Running Board Lights

I purchased this these 5 foot LED strips for $30. I got one set for the running boards and one for the truck bed. They are bright!

5 foot LED strip

I am not using their wiring harness/switch, I am tapping right into the cargo lights. So not only will they come on with unlocking/door opening, but I can switch them on with the cargo light switch to light up the ground and truck bed.

Install instructions for the OEM kit look more difficult than just tapping the cargo lights too. This kits fuse is a 3 amp, so I'm guessing the draw is low enough to not warrant running a power wire straight from the battery or using a relay, especially since all the other courtesy/cargo/interior lighting in my truck are LED's, the load on the system is already much lower over all than OEM.

I also like that I can mount this LED strip in such a way that it lights up the upper part of the running boards and the ground. You'll notice with the OEM kit that the top of the running board isn't illuminated.

I haven't done the install yet, so I don't have photo's.

skykiing said:

How are you attaching them to the courtesy and/or cargo lights? I have not successfully been able to hook anything into the factory wiring without messing it up?

Click to expand...

For the running board lights I'm thinking of tapping into the cargo light on top of the roof and running wires behind the liner, then drilling the floor up near the foot wells (similar to the OEM light kit instructions). There are already a number of grommets under the truck body, you can drill from the underside through the grommet holes location up through the floor & run you wire through the OEM grommet to the outside.

There is also a green wire & ground in the bunch of wires up near the passenger foot well though I'm not 100% sure which ground to use in this bunch, I have to do some testing.

The cargo/courtesy lights have full time power (I read this on here) so what you really want to find is the ground wire for the cargo lights, you can power it from a number of power wire options (battery, fuse box, tapping an accessory power wire, relay).

On the truck bed lights, my truck already has those weak tailgate lights, so I'm just pulling those bulbs out, then tapping the wires for that tailgate light. I've already tested this and it works.


Here's the thread that shows pictures of the green power wire you can locate all along the passenger side, it runs from front to back, it's easy to find once you remove the kick panels on the floor. In this thread he's adding the lights my truck already has, I'm just tapping that wiring and sticking the LED strips in the truck bed.
http://www.titantalk.com/forums/titan-parts-accessories/62273-20-tailgate-cargo-light-mod.html

Keep in mind I'm only going the tapping route because I'm hopeful these LED's have a low enough draw, if I were doing a light bar or spot light style LED's, over 3-ish amps, I would run power wire directly to the battery.