You could probably splice into the backup light circuit to trigger a relay. The relay will have way less current draw than the LED cubes.

I had the same issue as you. My tints were too dark and the reverse light was way too weak to see anything. I went the route of making a bracket and mounting some LED Pods up underneath my truck. I didn't splice into the wiring harness, but rather used a Power Module from a company called RideController. It's an expensive unit, but it has 8-30A outputs. It also connects to your phone, so you don't have to hit a physical switch in the cab. I'm using this to power these pods, a light bar in my front bumper, and I've installed some small LEDs on the side of my bed so that I can shed some light on the junk that I toss into my bed when I have my tonneau cover on.

I'll snap a picture of the bracket and mounting location once I'm out of work.

 

Here’s some pictures.

 

I did a identical setup. Ran to a switch so I can have it on whenever I want to. Like when hooking up my trailer in the dark


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I made some similar brackets for the pod lights I mounted on my truck. I replaced the factory reverse bulbs with LEDs which lowered the base current draw enough that I could run the pods directly off the reverse circuit without an relays or special wiring.

Greg
2012 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | Custom tuned by Double R Diesel
2016 | Heartland Pioneer | DS310

 

With the finicky nature of the CANBUS electronics on these trucks, I would not recommend trying to run any additional lights directly off of the existing circuitry. Heck, when I start my rig it tells me my back up and license plate bulbs are out because I put in LED's.

On my old '06 I mounted some 55W fog lights to assist with seeing thru the 5% tint at night. I put them on a relay that was tapped into the factory reverse light wire with the power for the lights coming right off the battery.

I'm going to eventually install some flush mount cube lights in my rear bumper on my '15 with the same wiring set up but this time I'm also going to put them on a switch to bypass the relay so I can turn them on without having to put the truck in reverse, something I neglected to do on the last truck.


Speaking of cube lights, and not to hijack the thread, any recommendations on decent quality flood type, flush mount cube lights? I know Rigid's are good but they're also extremely expensive for 2 little lights.

 

My truck is lifted a bit with dark tint. One of the issues with this is my backup lights are useless. I have to put down my window to barely be able to see anything. I want to add some 18W LED cubes under the truck, like rock lights but just for behind the rear tires. My question is on wiring. They would ideally wire into the existing backup light circuit and turn on with the existing bulbs. Would this circuit handle the added ~1.5 amps per light? If not, would it handle it if I removed the current (useless) backup bulbs?

Looking at doing it with some cheap cubes like these in the 18W flood option....
https://www.amazon.com/Light-Eyourl...rproof-Driving-Headlight/dp/B01DVVVJNG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&th=1

Just tie into the trailer tow backup circuit, all ready at the rear of truck, fused and relayed.

 

I did the same thing. At the time I wished I tied it to a switch I could also use when tailgating but I have yet to find myself in a situation i installed the switch.

 

My Ranch Hand rear bumper came with some nice LED pods. I ran a positap from the 7 pin trailer harness to activate those. No issues/alerts and no problem with it also running the backup lights on my trailers. I did mine when installing the bumper, so it was very easy to access the trailer harness.
I suspect the electronics are more tolerant of trailer lighting as well since the resistance of trailer lighting could vary depending on trailer (unlike the stock backup lights)

 

Also tied into the trailer tow reverse wire and a switch. Brackets mounted close to as shown in above post.

 

Thats why I didn’t tie into the trailer plug. I need the ability to turn these on without the truck being in reverse. I work for a boat builder, so there are situations where I’m pulling the boat out of the water at night. Having these light to help with unloading of the boat and covering it will real help.

 

I added three cube lights to the rear rack and two more under the bumper. I tied all five together and ran the wire up under the hood and wired them into the upfitter switch. It was pretty easy as I am not that good with electrical jobs.

 

Thank you everyone for your information.

So I mounted the pods under the truck today. I was planning on tying the wiring into the reverse light of the 7 pin trailer plug. To the center pin and the ground. Where I was stymied was the best way to break into those wires. There is so much dirt, water and crap that gets thrown at that area I want to make sure to do it the best way. What are my options? What is the "best" way to break into those wires?

 

What is the "best" way to break into those wires?

You are correct to be concerned with any modification to the wiring underneath your truck. The best way, and IMHO the ONLY way to do it correctly is to cut, splice, solder and use marine grade (adhesive) shrink tubing to close up the spliced area.

 

If you use a good wire tap along with Dielectric Grease should work fine. Could also tape it up or shrink wrap it after.

 

Opened up Bumper TT connector & was able to pull out center contact for TT BU Lamp
Ringed the insulation & wrapped RD 16 Awg MTW around the BU wire, added liquid solder flux & soldered the wires together with soldering iron
Heat shrinked adhesive heat shrink tube over the splice
Reinstalled the contact into TT connector & added rear wire keeper
Added little bits of Dow Corning dielectric grease to the connector contacts for the wires from front & for the TT connector
Wrapped the wires back up with friction tape to past the junction for the 5th wheel wires & then added the split loom back on & wrapped it in friction tape

 

How do the pins come out of the socket?

 

Have to unsnap the plastic keeper off the back of the connector.
I think it's the angled bit of metal on each that locks them into the connector.
Been a few months so don't remember for exactly. Just use a thin tool to press the locking tab a bit and connector should slide out the back.
Here's a closeup.

Click For Full-Size Image.