My 18 F150 has the BLIS system. This means I cannot upgrade the reverse lights on it. I ordered the 7" light bar below an plan to mount it just above the license plate using the license plate bolts to hold a bracket I will make. I have confirmed the 2 wires in the factory harness behind the taillight that are for the reverse leds in it. Do you think I should use a relay to power the 30w 7" light bar, or do you think the reverse circuit could handle it? I could pull my 12v off the harness for the 7 pin trailer connector. Pin 1 & 4 starting at the black on the bottom left.

 

That's 2.5 amps - shouldn't be an issue. I wouldn't bother with a relay. I ran 36 watts worth of light off the 7 pin reverse circuit and had no problems.

 

I have two 30W lights bars on the back that I tied into the trailer connector with no relay and they are still going strong.

 

I have a pair of LED spotlights flush mounted into my back bumper. They’re advertised at 42W and pull a few amps total. They’re wired directly to the reverse circuit on the 7-pin trailer connector (no relay) and I haven’t had any issues.

 

I wish I had thought of using the trailer connector. I have never towed a large trailer that used the 7 pin, so I did not think about it having a reverse wire. Makes so much more sense.

Of course, I will use it now.

Thanks all!

 

Does using the trailer connector activate the trailer towing mode in the truck? What effects does the truck have when using the trailer connector or is it simply power?

 

Take the ground from the frame and tap the reverse wire. does not activate towing mode.

 

I mounted some cube lights under the bumper when I had my 13. I ended up just using a light bar wiring harness with a switch in the cab. They were wired to the battery and fused of course. You may be surprised at how you may not need or want them on EVERY time you put the truck in reverse. To each his own though

My personal plan is to get this off eBay and order a KustomFX upfitter switch to wire it to. I also plan on adding a few more lights and adding an accessory fuse box to run them through

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I bought one of these and LOVE it. Super bright and it’s not hanging off the bottom of the bumper so I don’t have to worry about it dragging on something when I’m off-road.

https://www.vleds.com/lpr-reverse-72-w.html

 

No activation, no effect.