Tailgate LED light bars

EpicLT · March 8, 2019

On 11/13/2018 at 2:19 AM, STRMTRPR said:

.. another vote for a Curt T harness.. I used the
CURT 56584 5-Way Flat which also provides the reverse signal without any splicing required vs the 4-way

Sad I didn’t know this was a thing until now

Darmichar · March 8, 2019

9 hours ago, EpicLT said:

Sad I didn’t know this was a thing until now

Don't feel bad. I've read every post here on tailgate lights (even installed on on my 2014 with a plug I made that plugged into the 7-pin on the truck) and spent a few hours researching Curt and Putco inline harnesses. I've probably looked at that 5-pin harness a hundred times and it never clicked that the 5th pin was reverse until @Ravenkeeper posted it.

Jaychevy81 · March 8, 2019

And it really don’t matter which way you go because putco don’t have the 5 pin pre made on the lightbar so. One way or another you have to either wire it from the light bar to 7 pin. Or get the 5 pin flat and wire a 5 pin on the lightbar. Either way works.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Rally_18 · March 13, 2019

is anyone running something other than the putco or opt7 bar?

ESMD · March 13, 2019

Slightly off topic but is anyone running these light steps from Anzo?

Do you have them already or plan on getting them? If you have them already, they are nice looking but only last about 6 months. Once water gets into them, they short out. I wired the white lights to my interior dome lights and one night when I was driving around, my interior lights were coming on every time I hit the brakes or turn signals. Figured out it was the step lights, water got into them.

If you plan on getting them, go for the ones from Octane Lighting. They look different but my understanding is they don't fail as much as the Anzo lights. The only problem is the Octane Lighting ones have a large control box inline with the wire and no easy way to get it through the bumper without cutting and splicing the wire.

I just replaced them this week and I'll see how they hold up. If you want some help installing them, send me a PM and I'll explain how to get to them without taking the bumper off.

Cccmachine · March 15, 2019

Went with a strip that had leds spaced close together. Then put it in a diffuser to match the tail lights.https://youtu.be/pZjRvRHjnp4

Darmichar · March 15, 2019

4 hours ago, Cccmachine said:

Went with a strip that had leds spaced close together. Then put it in a diffuser to match the tail lights.https://youtu.be/pZjRvRHjnp4

That looks sharp. What did you use to diffuse the LED's?

Cccmachine · March 16, 2019

19 hours ago, Darmichar said:

That looks sharp. What did you use to diffuse the LED's?

Thanks, it was one of those projects that I had no idea how it would look. But surprisingly it matched the tail lights perfectly. The led strip I found had the LEDs spaced close and evenly down it. The diffuser I used was this.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IY1L2B2/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's a super close fit between the bumper and tailgate but it has to be the deep channel rails.

TX LIMO · March 18, 2019

Finally got my strip installed, for the most part. Gonna hard wire it to the truck wiring once I get some more time to get under the truck. Wired up the reverse light to the driver side light. Here are a few pics during the day. Gonna wait for it to get dark to snap some night shots and see how it works with the reverse camera. Turn signal flash is synced up nice. If it is off it’s not by maybe .00001 second. Lol.

Sent via my cellular device utilizing a chat forum thingy!

Darmichar · March 18, 2019

On 3/7/2019 at 9:39 PM, Ravenkeeper said:

I'm using the OEM harness that comes with the new bed/lights, and putting a 7-pin on the trailer, going to be using the brake, turn, tail, & reverse lights. I noticed the 5-pin on that pic, while I was drafting up my trailer plans, and thought, "that would be great if/when I do a tailgate light bar w/ reverse."

Did you complete this? Which Putco bar did you use? I want the Red/White/Amber bar and that comes back on Putco's site as the 92009-60, which apparently has the extra red wire for trucks with the trailer detection circuit. Was just curious if this is the one you ordered as well and if you had any issues installing it.

Ravenkeeper · March 19, 2019

15 hours ago, Darmichar said:

Did you complete this? Which Putco bar did you use? I want the Red/White/Amber bar and that comes back on Putco's site as the 92009-60, which apparently has the extra red wire for trucks with the trailer detection circuit. Was just curious if this is the one you ordered as well and if you had any issues installing it.

No, too many home projects, birthdays, etc. I have the harnesses & parts in my backpack to work on in my spare time, at work.

Ravenvoyager · March 20, 2019

I’m installing a light strip I got from diodedynamics. Their stuff is guaranteed for 3 years and very reliable. I have it hooked up on a roll bar rack but will probably tap into the running lights that connect to the taillights.

Ravenvoyager · March 21, 2019

Here’s an update. I ended up wiring to my fog light fuse since all my other hardware is running from the same juice. There’s very little current being drawn since they are leds. I’ve had no led failures from this company,

Edited March 21, 2019 by Ravenvoyager

Darmichar · March 27, 2019

On 3/7/2019 at 9:39 PM, Ravenkeeper said:

I'm using the OEM harness that comes with the new bed/lights, and putting a 7-pin on the trailer, going to be using the brake, turn, tail, & reverse lights. I noticed the 5-pin on that pic, while I was drafting up my trailer plans, and thought, "that would be great if/when I do a tailgate light bar w/ reverse."

Was able to install mine this weekend using the Curt 5 pin harness. I cut the plug off the Putco bar, soldered in the 5 pin plug and installed it no problems. Took about an hour, half of which was soldering in the new 5 pin plug on the Putco bar.

SeanSmith · April 11, 2019

I have the Putco bar (GM Part: 19370856) arriving soon and added the Curt 5-way harness and a 5-way connector on the way after reading all of the thread. Thanks for the great thread and damn all of you for giving me new mod ideas. My bank account suffers now....lol! Will post pics when I get it installed and running.