LED bed lighting

[nwram]

Im sure this may have been covered somewhere, but I havent found it. Has anyone installed LED lites to illuminate their truck bed? Was it possibly an option in 2011? Wouldnt be a concern, until I put a trifold Tonno-pro on. Not looking to spend lots of money, so a6ny suggestions on a quality kit? Thanx

 

[ramittome]

Got me a roll of LED lights off ebay for $18 shipped, a switch for the interior of my truck for $10, and went to town. The LEDs were 15 feet long, I just cut it down the whole length of the bed.

 

[NYCruiser]

Nice job. If I go this route I was thinking I would either get power from the cargo light, or rig a jam switch to turn them on when the tailgate opens.

 

[JohnD72]

I've ordered a hard tonneau cover for mine and I'm toying with the idea of re-wiring my cargo lights to come on with the reverse lights and using the cargo light harness for LED's like these.
Should be lots of fun figuring it out.

 

[SafetyMan43]

Nice job. If I go this route I was thinking I would either get power from the cargo light, or rig a jam switch to turn them on when the tailgate opens.

I am going to tap into the cargo light.

My LED's have been ordered for over a week... eBay China takes the slow boat...

 

[ramittome]

I had thought about that, but ended up just doing a switch because I have plans for other lights as well inside and out.

 

[NYCruiser]

Post pics when you add more lights!

 

[vtron]

Nice job. If I go this route I was thinking I would either get power from the cargo light, or rig a jam switch to turn them on when the tailgate opens.

I did this on my last truck and it worked great. I was planning on doing it on my new '14 ram until I looked for a place to mount the switch. It doesn't look like there's enough overhang anywhere to mount one. I'm planning on using a magnetic reed switch instead.

 

[NYCruiser]

If you find something that works let me know what it is!

I haven't really looked at it yet. I'm just going to spend the winter here breaking in the truck gently and look at mods in the spring.

//Andy

 

[vtron]

If you find something that works let me know what it is!

I haven't really looked at it yet. I'm just going to spend the winter here breaking in the truck gently and look at mods in the spring.

//Andy

I'm planning on tapping into the +12V connection on the 7-pin connector and running it through this switch mounted to the bed. The actuator magnet will be mounted to the tailgate.

My only concern is that the switch is only rated for a switching current of 0.5A and the LEDs I've chosen will be around 0.8A. I've tested other reed switches and they usually work well above their rated switching capacity, so I don't think there will be a problem. If I fry the switch, I'll have to buy a normally open switch and bias it with a small magnet.

When my LEDs finally get here from China, I'll take some pictures of the install and post them.

 

[Stangshcky12]

I'm planning on tapping into the +12V connection on the 7-pin connector and running it through this switch mounted to the bed. The actuator magnet will be mounted to the tailgate.

My only concern is that the switch is only rated for a switching current of 0.5A and the LEDs I've chosen will be around 0.8A. I've tested other reed switches and they usually work well above their rated switching capacity, so I don't think there will be a problem. If I fry the switch, I'll have to buy a normally open switch and bias it with a small magnet.

When my LEDs finally get here from China, I'll take some pictures of the install and post them.

Just use a relay

I did some in my dads '11 and girlfriends '05
I taped in to the 7 pin +12v and mounted weatherproof rocker switch just inside the bed near the tailgate

 

[ddavis]

I was interested in this also. Does anyone know the bulb number for the two outside lights of the 3rd brake light? wanting to swap them with LEDs