Finally finished my Bed Lights Project. Here's a lengthy "how to" post-

Let me ask you a few questions and we'll try and get ya dialed in. First off, which switch did you get? Is it the same Ottraw as mine? There were two different types of that particular switch. One has more led lighting on the switch than the other.

The wiring setup will be slightly different for each.

If I understand you correctly, you tested the wires in the "switch" panel and found nothing but constant 12v, which means switch lighting will be powered at all times, correct?

And you want them all ( bedlights, leds, and switch led's) to only work when truck is on AND headlights are on, correct?

There are different options of wiring for different setups so we just need to get dialed in on exactly what your wanting to see.

ie. Spruce nailed it, you can utilize the dimmer circuit (in your case, it sounds like the a/c controls or the shifter is your best bet) for powering switch lights only when the interior lighting (headlights) are on which will dim in sync with those components.

There is also the ability to tap into the interior fuse panel and power only when the truck ign is set to "on". etc, etc.

 

I got the switch with two lights (V1D1FCCB), and yes, I would like the switch to be lit when the truck is on and the headlights are on.

I've got the under dash and bed LEDs wired no problem, I was just having trouble with the switches. I originally had the oznium scion switches, but I prefer the OTRATTW switches. I will look into the ac controls and shifter to see which one is easier to tap into. Thanks for everyones help.

 

Cool, tks. Yea it sounds like you got it. Like Spruce said sounds like in your setup, your best bet is the a/c controls dimmer circuit. (Green to the pos. terminal on top rear of switch and green/white to negative terminal on top rear of switch.)

I took off that a/c control panel when wiring in my flyzeye lights and it was pretty easy. Running your wire aft may be a pita but doable. Good luck buddy and let us know how it shakes down.

 

So these LED strips run off the 12v circuit and don't need any converters or resistors installed?

 

Correct. Tied into the 12v existing circuit. Nothing else needed. These strips have a very low draw. As a matter of fact I calculated a draw of less than 1 amp ( .33amps to be exact) for my particular setup. Even the switch and the led's in the switch are 12v powered.

 

Nice writeup, actually cleared up a lot of questions I would've asked later.
I have a kind of silly question though because I'm not overly comfortable tapping into fuses myself, without reassurance.

I've found LEDs with the following info with them;
Input volts: DC 12V (

$10 12V 5A Power Supply, Waysse AC DC Adapter, Converter 100-240V to 12 Volt 5 Amp Transformer 5.5x2.1mm Plug for LED Strip Light DVR NVR Security Cameras System CCTV Accessories

12V 5A for 5meters 5050 300LED light strip)
Viewing Angle : 120°

What I'd like to do is use an add a circuit into the dash fuse box, but I can't tell or find if any of the blank fuse spaces I have run when the ignition key is on or off.

Preferably I'd like to have the option to run the LEDs with the ignition off (but I could settle ).

If I were to tap into an existing fuse, I am not sure what would be the best choice, swell as what size fuse to put in slot 1 and 2.

First time add a fuser. Haha

 

Just got in from a trip and am beat. If you can bare with me until tomorrow I'll go out and check my setup and see which ones I used. We can definently get ya setup to be able to use the lights with the truck "off" similar to mine.

I was a first time add-a-fuse'er too. Really easy to work with. Do you happen to have a voltmeter/tester by chance? That's your best bet to find an appropriate location to tap if need be.

Otherwise we'll compare notes and figure out one to use tomorrow.

 

Waited for the nicest day out for the last month! Finally!!

Started by ordering all my stuff on eBay individually over the last 3 weeks and having back and forth PMs with av8er.

Started by notched out my slot for the switch slowly with an exacto knife over 2 mornings before starting work.

Waited for a relatively nice day to put LEDs on tonneau cover frame (initially wanted to do under tie down rails but wouldn't stick for some reason and had to move quick since I had already begun peeling the sticky tape stuff )

Same day ran the add-a-fuse to the switch I got off oznium, as well as grounded it on a very conveniently placed bolt found just underneath and to the left of the change tray.
Left extra wire wrapped till nice day comes along again.

Then, dropped the positive down, along side the kick plates, and through the rubber grommet.

Did 3/8 loom along whole exterior wire, and wrapped the shit out of it in electrical tape for extra precaution haha. Not very visible, but tie wrapped every 8 inches to an existing wire loom already there that leads to tail lights.

Have pics of my arrangement behind the tail lights but for some reason my phone died, so its on my gfs phone. :/

Then tapped through the bed and connected to the lights, wrapped them up, and made final adjustments to anywhere the LEDs my be sagging ( I did do 2 horizontal to verticle turns with them, so it didn't hold their stick overly well in those corners), turned them on and am very pleased!

Much appreciation to Av8er for answering questions I had.

Other useful topics:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/1475-05-drl-daytime-running-lights-install-oem.html ( for how to remove kick plates )
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/27654-how-changing-tail-lights.html ( how to remove tail lights)

 

Great write up! Sub'd for future mod

 

Looks great Jesse!! Very clean and crazy bright final product! Glad you were finally able to get out there and complete it. Don't know how you did it in that cold weather. lol.

Hope you enjoy the lighting as much as I have on mine. Glad I could help out and you did a very nice job man.

So what's next? ha!

 

Very nice Jesse. My gf gave me the strip lighting for Christmas but I have yet to get it installed. Need to come up with connectors of some type. Did you solder the wire on the leds or use clip on connectors ?

 

Great mod! I just ordered the switches and I already have some of those LED Strips laying around.

 

Thank you for you detailed post on your LED project. I am glad you posted so many pictures, it makes it easier for me to follow and understand. I will study your post here and will let you know if I have any questions. This will be added to my list of mods that I plan to do on my truck.

Thanks,

Eric

 

Good luck buddy! Post up some pics when completed and have fun-
Av-

 

Ya, I did throw that blanket down as a work station haha.
Took a ton of time caking the wire loom with electrical tape too.

Only thing I might have changed if I was doing it again would be to have put a second wire in there as a blank, for anything else later.

I used butt connections. Slide some wire in each side and squeezed the crap out of them, haha.

It was more hard with my switch because I got the one with the screws rather than the spade heads, so it took a couple tries landing the screws in good spots with all those little copper wires (I used wire with the 20-30 some odd little copper wires in it. Ha.

 

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Not seeing your pics for some reason.

 

Kind of sad, but I accidentally cranked some pipe against the strip and split the connection. So I ordered a set of the exact same lights (just yellow instead of blue to mix it up), and within less than a total combined time of 7minutes of usage, I noticed at around the halfway point on the strip, it displayed a dimming effect, where over the next 8leds, it got less and less bright, and then now it keeps blowing my 5a fuses. So frustrating. My first led coil never had this issue so I can only assume its the new led set that is somehow defective, but in this case why would the fuses keep blowing? V/

 

So no relay? Would it be smart to do a relay?

 

I could be wrong, but with the low draw of the leds the switch should be able to handle it. I'm sure it couldn't hurt to run a relay though. I'm hoping to do this mod this weekend, weather permitting of course.