How to: Bed Lights w/Tailgate Pin Switch

I know a few others have done this but I thought I would share mine since everything I do on my truck I try and make it very simple, neat and OEM looking.

Started with these $20 Fog Lights from Wal-Mart. They worked out really well and come with everything you need to install them except you will need more electrical wire for the grounds and I used a different in-cab switch.



I mounted the lights to the top of each cubby so I can still use them to store small items.


Back/Top view of the cubby.



Added a door pin switch that fit perfectly where the rubber bump stop was. I picked this up from a local stereo shop. I connected the grounds to this switch so when the tailgate is open the grounds connect and the lights turn on. When the tailgate is closed the grounds disconnect and the lights turn off.


Updated 4/1/11: I am now using the door pin switch. The plastic one ended up breaking.







You have to remove the taillight to install the door pin switch and connect the ground wires.



I ordered this switch off of ebay and mounted it into one the empty slots in-cab. If I have to leave my tailgate open for a long period I can manually turn off the bed lights by turning this switch off.




To get the wires into the cab I ran them thru a rubber grommet that is already under the drivers seat.



Success!!!



All the wiring was fairly easy to do. I ran everything under the bed and along the sides for the ground wires. I covered all of the wiring with wire loom, some shrink tubing and used a crap load of zip ties!

I have had them in since March '09 and they still work fine. The lights haven't fogged up from water or cracked or discolored.

 

Wow....mad props man! I really REALLY like this! Very well done and 100% functional!

 

this is real good.

 

Cool Write-up... I will definitely be doing this mod soon...

 

What did you ground the lights to? I'm attempting this tonight and I'm not having much fun finding something useful within 12" of the pockets.

Side note: purely by chance, I have the same lights. I bought them about two years ago for another project that was canceled.

 

Very cool, how long did it take you to install?

 

Looks good!

 

I extended the grounds and attached them to the pin switch.

 

really good write up i have wonderd why toyo hasnt made the tacos with the cargo light yet i guess they jus want us to keep coming up with crazy stuff to compensate it and make the 3rd brake light look super sweet im wonderin how i can do this on my 04 without drilling wholes in the bed i dont think there is any way around it do you kno if the rubber grommet is in the same place for 04s?

 

I wound up extending mine as well to find some useful. I went with a switch in the cab, though.

 

I know what I'm gnna do to my baby here soon, thanks for the idea!

 

that's an awesome solution... that gave me an idea of mounting a flush mount light into the side of the bed, just a few inches towards the cab from the little cubby holes and putting something like this in (prob something a little smaller tho):

http://grote.com/product.php?product_number=60311

 

I must say this is a nice setup. How do you pop the cuby out? It looks like it is hinged but I can't tell if you pry the top or bottom. I do not want to break anything.

 

yah, thats exactly like how i did mine.. i was thinking of putting in a switch to have the lights come on when the tailgate was down, but i surf and keep the tailgate up.. so i ended up putting my switch in the cubby in the bed.. Click my link below if you're interested.. but good job

 

Nice work and write up. The lights seem a bit big. I use my cubbies for gloves etc. All my small storage things are full.
A flush mounted one would be great but is much more work.

 

Nice work. I'm on it asap.

 

I think when I get to installing bed lights, I'll go with something like this... perhaps something marine grade (like what you see on boats) for the added water protection.

 

i like this a lot. makes for a clean install

 

awesome idea! Love it

 

awesome work, def gunna try this one out