3rd Gen Bed Lights - color temp choices

Hi everyone. Long time follower but relatively new member. I just upgraded all of my interior/exterior lights (except brake lights/turn signals) to LEDs at 6000k, which in my opinion gives a very nice bright white with not much blue tint. Now I want to add bed light strips, under-cab lights, and under-hood lights and ideally would like them to match in color temp. But here's the rub...

I REALLY like the Matt Gecko light kits as they are already assembled and they have excellent reviews. But they only come in 3500k or 6500k (not considering the 5000k/red dual option since they cost more and I would never use the red). So neither will closely match my existing lights. The 3500k is more yellow than I like, and 6500k is more blue than I like.

So my question to the community is: should I just DIY my own with the correct color lights, or order the MG kit and deal with mismatched colors? If I get the kit, which color choice would be less contrasting with my existing 6000k lights? I'm comfortable with soldering, wiring, etc., it's just a matter of sourcing some good quality light strips. Or are there other kit options from other sellers that I haven't found?

I realize this is 100% subjective but I am indecisive on this, so really I'm just looking for some advice to help make my decision.

Also on a related topic, I think I want to install a momentary switch for the lights to come on when the tailgate opens, with a secondary switch nearby as an override kill switch (if I need to haul something at night with the tailgate open). But I also considered just wiring it to the cab lights and calling it a day. What have others done regarding switches, other than a simple on/off direct to battery?

 

What brand of LEDs did you use in the interior?

Very few brands use the same LED chips and many brands claim (Amazon/ebay) a certain Kelvin rating to attract customers but are nowhere near what the actual Kelvin rating actually is if it were measured. The white color with a little bit of blue tint in your description is generally going to be around 5000K ratings when using a reputable brand (see below) that is accurate to their specs. Not trying to say your current lights are inferior, just trying to give you info.

Diode Dynamics, VLED's and SuperBrightLEDs are a few sights that accurate to their color ratings. Superbrighleds has strips that are high CRI that would be fantastic for bed lights if you are doing any tasks since it won't wash out the colors, but it does limit your options a bit too. Most LED strips have a CRI (Color Rendering Index) of 70 or less, if you have a CRI of around 90 or more then colors will be more life like. That's why trying to identify wire colors on small wires under your dash using some LED work lights is a pain in the you know what!!

 

I actually have a combination of Sealight (Amazon) and VLEDS. Both are labeled at 6000k, and surprisingly they are close enough in color that I can't tell the difference. It's exactly the bright white I was looking for. Maybe that's just a happy coincidence, but I was prepared to return the cheaper ones if they clashed with the VLEDs. I'm always willing to pay more for quality if there isn't a cheaper alternative that meets my expectations.

This is true. It's hard enough being mildly colorblind. Add in those cheap work lights and it's near impossible.

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll check those sites out!

EDIT: Another question I forgot to ask... even if I did get the MG lights, they don't come with any wiring instructions. Ideally I would like them to come on when I open a door on that side, but that may be asking a bit much. What are my options for wiring in the under-cab lights? I don't see a lot of talk about them here or on YouTube.

 

So do you want them to come on when your dome lights come on?

I'm assuming your under cab lights are already linked to the dome lights since they likely come on when you open the door and when you unlock the truck. Basically just wire up the bed lights to that as well. However, you will want to do some math to see if the circuit can handle that much load. What I did on mine is a switch in the cab on the left side that has an indicator when they are on and a switch in the bed to turn the lights on as well. I just ran the wires off the battery and have a fused/relay set up so the lights operate independently from any other subsystem. I would recommend at least making it operate separate from your dome lights in some way so you don't have to open your door just to turn the bed lights on and possibly so they don't always turn on when your dome lights are activated for various reasons. There are many different ways to wire it. I know there was a handful of threads where people shared how they wired their bed lights and all of them would function the same, if I have time later I'll search for a couple.