How To Wire a Camper Shell 

I installed my 2007 Leer cap on my new 2015 Tacoma, like you did. There's a cleaner way to run the wires between the cap and taillight, which keeps wires out of the bed space: 1) Remove the Leer cap, or if you don't want to, prop it up with a vertical 2x4 between the bed floor and cap ceiling near the dome light 2) Just above the driver's-side taillight, pop up the horizontal, plastic trim. 3) Run the wires through the rectangular hole under the trim and down into the taillight space 4) Snap the trim back in (it all fits). 5) Make your wiring connections. 6) Reinstall the cap. 7) Use tape or zip ties to gather excess wires hanging in the cap corner 8) Loosen small screws holding the interior metal trim near the awning window. 9) Stuff wires under the trim and tighten the screws. Wires are concealed and out of the way.

Hey there, just wanted to give a big thanks for the video! Failed my first inspection because the 3rd break light didn’t work on my camper shell. Watched your vid and got it to work again. Great stuff, thanks for sharing your knowledge with others

Thanks! Needed all this info. Also, by far the most helpful thing I saw in this video was how you soldered! Love it! Never thought to hold the soldering iron behind the wires. Duh! Love RU-vid for stuff like that.

Nice truck and shell setup. I got my camper shell with my truck... at first didn't like it, glad I kept it its very useful. Its already wired up just wanted to say it was a good instructional video.

Thanks so much!!! Just hooked mine up whilst watching this video! Need more wire and the inline fuse for the dome lights buuuuuut all ready to go!!! Thanks again!!!

Thanks for the Tutorial - I have been needing to do this to my Truck Cap!! Much appreciated!!!

Thanks dude! I followed this tutorial and it worked great.

Nice tutorial, thanks! Right to the point with no fluff.

THANK U FOR THIS. WIRED MY BRAHMA CAMPER SHELL TO MY RANGER USING THIS AS REFERENCE

Just bought a used cap as well, thanks!

Thanks for the upload. Having a cab light would definitely be convenient. And I guess a third brake light makes it a bit more safe on the road. Will have to look into trying this myself.

Very helpful thanks

the newer rams have a third brake light wire in the harness to tap into that is in the center above the spare tire. much better than tapping into the left turn signal/brake light.

Great job bro

good on you to solder all connections, I own a boat as well, all my wiring is soldered, I don't trust crimp connections.

In my dad's car you could already choose if you wanted the lights on or not so i don't think this setup is required but it's good to know this incase i need it in the future 👊

Awesome vid keep it up 🔥🔥 I can't wait to see what the truck looks like when ur Finished its like waiting for Christmas to see what vid is next 😂 have a good day

I did this and the left turn signal works the third brake light. Turn your left turn signal on & watch it , You must get into the wiring harness & find the 3rd. brake light wire which is green stub on my f350 at the rear by the spare tire. f150 it's up by the drivers door, still a green wire stub just ready to hook onto .

What amp fuse did you use for the dome light wire?

thank you for the good tutorial man. Lucky that I found you because of jerry

Great video. You will be cutting the power to the dome light the second time you forget to turn it off. Dead battery. You will.

Great content thanks dude

hey man, idk if you still use your youtube channel but for me, whenever I have the dome light connected directly to the battery, my battery will die (even though the light is rarely on) is it because I have a bad ground? or I don’t have a power surge or whatever that thing is that you showed at 3:40. help is appreciated

Can you get any of this wiring at home depot or anything ir will i have to order online?

Where did you get the fuse line from and what amp of fuse do you use for the dome light

Link to the inline fuse or one similar?

Braxen, Looking to do this exact same thing on my 2012 Taco but with led strip lighting instead of the dome light. To get it to the battery was that green wire already there or did you have to add that? Thanks man!

I have a question about your connection. Should you not have used a relay at least for the dome light. I don't know a lot about circuits and I'd like to connect my shell lights as well, but when I bought my foglights and the harness for them, it came with a relay I just don't wanna burn my car if I miss something. Why or why not should I include a relay?

Could the wiring be spliced into the trailer hitch wiring underneath? I already have voltage regulators wired into my tail lights due to switching to LEDs and not sure if I have enough room to add more wiring

Good video. You don't have to make excuses for soldering. I would prefer that the connector and wire be running through the bed wall rather than hanging inside the bed. Is that doable? Also the wire running underneath the truck to the battery should be secured with cable ties. If friction rubs off the insulation, there is sure to be an unpleasant motion stopping short.

What’s the best way to connect your dome light cable to the car battery? I saw the same attachment you used to ground the yellow cable however im curious how you connected your white cable to the car battery with that same ground attachment

👍

Does the third brake light not blink with the turn signal light?

How do you ID which wire is what on that driver side rear harness going to the rear truck lights? Can anybody make a quick list for me what each colored wire is doing?

Couldn't you combine the 2 negative cables and go with a 3 pin connector?

Why not wire to constant on trailer harness

I watched this for a different wiring question I was looking to answer. But 1 why didn't you have the harness come up through the hole in the bedrails. It's perfect to tuck down out of the way when you don't have the cap on and it keeps the wire clean running above the bed rail so there's much less chance of catching it with something going in and out of the bed and ripping the wires out. And 2. You have a button inside the truck to turn on your rear cargo light already there. Why wouldn't you tie into that for your power source since it's useless with the cap on. Furthermore there is way to have it like a 3 way so you can turn it on from both inside the cab or the truck as well as at the light itself. This is the info I was looking for. Through use of a diode or relay I'm not sure but I know it's possible. But mine will be run with those two things in mind keeping the wire away from where it can be damaged and so I can illuminate it from wherever I happen to be at the time. Inside or outside the truck. If I had to run wire down and along the frame I'll be securing it with zip ties and running it through some sort of loom for added protection from road debris salt etc. That can chew through wire insulation shorting out your wiring in no time. Which is why all factory wiring is protected in the same manner.

The inline fuse to your battery for the third break light and dome light ....what size fuse do you use in it ? 15? 20? I ask because I had mine done at the place I bought mine ans I was having a battery issue on a 8 month old stock battery in my truck but ensure it wasnt the new shell and its wiring the shop disconnected the plug in the shell ans pulled the fuses out of the inline wire ans he pocketed them ...so I never got to see what size they were (it holds 2 in it ). Got the battey issue resolved dealer replaced it for me so now I can re plug in my shell but ...lol the fuse to inline wire I dont know what size to put there to get it all back on

I wired my camper brake light to my right taillight and it works, but when I turn my right turn signal the brake light also flashes any help?

Add lights to the Jeep? Connect them to the subs? I think you should

Where did you get all the wires and connections? I’ve been to three auto stores, the Home Depot and Walmart and no one has anything.

@BraxMcConell What's your plan about putting a light inside your camper shell?

There should be a wire underneath in your harness for the third brake light so you dont have to cut into the wiring.

Do you test turn signal?

is it necessary to have a third light on the camper shell?

How did you know which pair of wires were for the 3rd brake light, and which were for the dome light?

This guy looks like David Hogg

Good for ppl that know what they need and have a general knowledge.....for someone like me that is an absolute beginner, not much good info here to start off. Thanks anyways.

Hey what’s tell jerry I said hi in a video

Good explanition, But I cannot understand fully...

Without jerry we won't find you

Are you related to zach

if "i CaN dO iT mYsElF ChEaPeR" was a video lol smh

All of you need to know that this only works on Toyotas and some Nissans that have the turn and brake on separate bulbs. I’ve been a camper shell dealer for 36 years, trust me on this. On most American made trucks such as Ford, Chevy, and Ram the turn and brake are on the same bulb. This can cause electrical issues with your truck computer in addition to the brake light blinking when you turn on your blinker. In some models of trucks this can actually cause transmission problems and failure. Do NOT attempt this style install on any truck that uses the turn and brake on the same bulb! Trucks that use the same bulb for both the turn and brake have very specific locations you must use for a brake light only feed for the camper shell brake light and it is NOT the tail lights or the trailer harness. This specific location varies depending on the truck, model, and year and could be under the hood, inside the cab, under the truck, or by the rear bumper. You can also void any electrical warranties your vehicle has left if you unknowingly hook to the tail lights on the wrong truck. If you are unsure if you have both turn and brake on the same bulb, just have someone hold the brake when turning on a turn signal. If both come from the same place in your tail light you’re truck can NOT be wired this way.

Cant see what color u connected with what cause ur finger/tape cover the other end colors 🤦🏾‍♂️ I'm deaf cant hear none of this

Can you give me a shout out in your next video

Can you say dead batterys lol

First lol

Wtf... wack AF .... having the wires like that going into the box.

Clearly your a newbie, I'd say it looks like a child did it but it's obvious that a child did it, watch some videos that the pros did and start from scratch, two words, loom and zip ties.

Oh my god what a horrible job! Nice ground wire, Maybe next time you should probably scrape the paint and then use a ring terminal that is actually the correct size! Also you could have just ran the power wire up into the cab and tapped into any one of the power wires that run along your floor! You can either tap into your interior lights or you can tap into constant power or switched power! Also you should have either protected your wire with wire loom or you could have at least wrapped it with Tessa tape, As well as that crappy trailer wiring harness inside the bed! Every time you do a job you should think yourself, Would this vehicle leave the factory like this? And the answer is Hell No!