Troubleshooting Dim LED Tail Lights on a 1996 Dodge Ram 3500 with a Flatbed

Updated 11/13/2013 | Published 11/09/2013

Question:

I have a 96 dodge 3500 with a flat bed. I replaced all the lights with leds. 4 stop and turn in the headache rack, and 4 stop and turn in the tail board. There is also 18 side marker lights. 5 on each side, 5 on the tail board and 3 on the headache rack. The problem I am having is with the tail lights in the tail board. They are dim. The tail lights in the headache rack burn bright and the marker lights burn bright, but the tail board tail lights burn really dim. What do I need to do to fix this probled?

asked by: R T

Expert Reply:

I recently had a similar problem with the LED lights on my flatbed that I have on my 2000 Dodge 3500, except all of the tail lights on the left side of my bed were dim. My issue was a poor ground connection and I would suspect that would be your issue as well. I recommend inspecting all of the ground locations as well as the ground wires coming from each of the lights. Look for loose connections or pinched wires.

If your lights use the plug-in style pigtail harnesses (see photo), look for bent or damaged pins. Also, if you have an aluminum flatbed, make sure the lights are grounded to an existing ground stud on the truck or to a clean, bare surface on the truck frame.

I would not suspect that the other lights on the bed are drawing too much power causing the tail board lights to receive an insufficient amount of power. LED lights draw only a fraction of the power that incandescent lights require, so that should not be a problem. It is likely a poor ground or you could possibly have faulty tail lights if there are no ground issues.

expert reply by: John H