I just moved this LED strip from my old camper shell to my GFC. I used a waterproof 960 lumen 1 m LED strip from RadioShack with a dimmer and wiring from a differ LED setup I got on Amazon. The LED strip was clipped into a piece of u-channel aluminum, with I mounted with double sided 3M high strength mounting tape. I soldered and heat strink covered all connections for weather proofing, but the dimmer isnt waterproof. I put it on the rear panel in a place not likely to get wet. I don’t have a picture of the LED strip at camp, but I am uploading a photo of the lighting before I moved it to my GFC to show how it illuminates the area behind the truck. After mounting this on my old shell, I stopped needing to bring a lantern when camping. It works really well.
Very nice, I did something similar on mine. It was my most used light out of all the ones I put in my GFC.
Unfortunately during my repair process back up in MT (my camper was there for 3 months), my lights were destroyed. Kinda pissed at GFC about it, but whatever I got my camper picked up, fixed, and delivered eventually.
I bought the Matt Gecko LED set, which doesn’t include a light for this same location. So I guess I’ll be building another one! Have you had problems with bugs on that white light?
I haven’t had bug problems, but I do most of my camping in AZ and UT in the fall and spring or at high elevation in the summer. Usually too cold for them. I could see this being a problem in warmer, wetter climates. Does a different color attract fewer bugs?
I went the cheapest route possible with my leds. Bought a 25’ roll on amazon that are cuttable and you splice in a connector. I have strips on the bottom of each panel and two on the internal frame pointed into the bed. This allows us to light up the kitchen/tailgate area as well as the camp area. Playing board games without headlamps is nice. We also have two strips and a switch in the tent area. All are powered off a goal zero batter via 12v output. If I were to do it again I might wire in a PWM dimmer so they’re not so bright all the time. Also thought about having an amber color to not attract bugs
It looks really cool! Thanks for sharing the lifehack
Holy shit. Why didn’t I think of it? I just bought some led strips from ukled.co.uk, and I didn’t know how to set them up to look good. I will try to do it after a couple of days. I have just planned a trip to the mountains with my family, and this lifehack would help a lot. Sometimes it’s not comfortable at all to use the lantern cause I need someone to hold it so that the light falls from above. But with the led strips is just what I need.
You’re a genius, do you know that? It looks really REALLY good.