Defender TD5 reverse light

Hi guys. What's the best option to upgrade the reverse light on my Def TD5 as I do quite a bit of reversing in the dark and the light is SH-T! Upgrade or fit worklight and use that? Played with electrics on my old SIIA but never on a TD5

Be interested in the reply - been toying with this prob too. Local parts shop has a Bosch worklight reduced to about a tenner, and I have a very vague wiring diagram in my mind for a relay and switch to the aux switches under the dash so I can have it coming on automatically or turn it off if there are cars/peeps behind who value their eyesight......

I have a full roof rack, so could mount to the bottom back rail of that rather than anything more than a grommetted wiring hole in the back panel?

Any easy 'how to' threads in the past would be great. A

[p.s. sorry, just noticed this is in the TD5 engine section - will follow it to the Defenders if/when it moves...!]

the NAS spec reverse light is better than standard td5 light, and cheapand easy to fit. Still not exactly a headlight though

You can bolt any kind of worklight/fog light on the rear crossmember and run a new fused power supply to it.
Use a scotchlock connector to add a wire from the existing reversing light wiring to a relay which will activate the light. Easy to wire up, you just have to locate the light somewhere suitable and route the cables with care. Not in a position to comment on the legal/MOT technicalities though.

soms said:

Use a scotchlock connector

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Nooooooooooo!

The Mad Hat Man said:

Nooooooooooo!

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Scotchlock is fine.

Assuming you have a fire extinguisher on board

sparg said:

the NAS spec reverse light is better than standard td5 light, and cheapand easy to fit. Still not exactly a headlight though

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Just looking for something to reverse by, currently have a 6m candle light torch strung on inside of back of truck.
Fitted a pilot light (from fisherman friend) to the back roof of my SIIA - brilliant also stopped the buggars from driving too close with a quick flash. Probably illegal but so is kissing my bumper.

Five Pots said:

Scotchlock is fine.

Assuming you have a fire extinguisher on board

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Not a scotchlock then.....would I need a separate relay to run one off the x mem? Ran wiring through inside roof and spliced into aux (god knows what the feed was for but it was not doing anything else) for SIIA.

I only suggested the scotchlock to splice in a wire to switch the relay, not to run the lamp!
On the later vehicles with moulded plug connectors your a bit short of means and space to add wiring. On an older vehicle with bullet connectors this isn't such a problem.

soms said:

I only suggested the scotchlock to splice in a wire to switch the relay, not to run the lamp!
On the later vehicles with moulded plug connectors your a bit short of means and space to add wiring. On an older vehicle with bullet connectors this isn't such a problem.

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Thanks for making it clearer; not used to TD5's - bit of a leap from old Rosy (SIIA). My cousin give me a box of connectors - Ampseal and Superseal - think Ampseal may be the one?
What length of wire do you recommend as I have not had it to bits yet and would be good to know what I am up against? Googled a step by step then the comments below had slated everything he had done so not sure now. Would have thought it was pretty straight forward. I can see I am gonna have to do a wrecky and catch up on all the changes when it stops raining.
Used to know old Rosy inside and out and worked or changed most things when I got her (ex Gamekeeper) but I admit to being a novice with this gal. (not thought a name yet)
Thanks for your patience

soms said:

You can bolt any kind of worklight/fog light on the rear crossmember and run a new fused power supply to it.
Use a scotchlock connector to add a wire from the existing reversing light wiring to a relay which will activate the light. Easy to wire up, you just have to locate the light somewhere suitable and route the cables with care. Not in a position to comment on the legal/MOT technicalities though.

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thats a perfectly ascceptable way ,scotch locks while not necessarily the best have been used for years especially on tow bar lighting sockets etc ,reverse light relay switch is low current and short occasional use,the simplest option for a lot of people