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Attempting the bed light mod...

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by Experience_Life, Apr 26, 2010.

  1. Apr 26, 2010 at 8:22 PM
    #1
    Experience_Life

    Experience_Life [OP] Active Member

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    Maglite Mod, LED Dome Light Mod, Cubby Lock Mod
    Alright, i'm stuck. I enclosed every wire w/ wire loom & used zip ties, ran the wire through the grommet under the seat & along the sides of the truck back to the actual light wires in the bed. The connection from the switch inside the cab to the battery works (lights up when flipped on), but i'm having problems from the main power cable to each of the lights. When I turn the switch on & connect each wire, the lights don't turn on. My guess is a bad ground maybe? I'm an amateur @ this, but decided to give it a shot. Any advice would be helpful.

    And yes, I've looked @ the threads that talk about this lol!! :p
     
  2. Apr 26, 2010 at 8:27 PM
    #2
    dhurley

    dhurley Well-Known Member

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    Possibly the ground. Do you have fuses going to the lights? Maybe the lamps are bad. Just some ideas.
     
  3. Apr 26, 2010 at 8:33 PM
    #3
    Experience_Life

    Experience_Life [OP] Active Member

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    I actually don't have fuses going to each light. If that's needed, that might be where the problem is. The only fuse I installed is attached to the hookup by the battery. I just bought the lights a few days back & started the install that same day.
     
  4. Apr 27, 2010 at 2:16 AM
    #4
    Manlaan

    Manlaan Well-Known Member

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    Are you using a relay, or running the power through the switch? Some more details about how you have it wired up would also be helpful.
     
  5. Apr 27, 2010 at 11:57 AM
    #5
    Experience_Life

    Experience_Life [OP] Active Member

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    Here are a few pics of how I have it wired. If this is wrong/different then please let me know as I went off of my opinion of how it should go....

    Starting @ the battery w/ fuse installed...

    25_4e059ea434193f07b5dd56e79b341962089fee83.jpg



    Next is the grommet...

    26_64a92b7b3a083b0490bad611829c5f611a16bcc9.jpg



    Up through the cab...

    29_42bc7183e19b7880308d7480c152022ee5003d24.jpg



    Continued (notice you can see where I grounded the switch on the side)

    28-1_d9539d948b41c6b53b5fd752b53e551837d4f248.jpg



    Up to the switch (which is just used to test, getting another one)

    30_40d0386b58cfc162f6c7a3c74283bf1fa28115ab.jpg



    This is how I wired it from the grommet to the back of the truck & to the lights

    27_239850d30a7182f45c520c081135363f62b9d15e.jpg



    Any advice would be appreciated. I am an amateur @ all of this, so please be nice hahaha! Thank you all for your help! :D
     
  6. Apr 27, 2010 at 12:02 PM
    #6
    jefferson

    jefferson needs to stop cruising Buy/Sell/Trade....

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    my guess could be that the ground you used there isn't a real ground, or that the switch is wired incorrectly. When i've wired things in the cab, i havent been very lucky finding a ground. I ended up grounding the wire inside next to the shifter under the cupholder.

    (lemme know if you'd like me to snap some pics for ya)

    I'd check how the switch is wired and make sure the correct wires are goin to the correct areas. and maybe move that ground
     
  7. Apr 27, 2010 at 12:26 PM
    #7
    Experience_Life

    Experience_Life [OP] Active Member

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    Jefferson....after scratching my head a thousand times yesterday & taking your advice to yet again do the same thing....i double checked it & it finally works. The ground I used under the dash is a good ground, I just had the wires hooked up wrong. Knew it had to be a stupid mistake. Ugh, amazing how you can miss things when you're "in the moment" haha! Thanks again for your help & i will post pics when I finish the installation.
     
  8. Apr 27, 2010 at 12:35 PM
    #8
    SManZ

    SManZ Sold the Taco in June 2020

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    Nice job Experience!

    Is the electrical tape just a temporary install until you got the lights working? Curious because that probably won't stay on there long like that.

    Where did you run the wiring out of the cab and to the bed?
     
  9. Apr 27, 2010 at 12:42 PM
    #9
    MJonaGS32

    MJonaGS32 MJ on a GS

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    I've done this install as well. My only tip (its to late now) would have been to use black wire loom. I guess that just me being anal.

    Also, I just grounded to the frame. Look in your rear wheel wells and you'll see a bunch of stuff grounded to the frame.

    For reference, my cardomain has a half-ass write up to how I did it:
    http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2569025/5
     
  10. Apr 27, 2010 at 1:21 PM
    #10
    jefferson

    jefferson needs to stop cruising Buy/Sell/Trade....

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    ah great job! Wiring is easy if you take your time and think logically how power flows through. Glad you figured it out! :D
     
  11. Apr 27, 2010 at 1:41 PM
    #11
    Experience_Life

    Experience_Life [OP] Active Member

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    Yeah, that was just to keep the wire out of the way & to make sure I was running it right. I'm fixing it later. Just about done! About the wire loom, I totally agree with you on that. I was in a hurry & no shops in town had anymore black wire loom. I hid & secured the wires pretty well though, so they shouldn't pop out where I would look like white trash driving a Taco hahah!
     
  12. Apr 27, 2010 at 7:08 PM
    #12
    Experience_Life

    Experience_Life [OP] Active Member

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    Finally done!! Thanks for the help guys!!

    IMG_3090_44dac7d7e66953258f71fd09527635f8c25e5c3c.jpg


    IMG_3092_4881a90090f4c104aa26f0556cda019d2121ba4e.jpg


    IMG_3094_1503e2439e514513130067f7f776cffb7431d948.jpg


    IMG_3100_9fa99d0a45a3e7ff0925cadaa783fb80e7284dc4.jpg


    IMG_3101_4fdd3bbba6dde7c47576380a7a33214ab10e1313.jpg


    IMG_3109_4976c78f249651b47f0bdab0cb99f2136e2678a3.jpg


    IMG_3115_47e943dd5c3fd98be03c6a42941a5bb739a8c35e.jpg
     
  13. Apr 27, 2010 at 9:13 PM
    #13
    jefferson

    jefferson needs to stop cruising Buy/Sell/Trade....

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    very awesome. I love mine - i use them when surfing mostly (we go till it gets really late.. by the time we're loading the truck its DARK so we switch the lights on and it helps a TON)
     
  14. Apr 28, 2010 at 4:45 AM
    #14
    Veccster

    Veccster bass turds

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    Great job! I love my bed lights. I used LED strips that are tucked under the cleat rails and not really noticeable. I also put a switch in the bed and in the cab. Took a bit more wiring but I can turn it on in the cab then off in the bed (or vice versa). Pretty cool.

    Anyway, I was going to recommend that you check the fuse. Mine was blown and I started ripping everything apart looking for the problem. Should've checked that first!
     
  15. Apr 28, 2010 at 2:38 PM
    #15
    Experience_Life

    Experience_Life [OP] Active Member

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    Decided to keep the stock fittings, so I just took an exacto knife to it & cut out a slot for the mini rocker switch I picked up @ O'Reilly's :D

    47_6b796b5ef3ff085a8d56c75c82e7a52e908586d8.jpg

    46_ea2985b786f5616343ccb7c81066e110357dd23b.jpg

    45_6132a5b9a790ea888172d1f7cd658149e4fda2ad.jpg
     
  16. May 13, 2010 at 12:29 PM
    #16
    SCFirefighter

    SCFirefighter on idiot patrol ;)

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    Eric, can you share what strip you used? I wanted to do the exact thing, use LED's, and a double switch setup.
    Thanks!
     
  17. May 13, 2010 at 4:46 PM
    #17
    SampleFool

    SampleFool Three Percenter

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    Looks good man doing mine very soon to, I can say find a better place to zip the wire loom up to before it falls and wrecks all your hard work.
     

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