Camper Shell Wiring Write-Up

I've had my Leer 100R for a few months now but just wired it up today. I found some threads on here that were very helpful but as all shells are slightly different, I thought I would do a small write up in the chance it helps someone out. Remember, my truck is a 2012 with the LED brake lights. I do not know if the wiring for the pre-led brake lights will be the same or not.



My shell had 2 wires coming from the 3rd brake light/dome light area. I was confused for a bit then looked at the dome light and found this.



That explains the two wires. One of the wires was solid red and the other was red/black.



I took the 2 bolts holding the brake light out and removed it. After I removed all the bulbs/bases from the light, I set it aside. I then pulled 2 sections of black 16 gauge wire from the brake light compartment into the truck bed area. There is just enough room under the bed rail to fit a few pieces of wire. This is what the brake light bulb wiring looks like.



I found out on this post, http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...ring-third-brake-light-bestop.html#post774429 , that the green/red was for my brake light and the white/black was my ground. Normally I won't trust a Phillies fan but I decided to give it a try after testing with a meter. Not a good picture of the splicing job. The in-line splices I bought from Advance auto were horrible so I had to cut and splice with wire nuts.



I used plenty of electrical tape to ensure the will not come loose. No pictures of this. I used the following quick disconnect so I can take off the shell if needed.



After I used butt connectors to attach the 16 gauge wire to the quick disconnects, I used heat shrink and flexible wire cover material to protect my wire. This is how I chose to place the pigtail to look neat and clean.





The finished product.




My helper for the project.





Not sure if anyone will benefit from this but I hope someone can use it.

 

I'm doing the same thing tomorrow! thanks

 

Your truck looks good man. Countersteer offroads, gotta love them.

 

what? no, do not use household wirenuts for 12v wiring on a car. do it right man.

 

This is on my agenda for today...got the cap last week.

Howard

 

Mine is wired the same way, I had a LEER 110R and now a 100Xl. The only problem with doing it that way is the only time that the light in the cap works is when the parking lights are on. Couple that with having to have the key on sometimes when parked to get the lights on and it becomes a pain. I plan to rewire my cap lights to a constant 12v source. I rarely need my cap light on when the parking lights are on, it usually needed when I'm parked to get something from the back.

 

Didn't have anything else around. I had to use what I had.

 

My dome light runs off AA batteries so it wasn't that important to me.

 

i got the third brake light done, but not the domes...it took me longer to make it pretty than anything else...the trailer harness kit came with three way wire taps. I drilled a 1/4 at the top of the tail light socket from the bed side to run the wires, wrapped in tape through.

Now I won't risk getting pulled over and shot in the back for not having a third brake light.

Howard

 

Does the 3rd brake light only light up when the brake is pressed?

 

My shell installer ran 2 constant hot wires from my battery with a fuse, then jump to taillight . One is for shell/brake light, the other is for 12volt USB. The back is set up for camping.

 

Yes, tapped into brake light wiring.

Howard

 

Just used this. Thanks

 

I did mine five years ago...and the cap makes the truck so much better as a daily driver. No need to tie down either groceries, garbage and the building materials I usually haul. Plus it keeps the snow from filling up the bed.

 

That's not how I did mine, but if it works for you, OK. (I didn't want to tap into, or cut, any of the existing wiring on my brand-new truck. I used the Leer harness that intercepts the 7-pin trailer connector, plus I ran a hot wire directly to the battery, for the dome light.)