Help Appreciated: Difficulty with Matt Gecko LED Install

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Here’s the scoop...

I recently installed some Gecko bed lighting LEDs into my DCSB as per the instructions included, everything went well, but they weren’t bright, like AT ALL.

So, I investigated and improved on the kit. This includes;
Grinding to bare metal at the ground screw.
Removing all the crimp connections.
Soldering all connections and using marine grade (goo filled) shrink tube.
And
Soldering the wire to ring terminal prior to crimping.

Still weak lighting.

but here’s the catch...!

close the tailgate and boom, perfect. Bright as can be and what I want.

suggestions?

 

Where is the Ground located? I don't have his kit but I ran my ground wire to the factory ground location visible through the left rear wheel well.

 

On the passenger rear bed support where the bed attaches to the frame.

think frame is better? But like why when I close the tailgate?... weird

 

When you close the tailgate and the leds are brighter....are you slamming the tailgate shut or gently closing it so it clicks close?

If you slam it shut, and the lights are brighter.... i would look into a poor ground or wire connections somewhere (even though you sound like youve covered all bases). The shock of the tailgate slamming close may be jostling some of the electrical connections.

BUT!.... im no led expert... but if they arent bright and appear brighter later. I think that means its not getting a full +12 volts. It would be like using a 9v battery to power the LEDs up. They wouldnt be as bright. So try taping into a different +12v source for power. Or try a different ground location.

I also use the @mattgecko bed lights and theyve been working well for me over the last 5 years.

 

Not slamming or soft, it’s literally just as you release the latch and start to open the tailgate. Fast or slow, doesn’t matter

 

Post pics of your ground

 

Pow

 

I'm sure you've double checked your connections/crimps. But that would be my next step.

Out of curiosity what is the 2nd wire next to your current ground? Also what AWG wire are you using?

 

I would say that is probably a high resistance ground location and when the tailgate is closed it gives it a better path.

If you have a meter test that ground connection continuity to say the frame and read the resistance. Close the tailgate and take another reading. If the resistance reading goes down you have the answer. Poor ground location.

 

I believe it is 18 or 20 gauge that comes with this kit.

Each “factory” crimped location was checked, removed (Whether it was good or suspect), and soldered, shrink-wrapped, and checked with a multimeter following soldering the joint. Each ring terminal was also checked For conductivity and the ground to positive checked for 12v with the multimeter.

The second wire next to this one is another set of LED lights ran completely independently (new positive from battery and obviously a separate ground) That I stuck to the roof of my camper shell to really “Light it up” when I need to see inside to get something In the bed (white light verses Gecko cool light, and it’s too bright, LOL)

 

Maybe try this ground location. As a test you can just run a jumper cable from your current ground to the factory one. This is on the drivers side BTW.

EDIT: I just noticed yours is on the passenger side, there may be a ground location in the same location I posted.

 

Going to look for something similar and see if it’s a ground issue this morning. Haven’t had a chance to slide under there yet

 

Well?

 

Moved the ground to frame and problem solved!

I had used the location shown (bed support), but with the recall replaced frame apparently there wasn’t a good contact through the frame coating. Ground paint, raw steel, zipped the ground there and boom!

 

Thanks for the update!