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My 2007 Tundra DC Limited has the built in truck bed light which you can switch into three modes: On, Door, Off. This works great and is very convenient when loading or unloading the bed in the dark. The problem is that I am installing a BAKflip bed cover on my truck and the factory bed light is on the top of the cab above the rear sliding window so it won't light up my bed at all once the lid is installed.
After considering a number of options I came up with what seems to be a perfect solution. I purchased a set of fog lights from Walmart for $15. They are made by Optronics model QH-83BD but this appears to be a model sold only at Walmart since I couldn't find the exact same unit on the Optronics website. They are fairly small with a hard black plastic case, glass lens with blueish tint, and stainless mounting brackets. They look just like this:
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At the rear of the bed about 6" below the deck rails and 10" in from the tailgate there are two small holes about 3/4" in diameter, one hole on each side of the bed. I think these holes are used to bolt something in place whenever you use the stake pockets. I don't plan to use my stake pockets so I just inserted the mounting bolt for the fog light through the hole in the bed, and then I used a pair of long forceps to lower the washer, lock washer, and nut down through the stake pocket from above. I just barely had enough clearance to use a 1/2" box wrench to tighten the nut from above. The fog light was now mounted securely on the inside of the bed and I aimed it towards the front center of the truck.
For the fog light wiring I cut off the normal factory fog light bullet connectors and solder-spliced another 6' of insulated two-conductor wire. I applied heat shrink tubing to the first 12" of the power wires to protect them from the weather and keep them from snagging on anything in the bed. I ran the wire straight up to the bottom edge of the bed rail about 1" behind the end of the deck rail. There is a small opening underneath the bed rail which is perfect for running the power wire inside the back fender. I secured the power wire inside the fender with a wire-tie and then split the ground from the hot wire.
I punched and drilled a 1/4" hole in the back of the bed about 1" below the tailgate latch, aligned on center with the factory rubber stopper which is mounted about 1" above the latch. I fished the ground wire out through this hole and then soldered it onto a threaded metal pin switch, the kind that is used for vehicle alarm systems to protect the hood and trunk of a car. I screwed the pin switch into the hole in the bed metal which seals it off while also providing a ground for the light whenever the tailgate is open.
I fished the hot wire down under the truck where the tail light and trailer hitch wiring is located. All I need to do now to complete the install is to decide which power source to tap into. Ideally I would like a continuous source of power even when the truck and headlights are turned off, since it can be dark under the bed cover even during the day. I am not sure if there is a convenient source of continuous power in the rear of the truck though, so I considered wiring it to the tail light hot wire which would make the bed light work automatically whenever the parking lights or headlights are turned on. This sounds like a good solution since it would prevent my battery from draining if the tailgate is left open, however I have also considered using a continous power source and just installing a small toggle switch under the bed rail.
Does anyone know if there is a convenient source of +12V DC in the back of the truck which is always powered on? Ideally I would like to tap into the hot wire of the factory bed light which is on the cab above the rear window however I think that wiring is probably run through the inside of the cab so it would not be accessible from the rear of the bed.
I will post some pics once I decide where to connect the hot wire. It really looks great, matches my LINE-X liner perfectly, and doesn't stick out far enough to get in the way. I have already tested the light by jumping the hot wire to the trailer harness and it looks awesome, very bright and more than enough light to do whatever you need at night. It is really cool that it comes on automatically when the tailgate is opened - people will think it was a factory option.
I also have the other fog light leftover from the set so I am thinking about mounting it under or beside the trailer hitch. I could wire it into the reverse lights so it would provide more illumination for the backup camera, or I could install a toggle switch and use it as a work light when connecting or disconnecting the trailer at night. Not bad for $15 and about 2 hours worth of tinkering which includes all of my experimenting. Any ideas on additional improvements?
After considering a number of options I came up with what seems to be a perfect solution. I purchased a set of fog lights from Walmart for $15. They are made by Optronics model QH-83BD but this appears to be a model sold only at Walmart since I couldn't find the exact same unit on the Optronics website. They are fairly small with a hard black plastic case, glass lens with blueish tint, and stainless mounting brackets. They look just like this:
At the rear of the bed about 6" below the deck rails and 10" in from the tailgate there are two small holes about 3/4" in diameter, one hole on each side of the bed. I think these holes are used to bolt something in place whenever you use the stake pockets. I don't plan to use my stake pockets so I just inserted the mounting bolt for the fog light through the hole in the bed, and then I used a pair of long forceps to lower the washer, lock washer, and nut down through the stake pocket from above. I just barely had enough clearance to use a 1/2" box wrench to tighten the nut from above. The fog light was now mounted securely on the inside of the bed and I aimed it towards the front center of the truck.
For the fog light wiring I cut off the normal factory fog light bullet connectors and solder-spliced another 6' of insulated two-conductor wire. I applied heat shrink tubing to the first 12" of the power wires to protect them from the weather and keep them from snagging on anything in the bed. I ran the wire straight up to the bottom edge of the bed rail about 1" behind the end of the deck rail. There is a small opening underneath the bed rail which is perfect for running the power wire inside the back fender. I secured the power wire inside the fender with a wire-tie and then split the ground from the hot wire.
I punched and drilled a 1/4" hole in the back of the bed about 1" below the tailgate latch, aligned on center with the factory rubber stopper which is mounted about 1" above the latch. I fished the ground wire out through this hole and then soldered it onto a threaded metal pin switch, the kind that is used for vehicle alarm systems to protect the hood and trunk of a car. I screwed the pin switch into the hole in the bed metal which seals it off while also providing a ground for the light whenever the tailgate is open.
I fished the hot wire down under the truck where the tail light and trailer hitch wiring is located. All I need to do now to complete the install is to decide which power source to tap into. Ideally I would like a continuous source of power even when the truck and headlights are turned off, since it can be dark under the bed cover even during the day. I am not sure if there is a convenient source of continuous power in the rear of the truck though, so I considered wiring it to the tail light hot wire which would make the bed light work automatically whenever the parking lights or headlights are turned on. This sounds like a good solution since it would prevent my battery from draining if the tailgate is left open, however I have also considered using a continous power source and just installing a small toggle switch under the bed rail.
Does anyone know if there is a convenient source of +12V DC in the back of the truck which is always powered on? Ideally I would like to tap into the hot wire of the factory bed light which is on the cab above the rear window however I think that wiring is probably run through the inside of the cab so it would not be accessible from the rear of the bed.
I will post some pics once I decide where to connect the hot wire. It really looks great, matches my LINE-X liner perfectly, and doesn't stick out far enough to get in the way. I have already tested the light by jumping the hot wire to the trailer harness and it looks awesome, very bright and more than enough light to do whatever you need at night. It is really cool that it comes on automatically when the tailgate is opened - people will think it was a factory option.
I also have the other fog light leftover from the set so I am thinking about mounting it under or beside the trailer hitch. I could wire it into the reverse lights so it would provide more illumination for the backup camera, or I could install a toggle switch and use it as a work light when connecting or disconnecting the trailer at night. Not bad for $15 and about 2 hours worth of tinkering which includes all of my experimenting. Any ideas on additional improvements?
