Detailed LED bed light install GUIDE. No Holes No wire cutting

I spent quite a lot of time going thru every thread here regarding LED bed light installs and took what I think are the best bits from each one and added my own choices. All with the goal of making it simple and not alterating the truck in anyway. I also spent a lot of time researching parts. For example most of the add a circuits shown in the installs don't actually fit our 2 gen trucks properly as they aren't low profile mini which can't be found locally at big chain automotive stores and need to be ordered online. Most guides tell you to poke a hole in the factory grommet under the drivers door instead of simply untaping and then retapping it to use the tube that is there.
I took many pictures along the way to hopefully resolve any questions you might have and also save the next guy all the time it took me.


Parts:

LED lights 5050. The newer 5630 strips are brighter but I couldn't find them in black pcb.
superbright LED strip 16.4 feet/5M black pcb board. (I think black pcb board is the only good choice as it matches the black bed and doesn't stick out as much)
PCB Black 5M 5050 LED strip

Switch
I wanted a completely OEM look so I splurged here. This switch is push button and looks completely like it came with the truck as you will see in the pics below.
Toyota OEM like push button switch
This switch requires a relay as it's 3 amp only and the strip is more.
Relay with socket

wire tires 4" and wire ties 8"

2 roles of good quality weatherproof black vinyl electrical tape.

20 feet of 3/8 wire loom
most of the stores local to you will sell it in 10 feet you'll want 2 of them to protect the wire properly under the frame and in the back of the truck. 10 feet wasn't enough.

$7 American Terminal Wire Loom Black 20' Feet 3/8" Split Tubing Hose Cover Auto Home Marine

Wire Loom

wire
Don't get solid wire get braided. Solid is bad for boats/cars
20 feet Primary auto wire 16 Gauge. for power
10 feet primary auto wire 16 gauge (for ground)

Connectors
hilights led strip connectors. (simple and easy no soldering)
14-16 crimps preferably waterproof/shrink
22-18 crimps preferably waterproof/shrink
2 spade crimps for the grounds
also one T-tap connect 22-18 and Vinyl Insulated .250" Male Quick Disconnect 22-18 AWG to go with it
2 bullet waterproof connectors to connect wires in bed to LED strip. You could use regular crimps but this way you can remove the LEDs easily and plug them back in should you need to.
heat shrink.
1/4 and 1/8" 1/2" (if you want to heat shrink the bends in bed at corners.

$19 Mini Blade Fuse Tap Holder Add A Circuit Line Mini Low Profile ATM + 5A 7.5A 10A 15A, Car Add a Fuse Automotive Car

Low profile mini add a circuit and fuses
most of the add a circuits at pep boys/autozone are 10 amp only so you can't use it in the power lock 20 amp slot. This one is 20 amp and fits properly. The power lock slot in the in cab fuse panel is the only always on fuse. This way you can have the lights on without the keys in and trust me you aren't leaving these lights on they are bright and noticeable.


Installation

Start by removing the taillight with a 10MM socket wrench
You only need to remove 2 bolts for this not the one with the washer. it pulls out pretty hard. There are push tabs that require quite a bit of force to pop out.

get the 3/8 loom and put enough 16 gauge red power wire inside of it to go from the back of the truck to the grommet under the drivers door. Don't try and push the wire inside the loom just push it against the seam with your thumb and it will go in quickly. At this point before I fished it I tapped it from start to finish with electrical tape some may think this overkill but it protects it, makes it easier to fish, and tape is cheap the factory one is taped in a lot of places as well.





The hard part is routing the wire and loom past the fuel tank with the other factory loom near the middle. I was cussing at this point. I used a coat hanger taped to the end of the loom and wire the whole time I fished. Don't give up it's awkward but you'll get it eventually.



once you have the loom routed from the back of the truck to the drivers side grommet remove the yellow tape from the grommet without cutting it.


Peel it off and fold it back


using some electrical lubricant or tiny bit of dish soap fish the wire by itself up taped to a coat hanger into the cab.



after you have enough slack in the cab put the grommet back and push the wire loom snug up to it and tape it back up well



The hard part is over.

Now remove the drivers door sill by pulling up on it from the back
the foot rest under the dash pull up on that and then unscrew the black plastic round nut. take the white tabs off the posts and put them in the footrest . Also remove the kick panel it has 2 tabs in the front pull towards door sill

now pull the slack out the wire enough to get up to the dash and cut it. put more loom on it, and stop the loom where the grommet starts in the cab you'll see how the factory one does the same thing.

run it all the way up to the coin tray covering the fuse panel and tape the end and leave enough slack



Now run your grounds.

in the back the easier spot is here



Under the dash I found this to be the easier spot. (10 mm open end socket)



you should now have two wires sticking out of coin tray hole and 2 wires in the bed. The wires in the bed you can fish in behind the taillight and into the bed thru a gap


Wiring switch and relay



remove the 20 amp power door fuse from top right using the white fuse remover that is under the hood in the top of the engine compartment fuse box.
put the 20 amp fuse in slot 1 of the add a circuit and a 5 amp fuse in slot 2 that came with it.



dash illumination tap to red/yellow wire on switch from adjacent factory switch




I velcroed the relay under the dash with industrial Velcro it's very sturdy and not going anywhere.
It's not centered but didn't feel like ripping it off to center it







Use zip ties at the corners thru the drain holes to stop the 3m adhesive from sagging there. Cover the corners with 3/8 loom and tape the hit tight connectors. Using some silicon would be smart too. heat shrink/and or loom the connection to the led strip and all exposed wires coming into bed.

 

Great Guide. I will be using this.

 

Very cool mod and very thorough. I am always very uncomfortable tackling anything involving partial disassembly for fear of breaking or making worse. Is there any way, while not nearly as cool, to simply plug into the bed plug?

 

Great write up

sub'd for the future

 

Very Nice !

 

Thx guys been learning from this site since 2010 when I bought my first taco about time I gave back.

Yes they have led strips with remote that you could plug into the outlet not a very elegant solution but easy and would work. wouldn't be waterproof tho

 

Great information and write up. Thanks!

 

Thanks for the great pics and detailed guide!

 

One additional step I did today was siliconed all the hit light joints

 

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nice write-up OP. will be doing this shortly myself. about to order about 64ft of LED strip.

 

Nice work!

 

64feet! Your gonna need bigger wire son!

 

Oh I know. Lol. But its in 16 ft increments. Just ordering enough to do the rock lights (replacing my current rock light setup), bed lights, and under hood lights.

 

No sagging yet and we've had a couple of hundred degree days. The key is is to ziptie the corners were all the weight is through the drain holes in the railing

 

Great write up. Sub'do for later project

 

Thanks for the detailed write up. Used a great deal of your ideas for my install. Ran everything just as you did with the exception of the power source. I plan to switch my bed lights in the bed as this feed is for both future bed lights and the factory light on my Snug Top Shell. I plan to feed power from the battery by simply adding a second nut to the terminal post on my battery (it has a regular hook up and also a marine type post that has enough room for a lug and second nut). I will fuse things at the battery with a waterproof fuse set up. Your recommendation to tape the entire loom really helps a great deal as the loom I had kept letting wire pop out the side if you moved things around. Taped everything up and used the coat hanger to fish it along the frame and such. to access the engine bay I simply pushed a small Philips screwdriver through the big rubber boot to make a small hole in it....ran flex to both sides and it was done. Lots of time saved using your install guide so Thanks again. Biggest issue was it was mid 30's in the garage so I had to go thaw my hands out fairly often. Also used a whole lot of zip ties! Comes out really clean.

 

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