help with wiring on a new to me leer shell

hi, thanks in advance for any help, electrical/ wiring is far from my strong suit.
I recently purchased a used leer cap for my '13 DCSB, and need some help with
wiring the third break light and inside light.
the truck it came off of had a wire running from the battery to the right rear tail light, where it was spliced in, along with a negative lead, and then went through the bed to a 4 prong adaptor, which connected to the shell.
I really have two questions about this
one, is the wire from the battery run to allow the interior light to be turned on even when the truck is off? I have seen mention of this on other threads?
can I just splice into the tail light without running a wire from the battery, and if I do will the internal light only work with the key in/on?
and second, as this is my first shell, would it be better to add additional lights to the interior? in doing so, I'm assuming I would have to run a wire from the battery, to a switch and then to the additional lights, adding a fuse box under the hood, and a switch in the shell? would this also have to be tied into the tail light for a negative lead? would it be better to run a negative and a positive from under the hood?
thanks again, for any advice/ help

 

Trying to be kind here...these questions reflect your own admission of not a lot of confidence in wiring. Find a six pack friend who does, or a family run shop for short money well spent, this is a straightforward two circuit setup for someone who does this regularly.

 

Take it to a camper shell dealer, it would probably cost $50 and half an hour. FWIW I just spliced into the brake light and ran a power wire to the lights.

 

thanks for the suggestions, but id rather do it myself, having someone else do it means I loose an opportunity to learn about automotive wiring on an easy project, and will be in the same boat if I every want to add anything else electrical to a vehicle down the road

 

For me, and I am sure others, the light that came with the shell is absolutely worthless; it's not bright at all, the truck has to be running for it to work.

I wired my own system that runs off the battery and a switch in the cab that works if the truck is on or off:

Leer 100R on a 2013 DCSB OR

 

@geekhouse23, thanks, what brand/ size of lights did you end up adding in? looks like a far better option than stashing a headlamp in the corner of the bed

 

$11 Rayhoo 16.4ft/5m Flexible LED Light Strip 300 Units 5630 LEDs Waterproof DC12V 60W Light Strips, LED Tape(6000K White Light)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UI1DVP2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used two; one around the bed under the rail the whole way around and then cut and solder strips for the roof.

 

How'd you attach them to the headliner carpet? Thanks.

 

Flat aluminum stock that is 3" wide. Drilled holes into the aluminum on both sides; one side to ziptie the rope lights to and the other side to bolt to the topper using the Thule trailer that run the length of the topper.

 

Thanks. I got a new to me Leer 100R & looking for mods.

 

One lead goes on the + and one goes on the -

 

I didn't want to tap into the OEM wiring so I purchased a trailer wiring harness from etrailer.com, and spliced into that to wire my brake light.
https://www.etrailer.com/Custom-Fit...Tacoma/2014/118496.html?vehicleid=20141176461

The harness plugs inline between the OEM taillight connectors (only one side needed for the taillight), making it simple to return to stock if needed. I added a quick-disconnect fitting in the bed so the wiring can be easily disconnected when I remove the shell. You'll want a multimeter or test light to determine which wires are ground and hot with brakes applied.


I run a $3 battery powered light from Harbor Freight for the dome light because I didn't want to risk running the truck battery down if I forgot to turn the dome light off.