Finally finished up my $60 DIY lights that would also work if you wanted to remove your side panels.
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Looks good! Did you model this off of the Matt Gecko lights?
Do you mind sharing what lights you bought and how you went about wiring them?
Thanks! It is more of a mash up between the Idea that Truckparts.parts had as well as Matt Gecko Lights. I like the idea of only one strip. I wanted to be able to light both the inside of the bed as well as provide area lighting. Finally I didn’t want to have anything interfere with the ability to remove my side panels. One note is this set up isn’t completely waterproof (I might go through and do a rebuild if I decide that I need full waterproofing), however I’m yet to run into any issues with it.
It was a journey to piece this together and I’ve got a few options for you to consider. Currently I am set up using these strip led lights. They are a WGRB led strip light. I use this switch as my master switch. I have one switch that controls the lower lights and a separate circuit for the tent. As a fun option I have included this bluetooth controller on the lower light circuit. The problem I have encountered with using the bluetooth controller is that there are some factory differences between rolls of the LED that results in some colors being crossed. Unless you really want colors I would go with a similar 12v strip that is just white and only use a toggle switch. I have a dimmer switch on order that I am going to test for up in the tent and I will keep you posted when that gets here.
For mounting the lights up in the tent I just used the factory adhesive and stuck them inside of the t-track. I used a needle and thread to carefully sew the wiring and switch to the seam that is inside of the rear door and that has worked really well. To get power up to there I just ran a wire up the back corner of the topper and have it run under on of the panels, so no drilling or anything was necessary. To connect the multiple strips together I used these connectors. As a side note I tried to solder strips together but the pads just weren’t quite good enough to maintain a solid connection so I went with those snap on connectors. If you need to extend the five wire length you can either get some wire that is the five wires flat together like the connectors or you can also use 5 wire irrigation/thermostat wire (this would be my recommendation as it looks substantially more clean).
For mounting the lights to the space frame I got this additional double sided adhesive tape (it is wide enough that you can stick two strips of LEDs to it in parallel then use a razor blade to split the tape in half). This has proved plenty sticky to adhere to the aluminum and the questionable factory adhesive.
Until I get around to figuring out my more specific power demands for the bed I just spliced into the constant power supply for the trailer lights for my constant 12V supply. Ultimately I am going to end up making a “power bin” out of one of the storage bins built into the bed of my Tacoma and re-route my 12V supply to run from a Blue Sea fuse block.
This is my first time writing up something that I’ve done so if there is anything confusing or that doesn’t make sense please reach out.
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Bringing this old thread back up since I’m now starting to think about adding on some Baja S2 to the back of my GFC as a campsite light. Has anyone done something similar to this? How have you wired the lights?
I got some Rigid surface mount one like mentioned above on the GFC along with some Baja Design rock lights mounted to the rack. Both work great! Have the Rigid ones all wired together and each side of the BD rack lights wired separately. Wish I had some better photos but plenty of light at camp with both.
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I’d suggest that you install the S2 on the upper extrusion. When installed on the lower part they get blocked by the open panels, especially with an awning. They really throw the light when up high and don’t just blind you at eye level. I added the amber lens to tone the brightness down.
Rave Mode!
Front setup so it remains below the awning. They swivel as well.
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This looks exactly like what I was thinking. I haven’t added any lights to my truck yet. How did you wire the two back ones?
I ran all the wiring for the solar panel, lights and roof fan externally. It goes up through the roof at the front corner, along the solar panel and across through the rear beef bar.
I used a solar panel roof entry gland, glued PVC conduit attached to the solar panel bracket. Simple and easy to access if needed.
I don’t have a good photo but the wires run along the black edges from the rear beef bar to the light. The roof fan wire is visible. I since moved that under the beef bar to protect it from tree limbs.
Here is the waterproof conduit.
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This looks great. Thanks for sending this through
A better view of my scene lighting setup…… the pole is extendable to 10 feet so the throw of the light is quite impressive…. Comes with a remote control and draws very little power
Installed and removed in under 10 seconds
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Planning on doing the same thing for camp lighting/chase lights.
For S2 wiring ideas check out this post (Cable Routing - Exterior Lights) and this post (Show us your truck! - Herrmann552). Planning on going one of these routes and sending the wires to a fuse block/relay and put a switch in the cab.
I also really like how @zwickt, @bingbong, and @Vice_Chief setup their interior lighting and will be doing a variation of these.
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I’ve gotten several PMs about the extendable pole and lighting….
They are the Ironman4x4 area lights
I have several 90 degree brackets mounted at strategic points and I’ll just screw in the pole where I need them as there is a threaded hole at the bottom of the pole…. 1/4-20 if I recall correctly
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Thanks!! I scrolled up and found your earlier post. But thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing this. Will the GFC 90 degree bracket work for this? Or did you use a different bracket that works better? Can you kindly share some close up pictures of your bracket and setup?
Any 90 degree bracket will work, I used a old bracket that I had laying around from a CB radio install 6 vehicles ago…
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Nice so 1/4-20 bolt. Basically just screw on the light pole. Cool. Thanks again
Hi, the scene light install is great. What hardware did you use to mount it up? I have a couple 10/32 t nuts b/c they are flush but thinking the mounting bolt should be a 1/4. (as far as the bolt goes, did you cut it to length? or find one of the preferred length)
Thanks,
@ReedPowell The rigid lights are mounted to the Ttrack without any tnuts. Drilled a hole, ran the bolts through the track with a washer and nut on the other side. As for the Bajas, I used tnuts with just matching hardware and a washer.
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