Denali Deck Wiring

Jorg Jorgenson · Nov 26, 2017

Bought a denali deck used and am going through the wiring since I understand that is one of the downfalls with this cheaper deck. I'm going to wire into a 7-way plug. I also understand that all you need is 2 wired to light-up the deck lights, ground & running lights. I bought the deck with no plug just 4 loose wires since the previous owner tied them into his taillight.

Anyone able to confirm for me? Would hate to get my wires crossed! I saw another thread on S&M about deck wiring but just wanted to ask in case the denali's are different since the 'people' who make Denali Decks tend to do things backwards...

Cheers

acesup800 · Nov 26, 2017

Correct, it is only a two wire. One power, one ground. All there is, is clearance lights.

1200 · Nov 26, 2017

U should wire in some led work lights. Or do u load up in the day light haha . Work lights so nice 3 up top one in box.

gunner3006 · Nov 27, 2017

I would completely re-do your wiring. That’s experience talking haha. Best of luck.

SRXtreme · Nov 27, 2017

my deck came with a 4 way flat connector. It utilized all pins for some stupid reason. My wiring has been good so far but it is only 2 seasons old. My truck also does not sleep outside too often. IMO I would use 3 wires. 1 hot ignition on for marker lights. 1 hot all the time for under deck light and of course last ground................SRXtreme

johnnytrail · Nov 27, 2017

I helped a friend rewire his Denali. It had solid core 110v wire

It was much easier to rewire the whole thing . We also replaced the crappy lights and added some led lights to headache rack . Fyi good led lights have a chip that won't let them work if polarity is backwards .

Jorg Jorgenson · Nov 27, 2017

1200 said:
U should wire in some led work lights. Or do u load up in the day light haha . Work lights so nice 3 up top one in box.

It's got under-deck lighting already wired in, forgot to mention that in the original post, with a rocker switch.

SRXtreme: would i need the 1 'always hot' wire to run the underdeck lights or they would still work on the rocker switch but my truck running lights would need to be on to turn them on under the deck?

Gunner: i would completely re-do the wiring but had intentions of using the deck for 1 season then flipping it so don't need to get too crazy with investing time into it.

Johnnytrail: for $10 a piece i may buy 4 new marker lights, but if i'm going that far then might as well re-wire everything LOL so easy to get carried away with this stuff

Sessionsdoo · Nov 27, 2017

Mine was completely wired incorrectly right from new. Ended up rewiring the whole thing the first weekend i had it. Some of the wires were reversed on both sides of the deck so you could not trust going by wire color. Good luck

Jorg Jorgenson · Nov 27, 2017

Sessionsdoo said:
Mine was completely wired incorrectly right from new. Ended up rewiring the whole thing the first weekend i had it. Some of the wires were reversed on both sides of the deck so you could not trust going by wire color. Good luck

^^
Was my fear exactly. Like I said earlier... the 'people' who make these decks can tend to have things backwards from North America. Truth be known it's going on my half-ton so won't ever need the clearance lights since I can't/won't haul 2 sleds but was thinking more for the re-sale.

Ah, if i'm gunna do it might as well over-do it

bayman · Nov 27, 2017

Completely rewired my deck as well and installed all new led lights from princess auto...less than $100 for wire and 5 lights and way easier than trying to figure out what they had done. Two wires only, I didn't put one under the deck. Marker lights only as mentioned, not sure why all four wires were used from factory. Power and ground is all I used. about 3 hours and 6 kokanee....which is why it took 3 hours.

Jorg Jorgenson · Nov 27, 2017

bayman said:
Completely rewired my deck as well and installed all new led lights from princess auto...less than $100 for wire and 5 lights and way easier than trying to figure out what they had done. Two wires only, I didn't put one under the deck. Marker lights only as mentioned, not sure why all four wires were used from factory. Power and ground is all I used. about 3 hours and 6 kokanee....which is why it took 3 hours.

Yeaa that's how most of my projects end up turning out as well. I like to blame it on being 'slow and meticulous'.

Sessionsdoo · Nov 27, 2017

bayman said:
Completely rewired my deck as well and installed all new led lights from princess auto...less than $100 for wire and 5 lights and way easier than trying to figure out what they had done. Two wires only, I didn't put one under the deck. Marker lights only as mentioned, not sure why all four wires were used from factory. Power and ground is all I used. about 3 hours and 6 kokanee....which is why it took 3 hours.

Yep i just did princess auto lights on mine this year as 3 burnt out last year after only 2 seasons on the deck.

Jorg Jorgenson · Dec 1, 2017

Alright I caved and bought a 12-pack of lights that comes with new wiring as well gunna make this my weekend project and could try to take some pictures to let you know how it all goes

SRXtreme · Dec 2, 2017

Jorg Jorgenson said:
SRXtreme: would i need the 1 'always hot' wire to run the underdeck lights or they would still work on the rocker switch but my truck running lights would need to be on to turn them on under the deck?

Mine came with a rocker switch under the deck to turn the lights off/on. This is the always hot wire. I am thinking to mount a couple LED's for night loading. mount on the headache rack? princess auto has a good deal on 6-1/4" LED's for 20.00 ea.

Jorg Jorgenson · Dec 2, 2017

Well good thing I decided to tear into all of the wiring. Found out that the yellow and green wires (the two I suspected I did not need) never actually wired into anything!! They were lost in the bundle of electrical tape at the back of the deck

But what you're saying is that I should use a 3rd wire that is the "always hot" to feed the under deck lights? Although I could just use the running lights and then they would only work if my truck lights are on correct?

Mike270412 · Dec 2, 2017

My under deck light is wired into marker lights with a switch.Only need two wires that way and no chance of accidentally leaving light on for days.

Jorg Jorgenson said:
Well good thing I decided to tear into all of the wiring. Found out that the yellow and green wires (the two I suspected I did not need) never actually wired into anything!! They were lost in the bundle of electrical tape at the back of the deck //uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171202/70e825cd44cbcb3093178d5d0a4870cb.jpg

But what you're saying is that I should use a 3rd wire that is the "always hot" to feed the under deck lights? Although I could just use the running lights and then they would only work if my truck lights are on correct?

Sessionsdoo · Dec 2, 2017

Mike270412 said:
My under deck light is wired into marker lights with a switch.Only need two wires that way and no chance of accidentally leaving light on for days.

I have the same setup as this as well so i dont kill my battery by accident.

Jorg Jorgenson · Dec 3, 2017

Got derailed yesterday so hopefully will finish up today. I like that idea would have to wake up to a dead battery after waking up early to Pursue the freshies. Thanks guys, appreciate the tips

SRXtreme · Dec 3, 2017

Jorg Jorgenson said:
Well good thing I decided to tear into all of the wiring. Found out that the yellow and green wires (the two I suspected I did not need) never actually wired into anything!! They were lost in the bundle of electrical tape at the back of the deck //uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171202/70e825cd44cbcb3093178d5d0a4870cb.jpg

But what you're saying is that I should use a 3rd wire that is the "always hot" to feed the under deck lights? Although I could just use the running lights and then they would only work if my truck lights are on correct?

Yes but you need to make sure you don't forget it on. mine is LED so it does not draw much power anyways. Sometimes it does not make sense to have the truck running when loading/un-loading cargo. Sometimes a person need to be smarter than the equipment that they are using.

lol Not too sure as well but usually the truck will power down the electrical if it senses a draw when there should not be. I have not confirmed this on the deck lights though.

Jorg Jorgenson · Dec 4, 2017

Finally got around to mounting the deck tonight and snapped a couple pics. I did end up going all LED and got the switch wired in for the under lights and it's awesome! Ran it off the running lights so I can't accidentally leave them on (especially since the switch is accessible from outside the tailgate.. don't need someone flipping the switch on me and killing my battery). New plywood too and super glides and there she be! Even cut a 2x6 for inbetween the rear legs to stop them from wiggling and cracking. Not bad for a $600 project all in

Will snap one of the under lights in the Morning on my way to work.

Denali Deck Wiring

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