MountainTodd

Hey,

I have a 2000 Silverado, ext cab., 4x4, auto trans., 5.3L engine, and I bought an old ARE camper shell for it. The camper shell has a brake light on it, so I'm wondering what I need to do to get it hooked up? I tow a trailer sometimes, so I think it would be nice to have the extra brake light up high. I'm guessing I need to splice into the rear brake lights, but where and how? Or, should I run a wire from somewhere else?

Thanks in advance for all your time and help!

Todd

Gumby22

Some GM trucks had a blunt cut wiring harness already installed in the truck for trailer or camper shell wiring. If yours has this, it will be tucked into the frame and zip tied either at the driver side frame rail where the bed and cab meet or the area above or just behind the spare tire.

If it doesn’t have the blunt cut, it’s not difficult to splice into the harness.

In either case, you’re looking for a light blue wire that feeds the 3rd brake light on the back of the cab. Confirm the right wire by first cutting it and then step on the brake pedal - if the 3rd brake light doesn’t turn on, it’s the right one.

You may need to run an independent ground - depends on if the shell has good metal to metal contact with the truck or is already fitted with a ground wire for the light.

MountainTodd

Gumby22,
Thanks for the info! I'll check into that as soon as I can. Question though, are you saying that the wiring harness or wire that goes from the front cab to the rear brake lights is going to be light blue? I haven't gotten the light yet, so I don't know how many wires it will have. The old light looks like two wires. Thanks again!

Gumby22

The factory wire color for the 3rd brake light only (on the back of the cab) will be light blue. The rear brake lights get their signal from the same circuits as the turn signals - yellow for left and green for right.

If you tap into one of the rear brake light circuits, then the light on your camper shell will flash with the turn signal.

MountainTodd

Gumby22,
Thanks for the info. and help! I definitely don't want the camper shell light (3rd brake light) to flash with the turn signal. So, hopefully I can find the light blue wire and connect it there!

MountainTodd

Is this the right connector for the camper shell brake light (it is light blue)? If so, where do I find the male connector?

Gumby22

I’ve never seen a loose connector by the trailer plug like that before, but I don’t know what else it could be for. Verify by grounding a test light or meter to the bumper or frame and pressing the brake pedal (make sure you have good contact so you don’t get a false negative).

As to the male side, I’m not finding a single cavity weather pack connector with a flat style terminal (although I’m sure I’ve seen them before) but there are weather pack connectors available with round connectors. You could get a male and female pigtail assembly, cut off the connector you have and splice on the round one.

You could also replace the single cavity connector with a 2 cavity connector, then you’d be able to run the power and ground circuits direct to the truck.

You could also just use an insulated, heat shrink spade or bullet connectors available off the shelf from any parts store.

There are several options available here (I’m not associated with Pico but I’ve used their products for 4 years now and have been very pleased with them).

Pico Wiring Accessories 2021 Catalog

The terminal you have is found on page 45 (GM & universal terminals) - it is part# 5822. But that is the terminal only - complete pigtail/connector assemblies are found on pages 43-44 (weather pack connectors).

To the best of my knowledge, any parts house should be able to cross reference the Pico part numbers and find what you want. It can be tricky though - at work I sometimes have to add or remove the suffix to get the right match. They’re available with several online vendors as well.

MountainTodd

Gumby22,

Thanks so much for all your time and help, that's the reassurance that I need before hacking away at my trucks electrical harness. So, here's my plan!

#1 test the light with the light blue connector under the truck again! I actually tried it already, but don't think I had a good connection (I just touched the male bullet end of the light to the metal outside of the single cavity connector), so it didn't light up. I'm not sure how I'm going to get any of the wire actually in that single cavity connector though. I may just have to cut it off regardless.

The light I purchased has two wires (one power, one ground), and the have male bullet connector ends. So, considering that I am probably going to have to add some additional wire to reach from the light (on the camper shell) to under the truck where this light blue connector is, I'm going to use female bullet end connectors or maybe just a butt connector to add the wire for the extra length needed to reach under the truck. I'm hoping that I can find a good place to ground the light closer to the light, but I may need to do that somewhere on the truck bed frame. I guess I'm just going to cut off that male bullet connector on the ground wire, and replace it with an eye hole connector and put a screw through it to ground it.

It sounds like my only option since this single cavity connector isn't going to be readily available at any of my local auto parts stores, that I need to just cut it off and replace it with another type of wire connector, probably either a butt connector or quick connector. Put some heat shrink stuff around it, tape it up good against the elements, secure the wires good, and hopefully it'll work!

Thanks again Gumby22! I'll most definitely let everyone know the outcome.