I got an led bed light kit for Christmas. I am trying to figure out the best way to power these.

1) source power from taillight as per directions.

2) tap into cargo light wire

3) wire straight to battery with a bed mounted toggle.

4)use a push switch in tailgate jamb

5) maybe a combination of these?

I have a trifecta cover and a bedrug. I sometimes tow trailers that don't allow a tailgate to be open all the way. I also tow gooseneck with no cover so I cannot leave lights on all the time if I tapped taillight.

I guess I am leaning toward tapping cargo light wire. I could turn on from the cab. It would also illuminate via the key remote by hitting unlock. Should I put a switch in series incase I wanted to turn them off? Not sure why I would need to.

What do you think?

 

my plan is to wire direct to the battery and use a pin switch on the ground this weekend

https://www.f150forum.com/f38/led-be...43928/index79/

plan to copy Siuenger's plan on post 788 less the switch

 

Steve,
I am considering that as well. Is there a 12v supply near the trailer wiring perhaps?

Only downfall I see is if you run with tailgate down or off totally. But I suppose you can put tape over the switch to turn off.

 

3 way switch in the dash. 1 for when the cargo light is on, one off and the other on. An idea anyways.

 

I tapped the running light wire in the trailer harness. I ran it to a toggle switch and added a pin switch on the negative side. The toggle switch allows you to kill power to the lights when the tailgate is open.

 

my plan is to have a harness at the three sections (drivers, back of bed and passanger's side) so if i plan to run the tailgate off i'll just unplug the lights where these connect to the leds to the power

 

I picked up a remote control LED light control unit and tapped off of the battery charger wire for the seven pin connector.
I can turn on or adjust the brightness from a key bob that I keep in the rear door pocket without the key in the ignition.
The power draw of the LED's in minimal so I don't have to worry about running my battery down when using the bed lights.

 

Used this to control led lights on my motorcycle. Bought a spare will use on truck to control bed lights.