Diy Bed Lights

[66and10]

Since I bought my Silverado in June, I have partially debadged, changed out the ugly yellow bowtie in the grill with a chrome one, and installed Weather Tech mudflaps, a plasmaglow LED under tailgate light bar, EZ-Down tailgate piston, and a Lund Genesis roll-up tonneau cover.

 

With the tonneau on, it is quite dark in the bed at night time, so lights were needed. Instead of spending $100 on a kit, I decided to build my own.

 

Here's what I used:

 

 

I bought the LED strips on eBay HERE. It was about $25 including shipping for 2 strips 120 cm (about 4-foot) long. I attached them to the underside of the rails of the tonneau cover using 3M double sided tape. I popped out one of the plastic caps from the inside of the bed and drilled it for a toggle switch.

 

Some pics of the install.

 

 

 

 

 

I am really happy with the results. I think these are a lot brighter than the kits that only have small modules with a few LED's each - there are a total of 240 LED's in my bed.

 

Here's what it looks like at night all lit up.

 

 

[jrrod2004]

Since I bought my Silverado in June, I have partially debadged, changed out the ugly yellow bowtie in the grill with a chrome one, and installed Weather Tech mudflaps, a plasmaglow LED under tailgate light bar, EZ-Down tailgate piston, and a Lund Genesis roll-up tonneau cover.

 

With the tonneau on, it is quite dark in the bed at night time, so lights were needed. Instead of spending $100 on a kit, I decided to build my own.

 

Here's what I used:

 

I bought the LED strips on eBay HERE. It was about $25 including shipping for 2 strips 120 cm (about 4-foot) long. I attached them to the underside of the rails of the tonneau cover using 3M double sided tape. I popped out one of the plastic caps from the inside of the bed and drilled it for a toggle switch.

 

I am really happy with the results. I think these are a lot brighter than the kits that only have small modules with a few LED's each - there are a total of 240 LED's in my bed.

 

Here's what it looks like at night all lit up.

 

very nice. how long you have had them installed??? only concern is long term durability

[RyanbabZ71]

very nice!

[66and10]

***very nice. how long you have had them installed??? only concern is long term durability***

 

I've had them in about a month now; I'll see how they hold up long term. I kind of wondered myself given the price. They seem to be really well sealed and all LED's light up.

 

The durability of my wiring I have no concern for, as all connections are sealed and all wires are in loom and zip tied in place. I suppose I can yank the LED's and hook up my wiring to some other lights if I have a problem.

[gadgetguy1288]

Where/how did you tie them into power/ground?

[Black02Silverado]

That looks great.

 

Plenty of light and not expensive on the wallet.

[66and10]

Power comes from a ring tongue terminal I attached to the + side of the battery, with an in-line 10 AMP fuse. With the low current draw of the LED's, I didn't feel the need for a relay.

 

I grounded at the rear under the bed using an existing hole - I'd post a pic, but I'm not sure I could get a good one given the location.

[mxdirtrider56]

Looks good.

[AzDragonLord]

Me Likey! Under my hard cover it's gets pretty dark as well...this could be just the ticket! What about drawing power from the trailer-light connection? Is any of that always hot?

[gabbypig]

Me Likey! Under my hard cover it's gets pretty dark as well...this could be just the ticket! What about drawing power from the trailer-light connection? Is any of that always hot?

 

Good idea. Yes, pin E with the red wire should be connected to battery voltage.

 

- Gabbypig

[masonbid]

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?...amp;hl=masonbid

 

Take a look over there. I was originally planning on doing the same thing but Mitch happen to beat me to it. There are 2 different write ups in the above thread.

 

I love mine and they are very durable and have help up a long time!

[pwall]

Well done, and a great idea!

[66and10]

Yeah, Mitch's project was the original inspiration for my project. Thanks, Mason for posting the link.