New girl, old truck
 

Hi guys! So I bought my 95 Hardbody about 3 years ago but just found out about this forum. I named him Space Ghost because he's white and I fully plan to take him coast to coast. He's a 5 speed with lots of mileage. He's currently around 331k. When I got him, he had been used as a delivery truck for auto parts and he was so raggedy on the interior. Bench seat didn't move (I'm 5' tall so that definitely wasn't going to be ok), no headliner, the passenger side of the seat looked like a raccoon and made a nest in it, etc. The guy really didn't take care of it. It has since has a new headliner, bucket seats, center console, new speakers, radio, tweeters, sub and amp, and a handful of other things to make it ride more smoothly. In the 3 years I've had it, I've put almost 40k miles on it. Would have been more but it sat for about 6 months until I had money to fix the power steering pump.

I do have some questions that I was told I could find the answers to on here but I'm not sure where to post them. Maybe so.ekne can point me in the right direction:
- it didn't have a dimmer switch when I got it so I have no dash lights. There was a switch in the glove box but it isn't the one that should go with it I don't think. Could I just rewire this to make the 3 prong work? For reference, my dimmer switch is to the right of the steering wheel above the AC button.
- No reverse lights. I have replaced the fuse a few times and it blows the fuse almost immediately. Does it just need rewired or is there something else going on?
- The other week my odo and trip stopped working for a little bit which bummed me out. The mileage is a point of pride for me at this point and I want to make sure I get all the miles added on properly. I haven't been able to find a video or manual that shows me where to find and check that cable.

If you happen to know the answers or can point me to the correct forum topic, that would be awesome. Also, does anyone else have random strangers show up to your house asking you to sell your truck to them? I get that multiple times a month. They always try to lowball me, too. I love my truck and have no intention of selling. People think it's weird to love a little beat up truck so much but you guys get it.

One can wire up the dash cluster lights to come on when the key is in the "Run" position; and you won't notice this during the day. My own 1970 VW has been wired this way since late 1976 !!!




That can be made to work, or if seat from a different vehicle that was simply bolted in, new holes can be made.




My guess - without seeing the truck - would be (1) more likely a bad socket for the reverse lights or (2) bad reverse light switch on the transmission. It's also possible that the wire is rubbing somewhere and shorting out. But I'd take out the 2 reverse light bulbs FIRST and then see if the fuse blows and if it does, then disconnect the wires to the two reverse lamps and see if the fuse blows then.

Welcome to the site. We like pictures of our trucks. Please post some.:thumb:

Yea, we "get it"... Welcome to IN!

Does the truck have a trailer wiring harness? When these trucks were made, add-on trailer pigtails were the splice type. The problem with that is the hardbody uses a five wire system (left turn, right turn, brake, tail light and ground) and 9 out of 10 trailers use a 4 wire system. If that is not the case, the rear wire harness runs down the right side of the frame. Like it was mentioned above, check for damage/pinched/chafed wiring.

Does the speedometer still work? The speedo cable is still available. I bought a new one a few years back. The cable is notorious for having problems, but those problems usually do not happen unless the cluster is repeatedly removed. With that many miles, it probably just died. The cable can be changed in about an hour.

welcome to IN.

You need a green hb to name Zorak.

your back up lights.... sounds like the fuse is getting overloaded. what is the amp your putting in there? also are your tail lights stock or after market? i was driving around with aftermarket lights and had no idea my lights werent working. turns out i had to pay 35$ for ALL NEW LIGHT BULBS! so annoying.

HardbodyGirl…

If you want to keep the miles original and it’s a point of originality and pride…Don’t drive the vehicle. If you have a secondary ride. Use that until the odometer, blown fuse and other issues are resolved.