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I was finally able to take some pictures tonight of my set up. I ran a 12 gauge wire from the battery to the back of the truck so I could have power for future electrical mods and I didn't want to run the bed lights to the cargo lights for the sake of not having to mash the unlock button while I'm working on something lol. I installed a waterproof fuse holder a couple inches from the battery with a 5 amp fuse (it was the lowest amperage fuse I had on hand). I used about 15 feet of split loom to protect the wire until I reached the back of the truck. I cut my led light strips about 53" long, I have a 5.5' bed, it could have been a couple of inches longer but I wanted to play it safe. I used Gorilla super glue gel every 2" or so to hold the strips up. As always, the pics don't do it justice. Sorry for the crappy night pics, if anyone has any questions or wants more/better pics, comment or pm me.
Heres with the lights on
I mounted the switch in the existing hole on the side of the bed stake pocket. From behind you cannot see the switch. The back of the switch is about 1/2" in diameter and fit in the hole without drilling, it had a plastic nut that I used with a large washer and it is in there securely. It does light red when turned on but you can't really see it because it is hidden. I picked it up at radioshack for around $4
I ran the wires through the small hole in the upper corner of the bed a couple inches above the switch
This is with the lights off. I mounted the light strip just below the bed rail cover clips
You could see all of the clips in this picture
These are the lights I ordered from amazon, they were $14 and had prime shipping.
I have a shell that had a cargo lamp. I bought a strip of LEDs (LED Wholesalers) from Amazon. They are 12v. I can't get them to light up with the old switch or a new Dorman 3 prong switch. I even tried touching the lead directly to the red wire on the strip but no dice.
The cargo lamp worked before I cut the wires. The top brake light on the shell still works as well.
So if I have power, and no shine with wires normal and reversed, then I have crap LEDs?
What would I be looking for on the multimeter?
If you have power and no light from LEDs then they are either junk or there is a bad connection to the strip.
With a multimeter, set the meter to DCV @ 20V and touch the black needle to a ground point of the truck and the red needle to the wire that's supposed to have power
Or you could get one of these voltage testers. You put the clamp on a ground point and put the hot wire in the U shaped channel and pierce the wire. If the wire has power the light bulb in the handle will turn on. I believe this was cheaper than a multimeter. It's easier to use but is not as multifunctional as the multimeter
Last edited by Wildwrangler48; 11-12-2015 at 11:01 PM.
So if I have power, and no shine with wires normal and reversed, then I have crap LEDs?
Yes. Test your LED strip by connecting it directly to the battery terminals.
What would I be looking for on the multimeter?
Set it to 20vdc as stated above. You're looking for 12-13 volts. If you see a " - " in front of the numbers, it means the voltage is negative, so reverse the wires so you get a positive voltage. The wire connected to your red multimeter lead is the positive, that should go to the red lead on your LED strip.
11-10-2015, 07:52 PM
