Brake lights not working

Hi everyone.
I just picked up my first Jeep, a 1976 CJ5.
It has a straight six motor, not sure which one. It runs and drives good, but the brake lights don’t work. I think the burnt wires coming out of the steering column have something todo with it.
I plan to use it as a weekend toy to drive around in and some off road riding, nothing crazy.
Once I get the brake lights fixed, I plan to redo the brakes, new lines and all.
The steering is a little loose and it rides a little rough.
Wondering if I should replace the leaf springs and shocks, or rework the steering after doing the breaks.
Here’s what it looked like when I bought it.


Elle, my service dog really likes the Jeep.


Here it is after I put some new tires on it.


I think I’m going to have a lot of fun with this old Jeep.

 

Burnt wires might be a result of a short or someone tinkering with the electrical making a mess or rodent damage. Multimeter will be an important tool to start the diagnosis to determine whether you have voltage either when the brakes are engaged or running lights are on etc. Guess the signals or hazards are nonfunctional too.

 

I have running lights, but no hazard or blinkers. The guy I got it from only drove it on his property, and had it parked in a pole barn for the last seven years. He told me that he had gotten it from a guy in Alabama who used it as a vehicle for his hunting camp.
Someone has tinkered with the wiring, it’s a rat nest under the dash and there’s about 10 wires under the hood that don’t connect to anything.
The first thing I did was replace the brake switch. When I tested the new switch the lights worked, then they didn’t.
I then traced all the wires to the tail lights. I found a couple of old splices and fixed them. I also made sure that I had a good ground on both lights still on brake lights.
After looking around a little more, I found this. That’s the wires coming out of the steering column.


I have a new wire harness for the steering column. Hopefully that will fix the brake light problem, if not, I’ll just get a new wire harness for the jeep.
I do need to get a multimeter, and learn how to use it.

 

learning to use a multi tool or volt meter is easy there are hundreds of videos on YouTube.

The harness for the steering column has nothing to do with brake lights. in the last image you posted I believe that is the ignition wires the turn signal should be separate harness and those individual wires are suppose to be in a connector not shoved in there like in the image.

Make sure you have 1157 bulbs in your taillights not 1156. Have you checked the flasher unit under the dash?

 

The wires have metal connectors in the plastic connector. I checked the bulbs and they are 1157s.
Right now I don’t have turn signals or a horn so, the steering column harness is needed. After I replace it, I’m going to replace the fuses and the flasher unit.
The wires under the dash is a rat nest. I have a parasitic battery drain so, I installed a battery cutoff switch the other day.
It’s been over 30 years since I worked of vehicles, had a 69 Malibu when I was younger. I remember how much of a pain it was to work on, but I’m enjoying working on the Jeep.