Had a quick question for some bed lights. Recently purchased a camper shell for my '01 King Ranch and I like to take the truck cruising with the dog in the bed, sometimes at night. My plan is to wire 2 LED strips (less than 18" each) into the tail lights so the strips are on when the headlights/tail lights are on. I have 2 main questions about this.

1. Will the power running to the tail lights be sufficient to run the LEDs? I know they use very little power but I would hate to screw up an essential light while trying to add one that doesn't have such an important purpose.

2. Where is the best place to splice into the wires? The place that installed the shell spliced into the wires already at the back of the bed but is there a better location? I don't want to have the lights tied to the interior lights as I will want them more for when the truck is actually moving.

 

I'd wire the bed lights separate to a switch by the tailgate or in the cab. You could hook LEDs into the tailights and it should run them but it would probably look better to just switch to LED bulbs

 

^^^ post above is a good call. I personally like a setup that our accessory dept does at the dealership. 4 8 diode led lights per side, wired into the constant power going to the 7 pin, fused of course. lighted rocker switch in the bed, typically mounted in the bedliner tied to a mercury switch that actuates when you bring the tailgate down. It gives plenty of nightime light, and it is ideal if you run a tonnau cover. I have never seen one of those setups come back with any issues, and if you forget to shut off the rocker, the merc switch cuts power upon the tailgate closing

ETA: RedneckCadillac, your user name should be redneck Lincoln. How dare you disgrace our fords with a GM monkier!

I am purely kidding, of course lol

 

Here is a 15 foot led strip I installed in my truck bed. I chose to wire mine to an external power source. But it would be just as easy to wire to a battery. Got the strip from amazon. Mine are back lit under the bed rail.

 

how much is the kit you are talking about. and how can I get one?

 

I wired 2 12" led strips on the cap lights power wire to a separate switch. The strips were sticky backed and I just stuck them to the overhead hangers.

 

So I ran 2 15" strips under my bedliner and mounted them to the bedliner itself. The strips were adhesive backed. I ran power off of my trailer wire outlet(using the running lights wire)and took that to a switch mounted at the rear corner closest to the tailgate on the inside.

This way when i have my lights on, and I'm loading my bed at night, I don't have to go back inside the truck to turn the lights on. And also, with it wired into the running lights, i don't have to worry about leaving the switch on. If i forget to turn the switch off, the lights turn off when the truck turns off.

Hope this helps.

 

Losi u should put a switch in, without changing your power source.

 

Found a few sets of Marine LED's at Walmart on clearance the other night. Hopefully, Ill be able to post a few pics up later. These are the submergeable kind, so they work above or in water (perfect of an open truck bed). They only pull a mere 200mA, so wiring should be a snap. Pictures later on tonight.

 

Like this one? haha
It's there. After reading my post, it reads like I didn't have one. Guess I shouldn't type after drinking. I've got a set on the passenger side identical to the ones showing here.