How to - Installing LED Truck Bed Lights

Hey Everyone,

I have another guide I just made on how to install LED light strips from Matt Gecko LED on your Tacoma truck bed. I am very pleased with the results and thought you guys might like to do this on your truck!

LED Lights: https://mattgeckoleds.com/shop?olsPage=products/2016-2018-tacoma-led-bed-light-kit-short-bed

Tools:
Wire Stripper - https://amzn.to/2FLppLe
Wire crimper - https://amzn.to/2FJeq4Q
Drill Bit - https://amzn.to/2DxnM1h

 

This video was super helpful, though the most difficult part seemed to be missing. Once you drill under the rail to put the wires in, everything becomes MUCH more difficult. Curious if you had any tips on working in that tight little space that you can't even see into. Did you wire up the switch in that tight little area? Did you consider just running both the ground and red up to the engine bay? When running that red up to the engine bay, did you have it come up the passenger side along the frame rail then along the engine side of the firewall to the battery? How did you secure it to the frame rail?

Sorry a ton of questions, as I want to get it right the first time, and as clean as possible.

Don't mean to minimize the helpfulness of your video my man. I was singing your praises watching the initial portion of the install. Thanks for creating and posting this.

 

Hey, no problem on the questions.

• Did you wire up the switch in that tight little area?
  • It's not actually tight in that little area on the backside. It's very very open in the wheel bay, in fact, you could probably fit your whole head up in there! I did wire the switch right next to the AC plug.
• Did you consider just running both the ground and red up to the engine bay?
  • It's not necessary to run the ground all the way up to the front. Your whole truck chassis is grounded to the battery, so grounding it on the frame is the easiest and recommended way to do it. You do however have to run the red wire to the front.
• When running that red up to the engine bay, did you have it come up the passenger side along the frame rail then along the engine side of the firewall to the battery?
  • Yes, I ran the wire along the entire chassis rail all the way up front, zip tying it to existing wires and ensuring its far away from the exhaust. Once reaching the front of the car, I ran it behind the wheel well, and up into the engine bay, then along the wires in the back of the bay. Again zip tying it all the way there.
• How did you secure it to the frame rail?
  • See the previous answer.