About to purchase a 2018 Silverado. Planning an extensive lighting package. Thoughts?

probablyflying · July 27, 2022

Hey y’all!
I’m about to purchase an 18 1500 LTZ.
The goal is to do the following on it fairly soon.
Light bar behind grill, rock lights (wheel wheels and running boards, separate switch), rear pod lights of some sort for backing up, bed lights (led strips?) and finally an outlet in the bed.
My questions are, can the battery safety handle all this? Or do I need to consider adding a second battery. I’m not opposed to spending decent money to do this right.
-The rock lights under running boards will be tied into the dome light so they kick on when I unlock the truck. Can I do that but also provide a switch to it if I want to turn them on?
-Has anyone done a nice light bar behind the grill that is $800?
-If I put bed lights in, what’s involved in putting a switch in the bed so I can turn them on and off?
-The most important thing to me is finding a nice switch panel for all this. If I need to get something custom cut I will but would love it to be backlit. Again not opposed to spending some money so I can have a place for all of this to terminate.
Thanks so much for the help!

DominatorZ71 · July 27, 2022

59 minutes ago, probablyflying said:

Hey y’all!
I’m about to purchase an 18 1500 LTZ.
The goal is to do the following on it fairly soon.
Light bar behind grill, rock lights (wheel wheels and running boards, separate switch), rear pod lights of some sort for backing up, bed lights (led strips?) and finally an outlet in the bed.
My questions are, can the battery safety handle all this? Or do I need to consider adding a second battery. I’m not opposed to spending decent money to do this right.
-The rock lights under running boards will be tied into the dome light so they kick on when I unlock the truck. Can I do that but also provide a switch to it if I want to turn them on?
-Has anyone done a nice light bar behind the grill that is $800?
-If I put bed lights in, what’s involved in putting a switch in the bed so I can turn them on and off?
-The most important thing to me is finding a nice switch panel for all this. If I need to get something custom cut I will but would love it to be backlit. Again not opposed to spending some money so I can have a place for all of this to terminate.
Thanks so much for the help!

An 18 LTZ should be equipped with factory bed lighting. My 16 LT has it. As for lightbar I would recommend to get a nice push bar or brush guard to mount to. It's asthetically pleasing.

slj2008 · July 27, 2022

Checl out Rough County - Led Light Bar /w Brackets . i have a 32" mounted behind grill - Lower part of grill , under Z71 grill badge.

mikeyk101 · July 27, 2022

11 hours ago, DominatorZ71 said:

An 18 LTZ should be equipped with factory bed lighting. My 16 LT has it.

......

My 2016 LT did not have the factory bed lighting. I did buy the OEM kit and install it though.

DominatorZ71 · July 27, 2022

1 hour ago, mikeyk101 said:

My 2016 LT did not have the factory bed lighting. I did buy the OEM kit and install it though.

Correct. Optional on LTs but should come with a LTZ

Dresari702 · July 27, 2022

14 hours ago, probablyflying said:

Hey y’all!
I’m about to purchase an 18 1500 LTZ.
The goal is to do the following on it fairly soon.
Light bar behind grill, rock lights (wheel wheels and running boards, separate switch), rear pod lights of some sort for backing up, bed lights (led strips?) and finally an outlet in the bed.
My questions are, can the battery safety handle all this? Or do I need to consider adding a second battery. I’m not opposed to spending decent money to do this right.
-The rock lights under running boards will be tied into the dome light so they kick on when I unlock the truck. Can I do that but also provide a switch to it if I want to turn them on?
-Has anyone done a nice light bar behind the grill that is $800?
-If I put bed lights in, what’s involved in putting a switch in the bed so I can turn them on and off?
-The most important thing to me is finding a nice switch panel for all this. If I need to get something custom cut I will but would love it to be backlit. Again not opposed to spending some money so I can have a place for all of this to terminate.
Thanks so much for the help!

I would think the factory battery should handle that setup. If you tie your rock lights into the Dome Lights....you might consider wiring the power for Rock Lights through a Relay, and trigger the relay from the Dome Light wire at the BCM. (Adding too many watts/amps through the BCM computer may overload it. Relay would solve that).

Re: the behind-the-grill light bar, this is possible and has been done many times. But a Light Bar will likely interfere with any Active Grill Shutters that may be present. There are some YouTube videos that show how to modify your shutters to fit the light bar.

In my Bed Lights.....I tied +12V power to the constant power at my trailer wiring plug. Wired a bed light pushbutton switch in series to that +12V power....and drilled a hole in the side of my Bed sheetmetal to mount the switch.

For your backup light pods....did you want them to come on automatically when you are in Reverse? Or would you control manually from a separate switch?

If you're buying an LTZ, I believe this means you already have the Upfitter switch panel, below the radio. Correct?

Overall, your setup is similar to mine. I'll try to find the wiring diagrams I drew for my system, and paste them in this thread...

Edited July 27, 2022 by Dresari702

probablyflying · July 28, 2022

10 hours ago, Dresari702 said:

Thanks so much for the help! I would prefer the rear pods to be switched.
What did you for a switch? I’m looking for something that’s super clean and can have everything in one.

I would think the factory battery should handle that setup. If you tie your rock lights into the Dome Lights....you might consider wiring the power for Rock Lights through a Relay, and trigger the relay from the Dome Light wire at the BCM. (Adding too many watts/amps through the BCM computer may overload it. Relay would solve that).

Re: the behind-the-grill light bar, this is possible and has been done many times. But a Light Bar will likely interfere with any Active Grill Shutters that may be present. There are some YouTube videos that show how to modify your shutters to fit the light bar.

In my Bed Lights.....I tied +12V power to the constant power at my trailer wiring plug. Wired a bed light pushbutton switch in series to that +12V power....and drilled a hole in the side of my Bed sheetmetal to mount the switch.

For your backup light pods....did you want them to come on automatically when you are in Reverse? Or would you control manually from a separate switch?

If you're buying an LTZ, I believe this means you already have the Upfitter switch panel, below the radio. Correct?

Overall, your setup is similar to mine. I'll try to find the wiring diagrams I drew for my system, and paste them in this thread...

Dresari702 · July 28, 2022

16 hours ago, probablyflying said:

For the Bed pushbutton to control the bed lights.....I just used a latched pushbutton. Push on, push off. You can find illuminated ones, and also ones made in stainless steel. For the other switches....I put them in a blank area in my overhead console.

I may have rushed it a bit.....but can you open the attached PDF? I mocked up a wiring diagram that you can follow. I also included pics where I could, showing devices you asked about.

Lights Wiring.pdf

probablyflying · July 31, 2022

On 7/28/2022 at 3:33 PM, Dresari702 said:

For the Bed pushbutton to control the bed lights.....I just used a latched pushbutton. Push on, push off. You can find illuminated ones, and also ones made in stainless steel. For the other switches....I put them in a blank area in my overhead console.

I may have rushed it a bit.....but can you open the attached PDF? I mocked up a wiring diagram that you can follow. I also included pics where I could, showing devices you asked about.

Lights Wiring.pdf 365 kB · 3 downloads

Dude you’re the best! Thank you so much! It opened fine. Looks great. Really appreciate the help.

Dresari702 · July 31, 2022

15 hours ago, probablyflying said:

Dude you’re the best! Thank you so much! It opened fine. Looks great. Really appreciate the help.

No prob! I checked over the drawing and it looked right (assuming you get typical automotive relays). But if you have questions, feel welcome to shoot me a PM message. A guy on here, Phil, with screenname "Pgamboa" is also VERY good with automotive wiring. Could shoot him a message too.

UrbanRage · August 1, 2022

I used Rigid flush mounted LEDs as backup lights on my truck. They fit perfectly inside the rear foot steps on the bumper and are super bright. I would highly recommend these. These would also work great for your rock lights... depending on where and how you want to mount them.

Rigid flush mounted LED lights.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HJ4G9QI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

slj2008 · August 1, 2022

2 hours ago, UrbanRage said:

I used Rigid flush mounted LEDs as backup lights on my truck. They fit perfectly inside the rear foot steps on the bumper and are super bright. I would highly recommend these. These would also work great for your rock lights... depending on where and how you want to mount them.

Rigid flush mounted LED lights.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HJ4G9QI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Any Photo's of your setup ?

Dresari702 · August 1, 2022

4 hours ago, slj2008 said:

Any Photo's of your setup ?

I imagine he is used Rigid Ignite Flush Mount pods.....that's about the only size of Rigid LED light that will fit in there. I attached a pic of what one looks like.

UrbanRage · August 2, 2022

Correct, these are the ones that I used and I mounted them the same way.

15 hours ago, Dresari702 said:

I imagine he is used Rigid Ignite Flush Mount pods.....that's about the only size of Rigid LED light that will fit in there. I attached a pic of what one looks like.