Dash lights and all rear lights not working

[doncandea]

Hi, my name is Don and I am new to the forum and Dodge trucks. Thank you for offering this and I appreciate all the time and hard work to keep this up and running. I have a 66 Camper Special with a poly 318 auto on dash. I am not very good at fixing things but my roommate is. This is blessing since we live in off the breaten track in Washington state. Drivng into town last night I suddenly lost my dash and all rear lights, thankfully my headlights stayed on. This happened after hitting a bum in the road at approximately traveling at 50 mph. I been reading other threads and they have been helpful. My friend installed a new dimmer switch recently and he could have "Jerryrigged" the headlights, but everything has been working. I am on my way to pick up a new alternator because of a squel from the front bearing. Finally my question, where should I start in trying to restore my lights? My goal is to keep this truck and I look at these incidents as opportunity to learn. Thanks for the help.

[61stepside]

Check your fuses? Manufactures would tie the two (dash lights and tail lights) together to indicate that the vehicle had no tail lights when the dash lights wouldn't illuminate.

[soopernaut]

I would think losing lights when going over a bump would indicate a loose connection or broken wire somewhere.

[MadMC63]

Ya never know... could be a loose fuse.

[pwadventurer]

Dash lights and rear tail light circuit originates from head light switch. Dash light circuit goes through separate fuse after switch. I would go back to switch that was replaced.

[doncandea]

Thanks everyone, it turned out to be a loose connections through the firewall.

[Conrad]

Adding my 2 bits...

Having had to chase gremlins constantly in my 74 Scamp I was reminded this morning that no connection is safe from corrosion. I would recommend pulling your rear tail lamp connectors, cleaning and treating with dialectric grease if you are in an area with moisture.

Its amazing how well lights work with clean connections. I now have .01 voltage drop from the battery back to my rear passenger tail lamp. Much better than no brake lights and an oddly functioning turn signal.