I'm ready to put a For Sale sign it in. Tail/stop fuse blows

[whitesswj]

That long explanation is what I wish more would do. Proves you're a good ol' boy! Thanks

Ok here's what I can confirm.
Dome and stop lights are not blowing the fuse. There is no fray on the line under the still so now I can narrow it down to the tail lights only.
Blinkers are working while brakes lights on and haz flash is fine and they become solid when brakes on (that's normal, I know). The front cans light up and nothing blows.

The fuse blows within a couple of seconds once the tail light switch is pulled.

How can I isolate one can from the rest or front from back to try to narrow the short down?

Thanks again y'all!
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[Clyde65]

So I understand, the fuse does nto blow until you turn the headlight switch on and within a couple seconds the fuse for the tails blow, correct?

if this is correct, I would look at the pigtails at the rear lights or headlight switch, like others have said.

[cdowns]

on the firewall there is a plug for the rear harness if you unplug that and do your checks an notin blows you have isolated it to the rear harness and bulb sockets

[whitesswj]

Originally Posted by cdowns

on the firewall there is a plug for the rear harness if you unplug that and do your checks an notin blows you have isolated it to the rear harness and bulb sockets

Gonna try that in a couple of hours.
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[Blue'72]

There's been a ton of good advice here already, and I'll just reiterate the point that I think is most likely. Forgive me if you've already looked this over really well, but I've seen a couple times where the brown wire in the 4 wires that run to the tail lights has become chaffed or even squashed between the bed and frame just enough to cause a short.

Check the brown wire thoroughly..

[Constructor1]

There has been a lot of advise on this issue, and to be honest I did not read all of them, so this may have already been covered. This happened to me on a later model Chevy truck and when the battery cable shorted to ground, it cooked 90% of the grounds for the truck. I would definantly check that they are all still making good contact. Good look.

[406 Q-ship]

Originally Posted by Classic Heartbeat

There isn't any fuses in the rear of the truck. If someone has fuses back there a PO installed them. Bad switches don't usualy cause fuses to blow, unless they have metal housings and are shorted inside. Then it wold blow the fuse wether or not the brakes were applied. Your switch seems to be working great as evidenced by only blowing the fuse when you apply the brakes. .... WES

Not necessarily so, there is no power running through the turn signal switch when the brakes are not applied. If one of the contacts in the turn signal switch has come loose and could be contacting the metal inside the steering column causing the fuse to blow only when the brakes are applied. It is just some thing to look at.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by dadsworktruck

try unpluging the rear section light plug, if it don't blow a fuse at least you have narrowed your search for the shorted postive wire to ground, which if i was guessing (which we all are) i would say the bulb socket insulators are bad...but if fuse still blows, then go from rear plug up to fire wall plug check wire continuaty (sp)...

He beat me to it. The plug is right at the rear crossmember up on the drivers side where the wiring comes through the crossmember.

Then turn on the lights and hit the brakes or what ever and see if you blow another fuse. If you do the problem is in the wiring ahead of the plug, if you don't it is in the harness behind the plug.

From experience, look for any and all trailer wiring that a PO may have put on the truck including the little plug things around the lights that get put on at UHaul. I spent an hour removing a basket of snakes my uncle and his cronies had put on the 71 when I first got it running. If the wiring looks suspect remove it. And then if you want to run trailer lights wire it right.

[whitesswj]

Found it!!! Wire to Plate light grounding on bumper. Fixed that one!
Thanks guys. It's all in the process of elimination.
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[ItsRandy]

Originally Posted by Classic Heartbeat

I wouldn't waste my money on my painless harness. WES

Please explain.
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[BadaSs_Cal]

Originally Posted by whitesswj

Found it!!! Wire to Plate light grounding on bumper. Fixed that one!
Thanks guys. It's all in the process of elimination.
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good for you man.. I feel like we all did our part and kept this truck from being sold (for a dumb reason) to someone who wouldnt care enough to keep it going..

[whitesswj]

Oh, I love her too much to sell her for a pettily reason. I've invested too much in her for that. Oh wait we aint talking about the wife.
Now the truck, it would take leaving me stranded on the side if the road a couple of times for that.