Bed lighting for $20 (warning, lots of pictures + detail)

Patrick16taco · May 6, 2016

Thanks for the write up

basically_stock_ · Jun 25, 2016

nice write up, been wanting to do bed lights on my 2nd gen.

capturecolorado · Jun 29, 2016

Update... I did the lights in my new topper recently. I used the brighter option for lights, not available on Amazon, but can be had through superbrightLED, I want to say the strips I used this time have 3w LEDs, vs. 1w, but I could be wrong... They're a lot bigger than normal--and bright as f*ck! I went with the brighter option since the lights were pointing up onto carpet, and they're almost too bright. Might wire a dimmer into the thing later on.

FWIW for this application I sprayed Super90 heavy duty spray adhesive on the back of the strips before sticking them to the top of the window trim, in the hope that it'll be more permanent and resist falling off.

jasontylers · Jun 19, 2017

I was actually researching ways to do this exact thing (I also have a Softopper) and was about to order a light strip off Amazon:

$26 MICTUNING 2Pcs 60" White LED Cargo Truck Bed Light Strip Lamp Waterproof Lighting Kit with On-Off Switch Fuse 2-Way Splitter Cable Compatible with Pickup RV SUV and More

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JUE9OLM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A15H3UKRB6RHF9 and was clicking around and found your post. Very thorough! The route I was going to go was to order these and run them to the license plate light so they come on with the unlock button on my remote and when headlights are on. I'm just not sure if they'd blind me while driving with the headlights on. Maybe you would know since you have a lot more experience than me. I like your idea as I have the same exact light strip under my couch in my living room and it's remote controlled and dimmable. Maybe I could get the same lights and just plug them in the bed of my Tacoma so they're switchable from the outlet switch in my truck. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

capturecolorado[OP] initial post: ↑

We all know how annoying it is to try and find something in the back of your truck at night with a flashlight. Trying to unload a large, heavy object in the dark? Have fun.

I had been through several iterations of this plan in regards to what lights I wanted to use that would put out the most even, and low-shadow light for navigating the groves of crap that often finds its way into the back of my truck on camping trips. I was going to use little LED license plate lights, maybe some small pod lights, etc. But the project cost was looking to get too great, at $10 per light, fabricating the mounts, I wanted 4-6 lights... too pricy for this mod.

Enter

Cool White LED Waterproof Flexible Strip Light, T93007-1 (1 Pack) - 25 watt, 300 "3528 SMD, 12 Volt, 16.4 feet, Pure White - 1 Pack

Amazon. Give them $8-$10, and get either waterproof or non-waterproof LED light strips...Prime, too, so free shipping if you've got that.

Supplies:
1 - roll of LED lights (5m long should be plenty depending on your plans)
1 - roll of 18 gauge speaker wire
1 - light switch of your preferred variety
- lots of wire connectors (one of those handy connector kits at the auto parts store is perfect)
1 - inline fuse holder
- enough wire to run power from your battery, along the frame rail, to the driver side (on 1st gen) tail light
132 - zip ties. Mostly 4", some 8" for larger grabs, and a few 24" for attaching the main power wire to the frame rail. You can also attach the power to one of the cable looms running to the back, but I'm lazy.
1 - 3-5a fuse
- heat shrink tube (whatever size works well for your wire choice)

Tools needed:
- Wire cutter
- Wire stripper
- Crimping tool
- soldering iron + solder
- Drill
- drill bits
- beer
- (optional) Park Tool BT-2 cable puller (works wonders for pulling zip ties tight)
- (optional, but recommended) if you're going to be doing much of this, find a way to test your solder connections before running all the wires. I had

$16 LEDwholesalers 12 Volt DC Waterpoof LED Power Suppply Driver Transformer with 3-Prong Plug, 30W, 3207

this for an undercabinet lighting project that I hadn't yet completed, so I had that plugged in on my bench while I was soldering so I could make sure I would save myself some headache.

I used a toggle switch w/ safety cover from RadioShaq

And here's the optional tool that I highly recommend buying if you fiddle with small zip ties often. It's a bicycle tool, completely useless in its designed purpose, so I just call it the ZTT-1, zip tie tool....

Step 1:
Open beer.

Step 1.1:
Figure out how you want your lights laid out. These lights are adhesive backed with 3M, but I don't recommend relying on that, which is why I suggest using zip ties.

Step 1.2:
Cut lights to length in accordance with your desired layout. The lights have a designated trim point every 3 emitters, and you'll see a line with a diagram of scissors indicating where it's safe to cut.

Note: on either side of this line, you'll see two contact points to solder to, if you have the waterproof tape, be sure to trim away enough of the waterproof stuff to give you clear access to these. And be sure (ask me how I know) to clean off ALL of the waterproofing material prior to trying to solder. Otherwise the solder will not take and you'll be frustrated.

Step 2:
Move to your bench/work space, heat up your solder gun and prepare to do tiny, electrical welding.

Step 2.1:
Prepare light strips, figure out which end you wish to attach your power leads to, and prepare accordingly (if you've got non-waterproof lights, you do nothing. if you have waterproof lights, strip back approximately 5-8mm of waterproofing and clean contacts).

Cut approximate, and generous, lengths of your speaker wire, split the ends and strip the wire cover just enough for the solder joint (3-5mm, shorter the better).

Step 3:
Do tiny, electrical welds.

Attach the end of your speaker wire to the ends of the light strips, allow to FULLY COOL before moving. Try not to linger too long with the heat, if you need to reposition, allow the solder to cool and reposition quickly to avoid melting the wire housing. Also try to avoid heating the wire itself up too much, the housing melts incredibly fast.

Note: DO NOT OVERHEAT TAPE. See below for my story on why.

Step 3.1:
Test each solder connection before moving on to the next to ensure conductivity. Again, you don't want to go through all the trouble of wiring this shit up, to realize it doesn't work. I put too much heat into the end of one of my strips and it was shorting, so it would work if I bent it in a certain way, but not in any other. This came from a combination of overheating the tape, and cutting a little too deep when I sliced through the waterproof layer and slightly severed the copper tape. Bad combo. Don't do that.

Step 4:
Once all strips are cut, have generous length leads attached to them, and have cooled; cut short lengths of heat shrink tubing and slide over your leads to cover the solder joint. Place over the solder joint to cover as desired, and apply heat with your fancy shrinky-dink machine. Or heat gun.

Note: A lighter will also work, but be sure to move it rapidly and not linger too long, as you will char/burn/light shit on fire.

Step 5:
Figure out where you want your switch located. On my first gen, I chose the rearmost corner of the bedrail, right by the tailgate. It's a fairly protected place that won't really see anything bashing into it. This location required about a 6" wire lead from the switch to a quick connect for my power in/power out/ground cables. Grounding the switch is only necessary if you want the LED in the switch to turn on when the lights are on (assuming you have an illuminated switch, if you don't, there's no option to ground it). If you don't wish the switch to light up, then no need to ground it, but you're going to be grounding connections here anyway, so might as well.

For my switch, the hole I needed to drill is simply a 1/2" hole, I needed to provide enough vertical clearance in the sheetmetal for the cover plate to sit against, but beyond that, placement can be wherever. I also put the switch as high as I did, in part because I wanted it there, but also because of the Bedrug, if you want it lower, go right ahead, there cowboy.

So, with that said, figure out where you want your switch, grab a pilot bit (I used 3/16") and poke a hole in your bed. Then make that hole 1/2" or the appropriate size for your chosen switch.

Follow up with a deburring tool, and maybe throw some paint on the exposed metal if you care to do so.

Use a female blade connector of the appropriate size for your wire to connect to the back of the switch. I cut my three leads so that they would end up about the same length when hung from the switch vertically - in other words, the power in cable was 6" long, the power out was 6.5" long, and the ground was 7". Not necessary, but it'll come in handy. Your exact length of lead may vary depending on location of your switch.

Step 6: (installing the light strips)
First gen w/o spray-on bedliner:
Clean surface with denatured alcohol. Allow to dry. Once dry, begin installing the light strip from the SOLDERED SIDE (assuming you're running wires like I did, from the back of the truck) on. Peel away 6-12" of the cover material on the 3M tape, stretch, align and stick, making sure that it's adhering properly before continuing to the next 6-12" section. Continue until you've reached the end of the strip. Move on to the next bed rail or section of light and repeat the process.

Once all the strips are on, grab your drill and drill bit that will be large enough for a small zip tie to pass through the hole. Drill your first hole immediately above the solder connection and then go on from there. I chose to drill a hole roughly every 12 LED emitters, at the cut mark. In other words, I put a hole in the bed rail every third trim point. Place the holes as close to the top of the tape as you can without damaging the tape.

Once you've turned your bed rails into swiss cheese, thread a small zip tie into each hole and pull the slack out of the zip tie. Then trim the tail. I left all the trimming until the end because it's kind of fun. I recommend picking up a pair of "nippers" at the hardware store or radioshack, they trim the tails of zip ties totally flush with the head, avoiding the annoying sharp edge that side-cutters often leave behind as a result of the cutting edge being recessed.

1st gen w/ spray-on bedliner:
Repeat most of the steps outlined above, but because I doubt the adhesive will do you a damn bit of good, I would recommend putting a zip tie in every 3-emitters to be safe. The actual interval which you do this is entirely up to you, but I'd rather not have the lights saggin' ass.

2nd gen:
I honestly have no idea what your fancy plastic beds are like, so you might just have to improvise here. If someone comes up with an option here that works well for them I'll gladly add it.

Additional lights/topper lighting, etc.:
You'll have to get your innovation on with your specific setup, on my softopper I was able to stick the lights to the aluminum tubing, and then zip tie the wires to the side tubes and run that to the bed rail where they have a quick connection, but if you've got a hard shell top with carpet on the inside, your creativity level will have to increase.

Step 7:
Route wires in whatever disguised and hidden manner you so choose.

I didn't want wires hanging below the bed rail, so I drilled a 1/4" hole at the back of each strip for the wire to pass through. If you wish, adding a rubber grommet here wouldn't be a bad idea to prevent wear on the wire leads. Be sure to secure loose wire when you can to prevent it from getting snagged on anything.

This picture works for this step as well.

For the passenger side, I ran the wire down behind the tail light, and below the bed, attaching it to the wire loom that runs between the tail lights, and then up to the switch behind the driver side tail light. Do whatever makes the most sense for your truck. Just remember.... ZIP TIES ARE YOUR FWIEND.

Step 8:
You're getting there...

Connect, in whatever manner you so choose, your positive wires for all strips together, and the ground wires for all strips together. I have three leads, so I stripped the ends of the three, and then twisted them together, inserted them into a crimp-on end and then called it a day. Your preferred method may be different. Do this to both the ground and positive wires.

Then, connect all the ground wires together in the same manner. Remember to also connect them to the short ground lead that connects to your switch if applicable. I ran all of these ends into a single waterproof crimp connector, so I could disconnect them as needed.

From left to right: power in, power out, ground. I have three leads to light strips, so I have three wires tied into the power out, and 4 grounded.

Step 9:
Discretely run your fused power line from the engine bay to the bed. Or from whatever power source you so choose (bed-mounted deep cycle solar charging system?) to the location of the switch. Add the mate to your power in and ground connections, hook up and flip the switch!

If you didn't do it right, well I can't help you*. But if you did, you should be able to see in your bed at night! Good job.

* If it's not working, make sure you maintained polarity on all of your wiring. Ensure that you didn't melt the copper tape, or do something to cause a short. Testing your solder joints prior to install is a good way to avoid that situation.

I wasn't kidding when I said 132 zip ties.

Still have full use of the softopper's ability to fold away.

And remove completely with a couple of blade connectors.

If I didn't mention it, I had a cold when I wrote this out, so I was "resting". And bored.
Click to expand...

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Bed lighting for $20 (warning, lots of pictures + detail)

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Bed lighting for $20 (warning, lots of pictures + detail)

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