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Bed Lighting Kit

DrAudio

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I wonder if these LED strips can be wired in with the OEM bed lights? Do you think the circuit would support the current draw?


~Rooster
2019 Ram 1500 Longhorn

That’s my question also. Would be handy to use my existing bed lights switch in the bed to toggle extra lights on and off.


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AnthonyJS02

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What size wire splice connector do I need for the wire in the cargo light?


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RAM_Blue

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I would like to add lights in addition to the OEM bed LED lights that came with the truck. They aren't very bright. Would I be able to connect into the existing power for the existing OEM bed lights and OEM switch?
 
U

User_21361

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Has anyone tried this with the 410 lumen cargo lights from diode dynamics? I would hate to spend 90$ on bulbs to have them not work with a bed light kit.

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U

User_21361

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Did you end up upgrading? I'm tempted myself.
Yes but just went with the 200 lumens. I haven't made it to the bed lights. My cargo lights don't turn on when I open my tailgate so I want that figured out first.
 
U

User_21361

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Much brighter and honestly better looking. The rest of my truck has leds and these old ones looked out of place. I also know these won't die on me.
 

jmullin5

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Much brighter and honestly better looking. The rest of my truck has leds and these old ones looked out of place. I also know these won't die on me.

Im wondering if the 410s may be overkill. Did you also replace the third backlight withan LED.

It baffles me that every bulb is an LED except these!
 
U

User_21361

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Yeah, it was pretty cheap and wanted to reduce the watt usage for when I do the bed lights
 

derp

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Im wondering if the 410s may be overkill. Did you also replace the third backlight withan LED.

It baffles me that every bulb is an LED except these!
incandescent bulbs make for good stable loads on a circuit. it may help to dampen some of the noise that over time could lead to LED flicker. heck, ferrite beads could do the same, but bulbs are cheap.
 

Bigcountry

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hey guys bought these light and need to get them installed. Realized I need to buy wire to extend the hot wire into the cab. Anyone know what gauge wire I should be using?
 

TexasDrone

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On the tech authority website, I bought the three day subscription and downloaded everything via pdf to my laptop, took about 8-10 hours but it literally has everything about this truck.

Can you upload them to a dropbox folder to share??


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CurtisC

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My truck didn't come with the bed utility group so I missed out on the bed lights, which are very useful especially if you have a tonneau cover. So I found the wiring diagram and followed the wires from the third brake light down to the driver side rear kick plate, my plan was to tie into the wires suppling power to the cargo lamps which would turn on the led strips whenever the cargo light was on. I found the wire pretty easily (just a couple trim pieces to remove) it was a white wire with a tan tracer. From there its very simple, just install whatever light you want and ground one side to the body and connect the other side to the white and tan wire. And now you have bed lights for under $20. PS, If you run into an issue where the aftermarket lights don't work I recommend swapping the cargo lights mounted in the third brake light housing to LED, that has solved the issue for the couple of people it happened to. Here's a link to the set that I used.

View attachment 4851 View attachment 4852 View attachment 4853 View attachment 4854
Thanks for sharing Jordan 2929, particularly the info on the white wire w/ tan tracer! A couple of additional comments on the install:
1. A set of fairly inexpensive plastic body tools makes the trim and wire tray top cover removal easier
2. I have a quad cab and suspect the shorter wire tray is more difficult to work with than the Crew Cab but if you work the top cover carefully you can get the back section to pop out from under the rear seat support trim then work back to front to remove. Reinstall the same way back to front - again plastic trim tools were a big help here.
3. I installed a light kit from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PGKQLC2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and ran the wires for each side thru some existing bed fabrication slots just behind the fwd stake holes and then down. There is a support channel across the front of the bed that makes a good chase for bringing the passenger side wires over to a drivers side connection point.
4. Most kits come with a single pole single throw on/off switch (SPST) which will allow you to turn the bed lights completely off - if you want that capabilty. If you want to include it, run a pair of wires aft along drivers side frame and come up the rear bed pillar to the plastic insert that comes in place of factory bed lights. Pop it out and cut the insert with razor knife to fit the switch. Wire it up, snap in the switch then the insert and you have a handy, clean looking install. My recommendation is to buy an aftermarket waterproof single pole double throw (SPDT) switch (on/off/on), run a power feed from the trailer hitch 12 volt power conductor (always on) to the third terminal on the switch. This provides ability to turn the bed lights on independent of the cargo light, off completely, or leave them slaved to the cargo light.
5. I used waterproof crimp connectors or solder joints with heat shrink covers for all wire connections and stepped the wire size up to 16 ga. for all added wire that wasn't part of the kit. The routing underneath is a bit tedious but along with the cross support channel there are enough harness and tubing runs to piggyback your wiring to. Be generous with the tie wraps to avoid wire movement /abrasion and wrapping with electrical tape will protect wire to sheet metal intersections.
 

Jako

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I went a different route. I wanted to have a switch in the back to turn it on and off when needed but I was concerned that I might leave it by mistake and kill the battery. I discovered this cool little device. It has like 26 different functions that you can program. It is only $20. I have the device hooked into the constant power provided by the trailer connection. I have a momentary switch connected to the device that can turn the lights on and off. If I leave the lights on it will automatically turn them off after 20 minutes. You can program the time. It is a really cool device. It is not waterproof so I just sprayed it with some rubber undercoating to seal it up.

https://www.amazon.com/Timer-Delay-...=timers+5+amp&qid=1555506746&s=gateway&sr=8-5
Link is no good.
Try this
 
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jnrbtpy

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I am getting a set of led bed lights for mine, and this is my plan as well, thank you for posting.
 

Neliv21

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So I have a 2019 RAM 1500 classic. Does Anyone know if this “white with tan line” wire also apply to my truck?
Any help will be appreciated.
 

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