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- December 16, 2010
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- City, State
- Greer, SC
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2001 SAS'd Sport Trac
I recently did this in my F350 and I've had a lot of interest in it on different forms. There was a question about it in the 2nd gen ST forum and who doesn't wish they could see things in their bed better at night? So I thought I'd share the writeup I made.
This is a basic writeup. I'll include any tips and explanations I can think of so that anyone with any level of wiring experience can install these.
Supplies:
-red 18ga wire
-black 18g a wire
-heat shrink or electrical tape to weatherproof the connections
-crimp splices
-T-splices to tap into the hot and ground in the 12V plug
-wire strippers
-crimpers (if not soldering)
-soldering kit (if soldering)
-In-line fuse holder and fuse (Only need this if the bed plug isn't protected by a fuse [which it most likely is protected] in the factory fuse box)
-hair dryer (use for making the 3m tape on the back of the lights tacky & heat shrink)
-rubbing alcohol to clean area
These are the lights I used:
1M long light strip with switch
1M long light strip without switch
1. Determine where you want to mount the lights. If you use my version with the 1M long strips I would suggest just centering 1 on each side of the bed. Orient the lights so that the wires coming out of them will face the rear of the truck. This creates less stress on the wires (no sharp bends) plus requires less wire.
a. After figuring out where the lights will go you can go ahead and mount them but I always wait to mount things until I get it all hooked up and confirm everything works.
2. Determine where you want to mount your switch. The strip from SBLs has ~2ft leader between the light strip and the switch. Put this light on the driver side with the 12V outlet. If it can reach, run the extra wire to the 12V access hole. If there isn’t enough, don’t worry about it until Step14.
3. Determine where the rear end of each light will be and where the wires can go through the bedside without kinking (probably an inch or so from the light itself).
4. Drill a small hole just large enough for the wires to fit through. Keep in mind you will want the connectors to fit through too (So ~3/8” or so).
5. Remove the 12V housing from the bedside. It's only held in by a couple screws that you can access easily from the bed.
6. Pull the housing out and this should expose the 12V wiring in the back of the plug.
7. Figure out which wire is hot (12V) and which is ground. I actually think that this plug is protected by a fuse from the factory so you really don't need an inline fuse.
8. Using the T-splices, tap into the appropriate wires. I would run red=hot, black=ground for easy convention. Run a short ~3” pigtail out of each.
9. Run the red and black wires on the passenger side between the bed wall and the rear fender out the access hole you drilled in Step 4. Pull enough so that there is ~6" extra. It's always best to have a small service loop in the event that you need to cut a connection and resplice it down the road. This also allows you to easily work with the connections in the open. You may need a wire coat hanger or some other form of a fish tape to feed the wires through.
10. Use a butt splice (or solder) to splice the red and black wires to the light strip on the passenger side (the one without the switch). Heat shrink or wrap the connections in electrical tape.
11. Pull the excess wire through the hole and down the bedside over the wheel well liner to the rear.
12. Route the red and black wires around the rear of the truck and up to the 12V outlet access hole and secure with zip ties as you go where the wires will not get damaged.
13. If there wasn’t enough wire in Step 2, go ahead and repeat step 11 on the driver side. Then feed the wires between the bed wall and fender out the 12V access hole.
14. Splice all 3 ground wires together. The easiest will be to put the ground wires from the light strips together in one side of the butt splice and crimp them down. Then, slide the other end onto the ground pigtail that was created in Step 8 and crimp that down. Your lights should now be grounded.
15. Splice all 3 hot wires together. Use the same method as Step 15. Your lights should now have a complete circuit!
16. Now would be a good time to test and make sure everything works. Flip the switch and hope to see the light!
a. If they don’t work, go through and check all connections. If all connections are good, check to make sure the fuse for the 12V outlet is not blown.
17. Once everything works, use rubbing alcohol and a rag to clean off the mounting areas of the lights and the switch.
18. Heat up the tape on the strips and the switch until it’s tacky and stick to the bedside. This lets the tape bond better.
19. Feed all the wires back into the bed wall and close up the access hole.
20. Enjoy being able to see in the bed at night!
This is a basic writeup. I'll include any tips and explanations I can think of so that anyone with any level of wiring experience can install these.
Supplies:
-red 18ga wire
-black 18g a wire
-heat shrink or electrical tape to weatherproof the connections
-crimp splices
-T-splices to tap into the hot and ground in the 12V plug
-wire strippers
-crimpers (if not soldering)
-soldering kit (if soldering)
-In-line fuse holder and fuse (Only need this if the bed plug isn't protected by a fuse [which it most likely is protected] in the factory fuse box)
-hair dryer (use for making the 3m tape on the back of the lights tacky & heat shrink)
-rubbing alcohol to clean area
These are the lights I used:
1M long light strip with switch
1M long light strip without switch
1. Determine where you want to mount the lights. If you use my version with the 1M long strips I would suggest just centering 1 on each side of the bed. Orient the lights so that the wires coming out of them will face the rear of the truck. This creates less stress on the wires (no sharp bends) plus requires less wire.
a. After figuring out where the lights will go you can go ahead and mount them but I always wait to mount things until I get it all hooked up and confirm everything works.
2. Determine where you want to mount your switch. The strip from SBLs has ~2ft leader between the light strip and the switch. Put this light on the driver side with the 12V outlet. If it can reach, run the extra wire to the 12V access hole. If there isn’t enough, don’t worry about it until Step14.
3. Determine where the rear end of each light will be and where the wires can go through the bedside without kinking (probably an inch or so from the light itself).
4. Drill a small hole just large enough for the wires to fit through. Keep in mind you will want the connectors to fit through too (So ~3/8” or so).
5. Remove the 12V housing from the bedside. It's only held in by a couple screws that you can access easily from the bed.
6. Pull the housing out and this should expose the 12V wiring in the back of the plug.
7. Figure out which wire is hot (12V) and which is ground. I actually think that this plug is protected by a fuse from the factory so you really don't need an inline fuse.
8. Using the T-splices, tap into the appropriate wires. I would run red=hot, black=ground for easy convention. Run a short ~3” pigtail out of each.
9. Run the red and black wires on the passenger side between the bed wall and the rear fender out the access hole you drilled in Step 4. Pull enough so that there is ~6" extra. It's always best to have a small service loop in the event that you need to cut a connection and resplice it down the road. This also allows you to easily work with the connections in the open. You may need a wire coat hanger or some other form of a fish tape to feed the wires through.
10. Use a butt splice (or solder) to splice the red and black wires to the light strip on the passenger side (the one without the switch). Heat shrink or wrap the connections in electrical tape.
11. Pull the excess wire through the hole and down the bedside over the wheel well liner to the rear.
12. Route the red and black wires around the rear of the truck and up to the 12V outlet access hole and secure with zip ties as you go where the wires will not get damaged.
13. If there wasn’t enough wire in Step 2, go ahead and repeat step 11 on the driver side. Then feed the wires between the bed wall and fender out the 12V access hole.
14. Splice all 3 ground wires together. The easiest will be to put the ground wires from the light strips together in one side of the butt splice and crimp them down. Then, slide the other end onto the ground pigtail that was created in Step 8 and crimp that down. Your lights should now be grounded.
15. Splice all 3 hot wires together. Use the same method as Step 15. Your lights should now have a complete circuit!
16. Now would be a good time to test and make sure everything works. Flip the switch and hope to see the light!
a. If they don’t work, go through and check all connections. If all connections are good, check to make sure the fuse for the 12V outlet is not blown.
17. Once everything works, use rubbing alcohol and a rag to clean off the mounting areas of the lights and the switch.
18. Heat up the tape on the strips and the switch until it’s tacky and stick to the bedside. This lets the tape bond better.
19. Feed all the wires back into the bed wall and close up the access hole.
20. Enjoy being able to see in the bed at night!
