold some wires out of the way so I could focus on whatever the current one(s) were. The purple wire is the revers line off the 7 pin. It would get joined vs. spliced into the OEM light green wires with a single pin weather pack connector.
Towards the end, its looking a little better. All wires got labels for future reference. Brake, Aux. Power, Reverse, the added power leads (not pictured) etc. The frame grounds (white) were cleaned up and generous coating of NoaLox anti-oxidant/contact promoter applied before tightening down.
I ended up replacing the 4-pin flat trailer connector as the status LED’s were toast. I picked up a replacement from Hopkins with about a 4’ length of wires and spliced it in and wrapped in new wire loom.
7 Pin looks like it belongs there.
License plate bulbs were replaced a while back with LED units that barely fit inside the housing. The housing lenses, aftermarket, had also faded. I picked up replacement housings with integrated LED lighting as a replacement and swapped those in.
Old bulb & housing circled on the left. Yes, its illuminated. New unit on the right. Plug and play.
Working with BigT and getting his tail lights operational reminded me that replacing that connector was on the ToDo list…still. When I opened up the harness where I’d done the splicing I was pleased that the heat shrink butt-splices, heat shrink tubing and the electrical tape wrap had done the job. Things looked like they did when I sealed everything up in 2008. I was kinda loath to make the repair but, when the bed comes off for frame de-rusting, I’ll need that connector or have to pull the harnesses out of the bed.
I decided to order a weather pack connector kit and learned a new skill in the process of affecting the repair.
Completed C409.
Decided to add a 7 pin trailer connection and, ‘while in there,’ remove the RECON Extreme tailgate light bar (inop, again), correct the 4pin flat trailer connector and swap in new LED license plate lamps.
Trailer Brake & Auxiliary Power leads from the firewall get a Two-Way connector.
Mid project, it was looking more like a snake pit than anything else. I was using a lot of zip ties to hold some wires out of the way so I could focus on whatever the current one(s) were. The purple wire is the revers line off the 7 pin. It would get joined vs. spliced into the OEM light green wires with a single pin weather pack connector.
Towards the end, its looking a little better. All wires got labels for future reference. Brake, Aux. Power, Reverse, the added power leads (not pictured) etc. The frame grounds (white) were cleaned up and generous coating of NoaLox anti-oxidant/contact promoter applied before tightening down.
I ended up replacing the 4-pin flat trailer connector as the status LED’s were toast. I picked up a replacement from Hopkins with about a 4’ length of wires and spliced it in and wrapped in new wire loom.
7 Pin looks like it belongs there.
License plate bulbs were replaced a while back with LED units that barely fit inside the housing. The housing lenses, aftermarket, had also faded. I picked up replacement housings with integrated LED lighting as a replacement and swapped those in.
Old bulb & housing circled on the left. Yes, its illuminated. New unit on the right. Plug and play.