I'd like to go the cargo light route as well. How did you run the wires out of the bed and up into the cab?

 

Ground the lights wherever you find is convenient under the bed. I got power from the gray / purple stripe wire inside the driver's kick panel. It travels along the driver's side to the cargo light so you can tap in just about anywhere along that side of the truck.

Getting the wire inside is so easy. Under the front of the front door or the back of the rear doors you will find a black grommet just under the door sill. Simply poke a hole in it and pull your wire into the door sill. Then connect to the cargo wire (gray / purple) and you're done. The grommet is about the size of a dime and is directly under the door sill.

I found at the corner of my bed there is a tiny slit that I was able to run the wires into that allowed me to get the wire from inside the bed to under the bed. You could also use one of the drain holes or anywhere else.

 

Someone asked earlier about the Recon lights. Yes, they are expensive, especially compared to the longer strips that you can find in this thread that are only $15. Only difference is the Recon lights are pre-attached to the wire you run to your switch / power line / ground. When I bought them originally these other options were not yet explored so that's why I ended up with them. I transferred them from my '09 to my '11 since I already owned them. Otherwise I would have gone with the longer strip of LEDs too.

 

I like the longer ones but I actually dont have the "underside" of the bed rails on y 03 so...I got the $80 Plasmaglow ones for Christmas, the 5 little LED strips with 6 strips per side, and had them installed...best and most useful mod to my truck yet!

I did have to cut and extend the wires to get them where I wanted them, 4 down the side, 1 facing forward from beside the tailgate and 1 facing back from the cab, installed a rocker switch near the tailgate to just turn them on manually. Its great! Would defiantly recommend this to anyone!





These pics dont do it justice at all as to how bright it is. I like it, just enough but not too much as well

 

Sharper4 thanks for that. Now is this wire constant power or keyed or what?

 

The reason I switched mine is so no one could easily see whats in my truck bed when I open the door or steal the leds for that matter! They are very bright and wouldnt want to draw too much unneeded attention.

 

Yours looks great too nice job!!

 

The Grey/purple wire is powered only when you unlock your doors or open your door. Basically your bed lights would come on when your dome light does.

 

Yeah but wife didnt like the idea of people getting a good look at what we have or bought.

 

Oh yeah definately! Without a tonneau I wouldn't tap the dome light