Bed / Box Lighting

Hey Gang!

Ever since I installed a tonneau cover and when it gets dark, i have been frustrated with not being able to see back there. So i lit things up!
With a press of the door unlock button on the remote or a flip of the bed mounted switch i can finally see!

Let me know what yous guys think....

 

buddy good job great idea im going to copy it

 

A 5m roll was perfect and only about $15!
Gotta love EBay!

 

Here is the procedure I used to get the lights on with the unlock button on remote or the bed mounted switch.

Stuff I used:

5m roll of white led light
1 weather proof SPDT (single pole double throw) switch
1 red cover thingy (truckers use them, it's made by Eaton Fuller)
20 AWG wire 2 different colours is easier on the brain. Blue and white are the colours we gonna tap into. ( 18 would be fine, 20 matches what is in the factory harness) don't go smaller than 20
3/8 ish split loom
Assortment of crimp on connectors
Solder iron and solder
Meter if you want

I stole power from the dome light circuit, which turns on when you unlock the doors and will be the 12vdc source to use the bed light switch.

You could make this a lot easier by finding an "always on" 12vdc at rear of truck and using a SPST switch to turn lights off and on, but I wanted the remote action and am a sucker for punishment.


Remove change holder cubby thing from in front of drivers left knee. Locate plug in harness 1E



I unplug the one above it sos to have easier access to 1E



We gonna tap into the white (terminal 2,hot) wire and the blue (terminal 9 negative)







DO NOT MAKE THESE CONNECTIONS UNTIL LAST AFTER EVERYTHING ELSE IS TERMINATED

Feed 2 wires in split loom through rubber in fire wall into engine bay, down to frame and to rear of truck. Leave yourself plenty to work with in cab but like I said don't terminate yet.

Zip tie or whatever along inside of frame to rear of truck. Leave yourself lots of extra back here to work with too

Remove cubby in bed of truck to provide access for wiring and mounting switch



You may already have your lights mounted, drill hole to pass wires through and then silicone around hole. I think I soldered or crimp connected 3-4' of wire to leads of led strip and then passed through hole and siliconed shut



The Hot wire we brought from cab will be connected directly to led strip positive.

The negative from led strip will go to centre terminal on sw. This terminal 2 is common to both switch positions ie. On or off

The negative we brought from the cab will connect to terminal 1 on SPDT sw.

We make our own ground with self tapping screw or whatever at rear of truck and connect that to terminal 3 on sw. I self tapped a screw into the metal through the cubby (so it's hidden)and to your left. When you open your tailgate it's a black steel post before the plastic starts. Sorry about description

You can double check with a meter that in the OFF position terminals 1&2 on sw. Ring together and terminals 2&3 ring together in ON position. Ring together = no ohms like less than 1ohm



Terminate wires at box end.

Go back to cubby and make connections there. I stripped back some of the factory wire and soldered on my connections. Tape up when cooled. You can connect any way your comfortable with. Crimp ons or whatever.

Plug harness back in and test

https://vimeo.com/128483793

 

Thanks a lot Sean for the explanation! Is the (terminal 2,hot) wire and the blue (terminal 9 negative) in harness 1E always hot? Be nice to be able to turn the lights on without truck in ACC or idle. I plan to mount the switch inside the cab to a button where the rear locker/VSC switches are. I love how you wired it to activate on the door unlock! I'm thinking I will do the same but will have the switch in the cab instead of bed.

Also do the LED's turn off when the dome light shuts off after about a minute of not entering the doors after unlocking?

 

Yes the white wire is always hot. I can open the tailgate and turn on the lights whenever with out keys or engine running.
Yes if I am not using the box mounted switch(opening door or pressing unlock on remote) the lights turn out on their own along with the dome light exactly as you described

 

Using the same wiring you have, is it possible to use a hard off on a 3way SPDT switch so that even when the dome light is on, the LED lights do not come on?

1) Auto (LED on with dome light)
2) Hard ON (On no matter what)
3) Hard OFF (Off no matter what)

 

I should add that the negative I described ( blue wire) only goes to ground when it's told to by ecu I presume
If you want to turn the lights on anytime like my bed mount sw does you will need to provide your own ground like I did on terminal 3 of the toggle switch

 

No not the way I have done it. Situation 3 is not possible with this particular wiring and switch