back door switch

[pyro]

Have noticed on my 2 63's that the back door has 2 switches, like the door jamb switch type. The Superior wiring was still intact. 1st was the typical interior light switch. 2nd was connected to the back up lights. Was this so the back up lights came on when the back door was opened?

[northgahearse]

yes loading lights hot that they help that much

[Riff Raff]

My 82 S&S had switch on the dash to control them. Mine worked pretty good. And as an added bonus, if someone was tailgating, I would hit the brakes and flip them on real quick and make tham think I was throwing the car in reverse. After that they backed way up.

[Flymanj3]

Yep, the button hooks to the Backups as loading lights but only work as good as the backup lights are - mine were pretty wimpy, I installed some front running / fog lights under my bumper and MAN, ARE THEM SUCKERS BRIGHT!!!
Just a note - I also installed 2 switches just inside the door to cut off both interior and backup lights (inline w/ buttons) so they do not stay on while at car shows with the back door open.

[ElKy]

I hate to dig up an old thread, but....
my 69 also has the two switches, they were broken, but i found some 'new' ones.
when i fished out the wires, there were 4.
only one had 12V, one turned on the interior lights when given power, one turned on the interior lights and the reverse lights, the 4th did nothing when given power.

my question is, why would there be two switches, when one of the wires turns on everything?
wouldn't hooking up the wire that just turns on the interior lights be kind of pointless?

or do you think there might be a wiring mix up somewhere and it is supposed to be like the OPs car?

[theonlyjohnson]

Just a note - I also installed 2 switches just inside the door to cut off both interior and backup lights (inline w/ buttons) so they do not stay on while at car shows with the back door open.

That is an awesome idea, way better than unplugging the battery

[Flymanj3]

I hate to dig up an old thread, but....
my 69 also has the two switches, they were broken, but i found some 'new' ones.
when i fished out the wires, there were 4.
only one had 12V, one turned on the interior lights when given power, one turned on the interior lights and the reverse lights, the 4th did nothing when given power.

my question is, why would there be two switches, when one of the wires turns on everything?
wouldn't hooking up the wire that just turns on the interior lights be kind of pointless?

or do you think there might be a wiring mix up somewhere and it is supposed to be like the OPs car?

The reason for 2 switches is interior and back up lights are 2 circuits - the back up actually has 2 switches itself... the door jab and reverse switch in the steering column. if it was only one circuit, the interior lights would come on every time you backed up.

[Abnorml]

My backup lights have never came on when I open the rear door. Until recently nothing came on when I opened the rear door. I took the switches out and cleaned them and now the interior lights come on when the door is opened. I can wiggle one of the switches and the lights will go out. I replaced my backup lights with fog lights, were the original ones were. They are not great, because the opening is not very wide. But they are a whole lot better than the original lights.
Does the headlight switch control the rear interior lights?

[Flymanj3]

My backup lights have never came on when I open the rear door. Until recently nothing came on when I opened the rear door. I took the switches out and cleaned them and now the interior lights come on when the door is opened. I can wiggle one of the switches and the lights will go out. I replaced my backup lights with fog lights, were the original ones were. They are not great, because the opening is not very wide. But they are a whole lot better than the original lights.
Does the headlight switch control the rear interior lights?

I mounted my B/U fog lights right under the bumper - looks like daytime when I back into the garage - LOL

Don't know about other coaches, but mine (86 Eureka Concourse) the front & back are not connected to the headlight switch. My back lights only operate from the back doors (side & rear)

[ElKy]

The reason for 2 switches is interior and back up lights are 2 circuits - the back up actually has 2 switches itself... the door jab and reverse switch in the steering column. if it was only one circuit, the interior lights would come on every time you backed up.

the way i have the switch right now, when i open the rear door, the interior lights and the back up lights come on.
that was done using only 2 of the 4 wires in the door jamb and my interior lights do not come on when in reverse but the back up lights do.
i am going to pull the interior panels soon to chase the wires down, there might be something funny going on.

[Flymanj3]

the way i have the switch right now, when i open the rear door, the interior lights and the back up lights come on.
that was done using only 2 of the 4 wires in the door jamb and my interior lights do not come on when in reverse but the back up lights do.
i am going to pull the interior panels soon to chase the wires down, there might be something funny going on.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

[cupcake]

Not sure how you got it working right with 2 wires. 4 wires are as follows. 2 for the interior lights (1 is to ground and 1 is to the neg side of te lights, as they get 12v+ to the other side all the time. So the switch makes the ground just like the other doors switches.) and 2 for the reverse lights ( But this switch controls the + side as the lights are grounded and the switch and rev switch send 12v to them.) If all that makes sense.