LED Tailgate Bar Question

02RangerXLT · Jan 31, 2010

So, I'm thinking of making a custom LED tailgate bar, and I was wondering if anyone had some wiring diagrams that would be helpful. I've looked at the 4 prong one and put it in the picture below, and as of now the wires are all "hooked up" to the lights in the picture... but now I'm stuck on the ground that goes from the trailer plug to the "trailer" or, light bar, in this case. Anyone know the the Fire & Ice bars ground? Tips? Suggestions?

Oh, and heres the lights I want to use (The red ones):

I was thinking of just having the two outside lights be the turn signals and brakes, and have the 4 center lights be running lights, thoughts?

As far as mounting goes, I'm thinking a piece of steel, primed, painted, etc, and mounting the lights on there and then using some 3M adhesive tape to mount the whole thing under the tailgate.

Thanks!

srteach · Jan 31, 2010

Ground on a 12V system is usually a black wire. Each light should have a ground to bare metal or a dedicated wire ground. The frame of your truck is part of the ground system, so you could ground to the frame or body, as long as the body is grounded to the frame also.

I'm not sure if this is what you are asking but I hope it helps.

Are the Fire and Ice bars different colored lights? If so, each color will have its own hot side, but all can be grounded to the same location.
Don't forget ... LED lights are polarity sensitive.

02RangerXLT · Jan 31, 2010

Yes, these lights, according to their site, have the grounding hole on the light somewhere, at least that is what it seems... but I'm not 100% sure, Here's what it says:
--------------------------------------------
M3 series Truck Clearance Marker Lights

Available with 6 Super Bright Red or Amber LEDs
Sealed Mounting, grounded mounting hole & attached positive wire
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fire and Ice bars, some of them are different colors, some aren't, just depends on which one you get.

What do you mean by "LED lights are polarity sensitive"?

Thanks for the help!

Fx4wannabe01 · Feb 1, 2010

Remember.....keep in mind.....putting lights in that location, there's a size MAXIMUM. Not too tall, not too deep, etc. Otherwise, you'll hit them with the tailgate when you try and drop it. It took me a couple clearence lights to find one that I didn't have to modify to fit the gap. I'm now running a Peterson Manufacturing 169-3R (linked below). I know for a fact that these fit the gap when DIRECTLY attached to the backside of the bed. If anything was in between, it would likely not fit the gap.

http://pmlights.com/products.cfm?cId=1&fId=54&pId=2217

http://pmlights.com/products.cfm?cId=1&fId=54&pId=2169

These would definately fit the bill....they're very slim and sleek looking. I used them on my mirrors for turn signals and my headache rack for brake/signals... They can be found at walmart for about $5 a pop and include a nice looking mounting base/skirt.
http://pmlights.com/products.cfm?cId=1&fId=54&pId=1438

Honestly, best bet is to get one of those lamps you're looking at(hopefully purchased locally from a semi-truck supply store), and test fit it. I found out the hard way what fits and what doesn't. Got the chipped paint on my tailgate to prove it.

Back to your lights.....The grounding hole is probably the shiny ring we're seeing in the pics of the lights. Typically, trailers get their ground via the ball or the flat-4 connector. Depends on the trailer. Line of Fire's use the flat-4 for ground(white wire on flat-4). Everything else in your plan sounds good, man. Get to work! lol.

02RangerXLT · Feb 1, 2010

Yeah, and for me, drilling is not an option, don't blame me, blame the other co-owner of the truck... you shoulda seen when I put drilled holes in my bumper to put driving lights in it... that was hillarious.

I'm liking the idea of these flat lights that you showed:

Or at least something similar.

Yeah I'm going to go crawl under my truck to see how much room I actually have. Thanks.

Annnnnddd we're back... from my measurements, I only have an inch of height to work with and about 1/2 of "depth" to work with, oh fun! That includes whatever I use to mount it also.

Fx4wannabe01 · Feb 1, 2010

see what I mean? lol.

If there's no drilling, how do you plan on mounting the sheet metal or whatever you are mounting your lights to to the truck??? Co-owner.....father? mother? Wifey wouldn't care...probably won't even notice.

*btw....you didn't have to drill for lights on the bumper bro. Light tabs...search! lol.

02RangerXLT · Feb 1, 2010

Co-owner is a mother, my dad doesn't care what I do to my pickup, lol... and yeah, I know about the light tabs, you gave me the link

But a year and a half ago, I had no clue haha.

Well I'd have to mount the lights to something thing, god knows what, but I'd use 3M tape for that... but thats how I found these (below). I'd just put the tape on two of them and stick them on there, they're wide enough that there is no reason to mount them by drilling, when tape would work fine.

I found these, they look neat...
http://www.ledtrailerlights.com/stt/stt_50-4400.htm

Anybody got any ideas? I am switching to something of the bar format above, but I need something slim, and I'm having trouble finding that, so any ideas would be great. Thanks

Quartermile · Feb 1, 2010

02RangerXLT said:
Yes, these lights, according to their site, have the grounding hole on the light somewhere, at least that is what it seems... but I'm not 100% sure, Here's what it says:
--------------------------------------------
M3 series Truck Clearance Marker Lights

Available with 6 Super Bright Red or Amber LEDs
Sealed Mounting, grounded mounting hole & attached positive wire
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fire and Ice bars, some of them are different colors, some aren't, just depends on which one you get.

What do you mean by "LED lights are polarity sensitive"?

Thanks for the help!

One of the mounting screws has a wire with a terminal ring attached and built in, two screws hold the light down and one is used for ground, so whatever is attached to it needs to be grounded. I'm an electrician, so any questions like that I can answer

LED Tailgate Bar Question

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