I read Shawn's post about the after market reverse lights he installed on his 300td. I we have a steep driveway and both stock reverse are smashed out on our 300td wagon. I bought the Northern Tool lights which are 55watts each and I am going to hook them up with a relay and using the reverse light switch in the shifter as the trigger. The question I have is where does the 12volts positive power come from to power the lights if you are bypassing the shifter switch? I am thinking about running a dedicated heavy gauge wire to the battery with an inline fuse. The only problem with that is where to run the wire through the body or is there a suitable power source in the rear of the car? I am planning on mounting the relay in the rear compartment on the passenger side.
Any thoughts on this scheme would be appreciated.

You will have to run dedicated wire.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

I ran a 10 ga wire back to the spare tire well. I used this side because it was easy to fish a wire thru the grommet that is in the firewall. also the stock wiring goes to this compartment first, so it was easy to figure everything out.

I used 10 ga so I can also have a 12v outlet back there heavy enough to run an inverter, 12v trouble light,etc. from, even while backing up! or if needed, you can jump the relay and use the lights for other uses while parked.(fishing, tailgating, camping, etc)

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

Did you run the 10 gauge wire inside the car or under the car? I haven't looked at where the stock wires come from but I think they run inside near the roof. I have seen some crazy trailer light wiring in my day and would like to keep any extra wiring well hidden and protected.

pull the carpet out and run it along the other wires- they are nder a black plastic cover.

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

Thanks, I am going to install them this weekend.

The carpet comes up pretty easily, and the yellow vacuum tubes for the door locks go beneath the passenger seats. You can follow those right back to the fuel door where the wiring is for the tail lights and reverse lights.

The vacuum tubes are in the black plastic tray that mobetta referred to.

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1985 300TD-euro 352,000 mi
1974 240D (1?)52,000 mi - has a new home now