Wiring an extra set of led reverse lights

I did a search but couldn’t quite find what I was looking for. I am trying to wire an extra set of reverse lights in my rear bumper. I don’t think I have a need to switch them unless someone could tell me the advantage of doing so besides blinding tailgaters. Or off road use maybe?

They are led low draw pod lights so can’t I just directly tap into the reverse lights? I don’t think I need a relay or even an in-line fuse seeing the reverse lights themselves are fused no?
Thanks for the feedback.

 

If those lights have less resistance than the factory lights then you may end up blowing a fuse. I’d take an ohm meter and compare the resistance between the two and add a resistor, if necessary.

 

To be safe I'd over build it, run a relay and have the trigger leg wired off the reverse bulb wire then run ground off metal screw back there and power all the way to the front to battery with in line fuse. I have a set of rigid reverse lights that have a wire harness that does exactly this but it came with a 3 way rocker switch built in. Up is on, middle is off, down is only on with reverse. It's a cool set up.

 

Thanks for the info. It’s never as simple as I want to make it isn’t it? Lol.

 

Nope and it gets even funner when you follow instructions and it doesn't work.

 

As long as they are rated for 12v, you shouldn’t have to worry about resistors. I would be mindful of amperage draw though. If you have replaced the stock reverse bulbs with LEDs, you can probably do 2A additional load with not much concern. If not, keep the additional load under 1A and I think you’d be okay. If you want to add a relay to the rear triggered by the reverse lights, that is doable to. Maybe run a 14g wire up to the battery and you could 4-5 amps. Make it 12g and go up to 7-8 amps. If you need more amperage, then HOLY CRAP! HOW BRIGHT DO YOU NEED IT?!

 

If you aren't pulling 12 amps then did you even add lights to the back?

 

That's what I have in mine. They definitely work on tailgaters.

 

I’ve got a set of rigid sr-q series pro flush mounts in my rear bumper, wired to my trailer plug to come on when reverse lights trigger. I cut the rigid harness up, used the inline fuse just for a little extra protection. Installed back in January. Works awesome.