Lugger007

I finally got annoyed that I couldn't see anything in the bed at night or with the cover closed.
Tonight my buddy who owns a custom audio/fab shop and I Installed 4 - 24" led light tubes (60 led's each). 2 on each side of bed just below the rail. Wired a momentary switch to the inside of bed on driver’s side just below stake pocket. The 7 pin trailer plug is only powered when key is in ignition and power on so that idea was out for power. LED's are wired to a 12 volt constant line ran from the dash.
Lights are from superbrightleds.com. Model # wlf-xw60smd.

LEDs are super bright, weather proof and fairly sturdy.

Let me know what you think. Thanks

Brian



LEDS and clips




wiring LEDS



led tube installed



what bed looks like dark outside, no lights



bed all light up, sorry for all the junk

Lonestar EMT

Nice! It's like daytime in there.

DJR17

I don't know why Ford doesn't have an option for bed lighting. I guess they think we only work during daylight hours? They even turned off the headlights when you unlock the doors..

wakonako

You might want to think about running the wiring under the bed cap and between the bed walls. Thats what we did on one of our trucks and as soon as the lights arrive we're gonna set up the same system on my truck

Lugger007

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into it tomorrow. Didn't think about that. Right now the only wiring in the bed is the 12" run in the middle of the two lights on each side.

shortride

iTrader: (1)

I think I would want the lights to be mounted under the edges of the bed side so that it would look more like indirect lighting instead of the glare of the lights.

Lugger007

There is a hard straight body line in the bed which I followed in mounting the lights. Not much room to go higher.

I'll take better pics tonight as the glare isn't so bad. Pics taken from the iPhone

sharper4

I opted for the smaller LEDs from Recon because I wanted them to hide under the rail. Unless the lights are on, you don't know that they are there. I did it for two reasons:

1) Shelter. Just allows me to continue to use the bed as normal, putting mulch or letting snow and water in without the fear of abusing the lights.
2) Indirect lighting. Since the lights have full view of the bed but you can't really see them otherwise, they don't shine in your eyes while reaching into the bed to pull things out. See pic below, you can see the lights but they aren't shining towards you. They are unlit in the pic.

I also wired mine directly to the cargo light so they come on with the doors or key fob. Where did you put your switch? Do you have a pic?

Looks like a nice set you have there. Amazing how much the light helps.

wakonako

We mounted the lights under the bed rails too, then installed a waterproof switch just inside the stake post near the tailgate. All of it is hidden.
The lights are the 99cent kind on ebay. I'll get pictures when we install them in my truck, just wanting to wait till i get my tool box installed for space clearances.

Skipather

looking to do this mod as soon as I have time. For those of you who have done so already, how easy is it to tap into the bed light wiring? How long does that light stay on? I've been thinking of wiring mine so that it runs off of the bed light and a switch for constant source 12V as well. Thoughts?