Brake/parking light issue

[Angrywood]

Straight to the point….. the driver side tail light works….parking light and the brake light. Both filaments light up in the bulb as they are suppose to. The passenger side doesn’t. The same filament lights up when brake is activated or when parking light is on. However if break is activated when the parking light is on…light goes out. I have switched the bulbs from one side to the other and the same thing happens.

I ran new wiring harnesses from the cab back and it used to work right. Now it is not after i have connected everything after putting the bed back on. I now it is probably something super simple im over looking but cant figure it out. Any ideas for me? I feel stupid for even having to ask this but its better than having to take it to a mechanic. Thanks for your input

[Steeveedee]

Make sure to check the grounds. That is usually the issue.

[62bagger]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

Make sure to check the grounds. That is usually the issue.

I would check the grounds as well. I had a similar problem with a square body and when I secured the ground to a clean spot on the frame the problem went away.

[Angrywood]

Sounds good. But….where is the grounds located? I took the original wiring off a long time ago and replaced with the new wiring harness. Don’t remember seeing a ground anywhere on the rear end

[jayoldschool]

I had the same issue on my truck. Here's how I fixed it:
- new ground from tail light bucket to bed
- ground from bed to frame at rear
- ground from bed to frame at front
- ground from cab rear to frame
- ground from cab rear to front bed

[ACK]

Originally Posted by Angrywood

Sounds good. But….where is the grounds located? I took the original wiring off a long time ago and replaced with the new wiring harness. Don’t remember seeing a ground anywhere on the rear end

The battery grounds to the frame/body, so the whole frame/body is technically the ground. You can ground to almost any metal surface on the truck as long as it's clean. The back of the truck typically turns into a dead zone due to years of accumulating rust and dirt. Dig around, there's plenty of threads on the board regarding how to improve grounding the bed, all are quick and easy. Keep us posted on how the project turns out.

[Angrywood]

Thank you all for the input. So after what Jay mentioned i went back and see if i have a ground. The attached is the wire harness i used. Which attached to a new wire harness all the way to the firewall. At no point did i see a ground and dont remember removing one when i removed the old. I cleaned all the connections and thought about how i was going to do this. I used the tester probe pen and traced the power all the way to the firewall. So i thought the ground must’ve been there. Put the bulbs back in the connector buckets and nothing. Screwed the buckets in and completed the circuit and got power to the bulbs. Not sure exactly how this is grounded but with everything except the wires being stock i think it has something to do with the buckets and the rest of the truck having to be touching. If that all makes since. Had my trusty 8 yr old daughter turn the lights on/of and push the break pedal off/on and its all functioning the right way. So i think what ACK said is true. The whole truck was grounded was just getting poor connection somewhere. I am no mechanic or electrician so thanks again for the responses.

[jayoldschool]

Originally Posted by Angrywood

Thank you all for the input. So after what Jay mentioned i went back and see if i have a ground. The attached is the wire harness i used. Which attached to a new wire harness all the way to the firewall. At no point did i see a ground and dont remember removing one when i removed the old. I cleaned all the connections and thought about how i was going to do this. I used the tester probe pen and traced the power all the way to the firewall. So i thought the ground must’ve been there. Put the bulbs back in the connector buckets and nothing. Screwed the buckets in and completed the circuit and got power to the bulbs. Not sure exactly how this is grounded but with everything except the wires being stock i think it has something to do with the buckets and the rest of the truck having to be touching. If that all makes since. Had my trusty 8 yr old daughter turn the lights on/of and push the break pedal off/on and its all functioning the right way. So i think what ACK said is true. The whole truck was grounded was just getting poor connection somewhere. I am no mechanic or electrician so thanks again for the responses.

Yes, stock it just completes the ground through the bucket. It's terrible that way. I drill a hole in the bucket, and one in the inner bed structure, and run a wire with a ring terminal between each.

[Angrywood]

Originally Posted by jayoldschool

Yes, stock it just completes the ground through the bucket. It's terrible that way. I drill a hole in the bucket, and one in the inner bed structure, and run a wire with a ring terminal between each.

Just running a wire from the bucket to the fame will be a better ground than the way it is now? That’s a simple fix for future problems i take it. Thanks Jay