T2 - LED Bed Light Expansion

[Smoothbassman]

Ok,

 

I know folks are going to ask how I did this so here are the details.

 

So I thought I was going to be able to tap into the lighting circuit for the LED lights but our trucks are so smart now that when I did that I was pulling too much current and I got an error message in the system. It subsequently shut off bed the lights to protect the system.

 

So if you want to put this type of lighting kit on your truck you will need to have a few wiring skills to get started with this. As for materials you will need a few things.

 

Grab any 20 dollar set off Amazon. I went with the:

 

AUTUNEER 60Inch LED Truck Bed... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073ZGNDTC?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

Then you are going to need a 12V 4 pole relay.

 

I grabbed a whole box of these on Amazon, as I have a few more projects to complete that I will need these for.

 

MICTUNING 12V Fuse Relay Switch... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H5NMFGR?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

Get some good quality 16 or 14 gauge wire. I used silicone but if your on a budget get the cheap PVC stuff.

 

16 Gauge Silicone Wire Spool 50... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CMYVF3J?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

Finally, you are going to need some splicing clips in different sizes. Between 16 gauge and 10 gauge.

 

Procedure:

 

I used the trailer connection wires to splice into for constant power and ground to feed this setup. It's your call on where you pull power from, but this was the most convenient for me. Pins 1 and 4 are your ground and power respectively.

 

Tap into those power connections as well as the wires for the existing LED bed lights in the corner of your bed. The Bed lights are going to be the trigger signal for your relay.

 

Wire up pins 85 and 86 to the ground wire and positive wires of your existing LED lights respectively.

 

Wire up the power wire from your trailer hitch +12V to pin 30 of the relay

 

Wire up the new LED light positive input to pin 87 on the relay.

 

Connect the ground wire from the trailer hitch to the ground of the LED lights.

 

Now when you hit that switch in the cab the relay will trigger and power will flow to the lights. After it's tested that it works fine zip tie everything up to the existing wiring harnesses underneath the tail of the truck. To protect the relay, since it's outside in the weather, I bagged it to make it more water resistant.

 

Works great!!

 

It's a simple job really. Just wish the trucks were not so smart that I had to do this. Pretty soon we won't be able to make any mods the way things are going.

 

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

 

[smit303]

Nice write up. You 're right about things getting tougher to work on these days. It looks great though and worth your effort.

[Smoothbassman]

1 hour ago, smit303 said:

Nice write up. You 're right about things getting tougher to work on these days. It looks great though and worth your effort.

Yeah. It's getting ridiculous really. 

 

Innovation is upon us. 

[Smoothbassman]

Went back and cleaned up the wiring after getting everything set up.

Except for the blue electrical tape everything is inside the factory wiring looms.

I moved the relay to inside the LED light pod. Now it can't get wet but still have the needed airflow for cooling



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