Rear Facing LEDs?

Planning out my 2017 Taco build and I'm thinking about some rear-facing LEDs to help when setting up camp and stuff, but I haven't found much about installs like this on here. Thoughts?

I'm thinking maybe two smaller fixtures one on each side of the bed, if I could aim them as needed that would be preferred, they will be controlled by a switch put in a blank to the left of the steering wheel. The truck will have a camper top, and a roof rack, so ideally they would be mounted below the rack so they don't get in the way. Not sure if they should actually be mounted to the topper or the rack itself, open to thoughts. I also don't know anything about brands, etc. so school me.

 

Few ways you can accomplish this:

1. Mounted under the bumper and angled as needed.

2. Cutout into the bumper and flush mounted (Only down side is you're not really going to be able to adjust the angle).

3. Mount to the camper top as you stated and angle as needed.

As far as brands you can order some Cali Raised LED, Baja Designs, Rigid Industries, they're all vendors here on TW.

Just depends on how much you're willing to spend and what kind of light output you're looking for. For setting up camp and needing lighting you're most likely going to be looking for some sort of flood or scene configuration.

 

True, I don't need these to be blinding, "see me from 2 miles away" type lights (I'll save these for the front). Just need to additional ambient light so I can see where I'm setting up tents and stuff. I realize too much light is a real risk I'm running here, so no need for huge (huge = anything over 6 - 10" here) light bars.

When I came up with this idea,

$15 Nilight Led Pods 2Pcs 18W 1260LM Spot Led Off Road Lights Super Bright Driving Fog Boat Lights Led Work Light Bar for Trucks Pickup Golf Cart SUV ATV UTV 4x4 Van Camper,2 Years Warranty

these (or something similar) were the first ones I found and thought might do the job. I was thinking if they were mounted to both back corners of the rack, on some kind of swivel/tilt bracket, that would be what I'm looking for.

 

Those would work but I'd recommend a flood pattern, spot is going to give you more of a narrow pattern with more distance on the light output.

Flood or scene will give you a wider pattern and not as much distance on the output.

Like you mentioned you can probably fab something up with some swivel mounts and mount them to your rack.

 

I am putting the Baja Designs flood lights in my new Pelfreybilt bumper. I wanted them for the same reason discussed here.

 

I'd love to see some pics when you get it all wired up!

 

Check this thread.

 

What kind of roof rack are you doing? This is what I done on my rack...

 

Not 100% sure yet. It will be whatever track/rack system Leer can install from the factory so that they will guarantee it. More than likely it will be Thule 2 Roof Rack.

 

I have Rigid Industries Ignites in my bumper...and I have Feniex steady burn whites on my Roof Rack for the rear. For the sides I have Rigid Industries SRM series.

 

@uhplifted

 

Here's my set up.... let me know if you have questions

 

Hey that's my truck.

 

Haha. That's why I tagged you

 

My setup.

Rigid Ignites in lower bumper
Feniex Fusions on roof rack
Feniex Cannons on sid bumpers
Rigid SRMs on side roof rack.

 

OP, as others have mentioned, get the flood pattern. I'll likely be getting some more to put on the sides of the rack so I have lighting all around. I think the ones I have are spot, which are good for blinding people who tailgate me at night, and they're bright as shit if you look anywhere near them. Mine are the Cali Raised and I'll probably get their single row bars for the sides.

 

If your 3rd gen has bed rails you can do something like this. I made the brackets out of aluminum angle, drilled the holes, sprayed with bedliner since paint wouldn't stick to it, tied the lights together, ran a single power and ground harness into the cab, got power via add a circuit since the two leds pull nothing, split the ground to body and the switch.

 

That looks clean. Nice work on the brackets.

 

Thank you! I used a cut off wheel to round the edges out to give it a nicer look and to prevent getting poked by the sharp edges

 

If I didn't have 6 LED's in my bed already I'd do this. If anyone asks I just keep telling them I'm afraid of the dark...