keep poppen fuses

Like the subject lines says....
my truck keeps poppen fuses for the tail lights and that makes the dash lights go out too.. i replaced 3 last night and they popped with in seconds of being replaced....

i know about a week ago i was riding and the dash lights went out i did not know that they controled the tails too.. so with that said i have been riding with no tail lights for a lil over a week .. and i just found out last night i changed the fuse and i held for about 30 seconds changed it agin and as soon as i turned on the lights pop there it went again.. any one ever had this issue?
Thanks in advance
Jay

Jay - the parking lights, the tail lights, and the instrument panel lights are ALL on the SAME circuit. You have a short somewhere with those guys. I'd unplug the connectors to the parking lights and tail lights first, see if the fuse blows. If not, then plug those four in "one-at-a-time" and check after a few minutes to see if the fuse blows, then plug in another one.

If still blows, may be the thumbwheel dimmer switch, or the light switch itself. If the light switch itself is bad, should blow fuse even with all four corners unplugged and the instrument panel lights disconnected at the thumbwheel switch.

And get a digital multimeter (about $20) and a 12 volt test light (about $6), very handy for this type of detective work. Also helps tons to have a wiring diagram, and to know how to use it.

sounds like im screwed.. i have no wire diagram.. but ill un plug and plug back in and see what happends thanks for the tip...
Jay

Where you located!

You may want to crawl under the rear of the truck where the bumper is and have a look at the wiring there.......if someone hooked up a trailer plug back there, and they didn't do a good job, one good pothole could cause a wire to short out back there........it's worth a look.

Im in Orlando FL

THANKS EARL!!
now were getting some where.. a few weeks ago i was running my doggs in the woods(TRAINING A NEW CATCH DOG) and my pit bull went to town on my trailer hook up wireing i mean she chewed it off... it is still sitting in the bed maybe the exposed wires crossed and touched them selves??? This may have been it ! Im gonna tape them off and then try this and what cusser said and start there

AGAIN THATNKS GUYS i get all the info i need so fast here...
YOU GUYS ROCK!
Jay

Oftentimes stuff is traceable to the most recent "history". You didn't mention the dog before, but make him fix it.

Today, I'm likely to be fighting an AC noise in my '98 Frontier, so using the same theory of recent occurences, I think that its AC idler pulley - replaced in March - is bad intermittently, causing a growl 2% of the time the AC is on.

i wish she could...lol i dident even think that could ause something like that.. i might just cut it and tape it off it has to be replaced any how ....once i had a caddilac that would grwol when i turned on the ac and it was a pully on the condersor that was bad... i hope this works cause i have to drive at tomorrow..
Thanks agan fellas anything else yall can think of shoot!
Jay

thanks again fellas looks liek the trailer hook up was the factor in thew fuses popping trimmed back the wires replaced the fuse and BAM ... lights are on and no fuses blown...THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE HELP !!!!
Jay