My LED Strip Lights Project (Bed/Cargo, Under tailgate, puddle)

I searched and found no one has even mentioned the newish 5630 LED strip lights which are brighter than the 5050. Installation wise it's the same - They are just brighter. Once I receive them and install them i'll post pictures in this thread. The only downside is that I wasn't able to find the 5630 LED strip with black PCB. I don't think the white PCB will be a problem under the bed rails though. I also searched and only found some mention of an LED strip mounted under the 3rd brake light as a cargo light but found no pictures or anything.

My set up will consist of:

• 8" section of black PCB 5050 LED glued to the underside of the 3rd brake light to function as a cargo light.
• The oh-so popular under Bed Rail LED strips (except i'll use 5630 LED strips)
• Strip of 5630 LED under the rear bumper to illuminate the ground behind the tailgate. Great for camping.
• LED strips as "puddle" lights under the cab.

The "puddle" lights will tap into the dome light circuit to turn on upon unlock, open door, etc.
The rest of the lights will run off a (SPST) switch in the cab.
I will add another SPST switch in the bed to be able to shut off the under bed rail LED's yet still have the cargo light and under bumper strip lit for camping and such.


Feb/18:
Tracking shows I should receive the black waterproof LED strip today. I'll stick it under the 3rd brake light to see how noticeable it is. Hopefully it isn't! I'm also thinking of buying a narrow set from Walmart to compare it to.
Either way, I'll post pictures tomorrow.
Everything I should need is ordered so it's all slowly trickling in.

 

Looking forward to it. I wish a cargo light came standard.

 

Nice. I love the leds under my rails. When camping and stuff or at the lake in summer at night and needing stuff out of the bed......I hit the remote control and BOOM...LIGHT

Can't believe Toyota gave us no cargo area lights

 

Sub'd for how to and pics.

 

I've seen a few threads with ppl who used the 5360's...good luck with your project!

 

I hadn't noticed that this second strip I ordered is rated IP66 vs the white strip I already had which is IP65. I guess because of that, this black strip's epoxy coating is slightly thicker. I taped it on with clear tape to see how it looked and i'm a bit iffy about it. I was hoping it was less noticeable - but I think i'm still going to use it. I probably will buy the walmart strips to see how those look. I believe those use 3528 LED's so the light output will be noticeable. I also noticed that this black strip has three 151 resistors per cutable section vs the white which has only two 270 resistors. Not sure what the benefit/drawback is of one vs the other. I also noticed the black pcb led strip is a RGB strip even though I ordered single color and the end only has 2 wires.
So come night time, I taped the lights under the third brake light to compare their output and WOW! This new black pcb strip is SO bright! And I thought the white one was bright. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the output (I promise I will) but it lit up the bed and surrounding walls. Holy smokes! Pictures:

LED Strip mounted (Don't mind the power cables and strip wrapped around the light. They only sell these strips in 12" sections and I didn't want to cut it down to 8" yet.)


Closer shot


Side by side close up comparison shot

 

Really?
I've searched for "5630" in the search bar and I get some results but when I go through them, they have nothing to do with 5630 LED's.

 

Finally an update:

I installed everything over two weeks ago literally the day I was to go down to the Baja 250 off road race and camp. I installed a OTRATTW switch and a relay, ran all the wiring and installed the strip of 5630 LED under the bed rails and also installed a strip left over under the rear bumper, on that black plastic piece that is in the center of the bumper.

I didn't clean the surfaces with alcohol as I should have and with me literally sticking the strips on just before heading out for the trip and running through some washboard desert "road" for roughly 40 miles at a fair speed, the strips came unglued on the way back. I just took them off completely and decided to order some double sided exterior 3M tape. I finally installed them correctly and here are pictures for all of you to see. The pictures are with my Iphone 5. I tried adjusting the settings so that the picture would show like it actually is with the naked eye.

I can say I am definitely happy with the lights. They are very bright! Especially out in the desert where the only light is the moon light.

The pictures really don't do the light output justice.

No explanation needed. 5630 LED strip under bed rails. Running off a switch in the cab and through another switch in the bed's storage pocket that's left always on. The reason for this other switch is so that I can turn the bed lights off while being able to leave the under rear bumper lights on for camping.



Underbody "puddle" lights. Note: The picture was taken with the flash on, oops!.
The strip on the driver's side is a 5050LED 6" strip. The strip on the passenger's side is a 6" section of 5630LED. 5630 is definitely brighter and this particular strip is whiter compared to the more bluish output of the driver's side 5050LED strip. I'll be switching the driver's side out and replacing it with a 5630 strip like the passenger side.



This is a shot of the driver's side mirror with all lights OFF. See next picture for comparison.



This is a shot of the same driver's side mirror as above but with the rear bumper LED strip ON. The picture doesn't do it justice. It doesn't show all the details that the naked eye can see with the LED strip.



I love this light! It is so useful. I used it in the desert to set up camp, I left it on while on the trail as a "dust light", can be used as reverse light. Love it. When setting up camp, it light up the ground for a good 15-20 ft behind the truck



And here's a picture of that LED strip under the rear bumper. Yes I know, it isn't straight. Oh well.

 

The "silicone" lights you talk of look more like the epoxy type. Are you sure they are silicone? There is a huge difference. The epoxy type will crack and discolor in two years or less or direct sunlight exposure.

Also I know of no waterproof LED strips. They are all IP67 or below (none of which is considered waterproof).

I just wanted to clarify because there is a ton of misinformation regarding LED strips. For exapmple the guy selling them as bed light packages titled his thread "waterproof Led's" or something of the sort and it's false advertisement. Last I checked none of his lights he is selling are really waterproof.

I build my own strips out of 5050's and did my own silicone encasement so I know I have 100% waterproof lights.

 

You are correct. They are not really silicone. At least I don't think so. They are likely an epoxy coating and that's fine by me. They are not "Waterproof" by definition either. They are "water-resistant". Also fine by me.

 

here is a great comparison video. sadly no new lights that you mentioned are compared

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haQvsrMCRko

 

I was thinking of putting a long one directly under the tailgate as a reverse light.

 

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