Another completed Bed Lights thread, cycle w dome light pix

I detailed my install in an off topic thread in lighting subsection, but here's the info under a more concise searchable title...

I wanted bed lights that were triggered and controlled by the dome light (ie: doors). anything less i deemed a PITA, i'd forget them and drain the battery. i often haul gear with the tailgate down, so a tailgate plunger switch was out of the question as well.

i didnt over think matters, regardless of the debate about putting a 2 amp led ribbon on the dome circuit that's controlled and fed via the ECU, didnt bug me once i just decided to get over it and just get on with doing this.

special thanks to TW member Kulahaga for his assistance helping me plan this.

bullet points:
first stage will take about 3 hours... or less...

remove a-piller, drivers side kick panel, and the door sill trim back.

i tapped the blue wire in the large connector in the a-piller, thats the variable ground from the ECU. for + i used the always on door locks fuse in the top right corner of the cabin fuse box with an add a circuit.

ran the wire down, along the door wire channel under the door sill trim. there are several ways to get to the back and out of the cab. i did mine a little differently than those who went through the floor grommet. under these sills are holes open and exposed. if you look under the truck there are plugs in the threaded bolt holes where running boards bolt to the truck. (i dont have them and dont plan on having them). i simply passed the wire through this hole out the bottom to the chassis, its a factory hole thats open just sitting there. i sealed both sides of the hole with Butyl (available in autoparts store). super handy for stuff like this. ran the wire back along the chassis in a 3/8th wire conduit, up into the tail light, into the rear fender / bed cavity, drilled a hole through the bed box and installed a grommet for the wire pass through.

i used 18 AWG wire that i bought at West Marine, its marine grade wire (weather/oil resistant), thats two conductor stranded, and its encased in a heavy protective jacket. about .50 a foot called "safety wire" (yellow and black). i needed about 25 feet. and 10 feet of plastic conduit tubing. This type of wire inside the plastic wire loom will hopefully outlive the truck.






















Part II of my install, now that the hard part is done the rest will take all but 30 minutes.

against my better judgement i decided to give tape a try this time. in my last truck i secured the ribbon with stainless fasteners. i will go that route of the tape doesnt hold up... i used 1cm x 7 foot strips of double sided 3m exterior body tape. and affixed the ribbon to that. made the electrical connections. and everything works i couldnt be happier.

made the connections with weather proof quick disconnects, 1/8" wire loom and 1/4". heat shirked the electrical connections and secure them.

the fact these operate with the dome light makes life so much easier. this is the only way i'd do this mod.

 

Looks clean, kind of overkill to use 12 ga wire but it is the most common. Good job.

 

wire was 18 AWG
i was going to use 14, but the 18 was more than enough. esp considering the factory 20-22+ crap

 

VERY clean install! Thanks for the photos, as now I think I can do this.

Reps to you Kevin.

 

Nice work. I do a lot of radio controlled airplane night flying with these LED's. I also did your white light LED install in my 6x12 enclosed trailer. They provide ample lighting.

Im thinking about doing what you did, but having a separate lipo battery plug in back there, so I can just plug in the lipo and have light.

 

Tell me more on that truck lift. That has my intrest.

 

^ Seconded, that lift is sick.

I like how the bed lights came out as well

 

X3 on lift info

 

Great write up! Was wondering where I was going to tap my lights into as I didn't want to use a switch either.

 

x3

 

+1 on the lift.... looks sweet. Do you have link for the lights?

 

thanks for the compliments guys. i put this off because of the overwhelming mass of info out there, and most of it was really over the top. i just wanted to keep it simple...

the link for the LED ribbon is here:
http://r.ebay.com/F7NyTQ
"5M Black PCB Waterproof 5050 SMD White 300 LED Strip"
they took exactly 8 working days to get to me. the quality is the same as the ones i bought locally about two years ago and paid a premium for, they are weather / water resistant too.

lol my lift...
my lift is an Atlas TD6MR, i wish i bought it YEARS ago.

if anyone is local and wants to use it for any projects, my garage is open to you... (just bring beer to feed the lift)

 

The 5050 LEDs are the way to go. Much brighter than the 3528 LEDs. I have the RGB set installed in my bed, so I can actually use them as a white bedlight, or when camping I can turn them on solid red to keep the bugs away, or at the truck shows, where I work to drum up business at the shop, I can run the strobe or fade change-up.

On your truck you did an awesome job on the install!

 

Great work. Nice write up too.

Liking that lift as well.

 

Could you show a closeup of the bed corners?

I was thinking of doing a bed light setup pulling power from the running light wire of the tail lights and mounting a weatherproof on/off pushbutton switch in the bed, but I was stuck on how to run the corners of the bed. My original thought was to drill holes and fish the wire inside the inner panels around the corners, but I see that you did one continuous strip.

I guess what I'd like to see is how tight you could get into the corners, so if something was rolling around in the front of the bed or was being loaded into the bed, could it damage/pull off the lighting strip.

Thanks!

 

the ribbon can make a tight 180 turn and twist if you need to. think of being able to wrap the LED strip around your index finger several times... my corners simply bend in. i guess they are exposed to something catching them but they're tucked into the corners under the rail, im not dragging stuff around that location. i hear what you're saying and your idea would def conceal the corners. or you can do 3 strips but your making a lot more electrical connections.

 

Can you please link to the rgb lights?
matt

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ektp7nNzY2A


This is my truck after the install of the RGB lights. You can select off, steady on, flash, fade, or strobe.

 

And this is the link to a seller on Fleabay. You can look around sometimes and find really good deals. If you are going to use them for bedlights, make SURE you get the waterproof version. I recommend the IP65 waterproof level, as these can be totally immersed in water, so they will work fine for bed light application, or under-body.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-5050-SMD...677231?pt=US_Car_Lighting&hash=item35c34a0eaf

 

lol bama those things are pimp!