I'm working on adding some mini driving lights under my rear roll pan for extra rear view light. With tinted windows and those tiny OEM backup bulbs, it's hard to see what's going on back there.

The hardest thing has been running the wire inside the frame rail all the way under the hood.

I had to cut the wiring that came with my lights (with the connectors to the lights) to lengthen them to make it all the way under the hood.
The directions with the driving lights indicated that one of the wires from the switch goes to the parking light wire (when used as driving lights) but I didn't want the lights to be switched on only when the parking lights were on.... so I found a 12v+ wire from the radio that has power only when the key is on or in the accy position & tapped into it.
***This isn't the main power connection, that runs from the battery through a fuse, then to the relay under the hood***

Now when the key is on, running, or in acc'y position I can push the button & my rear view lights come on. If I forget to turn them off, they'll automatically go of when I shut off the ignition or turn the key.

These really make a big difference!
I might grab another set to install as secondary driving lights up front too.
They're so small that unless you get down and look for them, you can't see them.

Pics to follow...

Anybody who has installed alternate backup lights, please feel free to add your pics too.

 

cool, always make sure you have a fuse within 6" of the battery.
i did the same thing with my piaa "foul weather" lights, people always bump the switch on my radio bezel.

get some pics!
i had the same problem until i got some 07 tails, they make the light alot brighter.

 

Not sure about where you live but in New York if you're driving down the road and any white lights other than the license plate lamp is showing on the rear of the vehicle = instant ticket.I'd re-wire the switch feed to the back-up lamps if I were you.

 

I agree. Why have them on all the time? You only need them on for backing purposes.

 

i got reverse lights on mine also i love mine! they make so much diffrence especialy with the tinted windows. i have put reverse lights on all my trucks i have had.

here is a pic of mine, And my new dual exhaust that i never posted. only had a si/so flowmaster before and got it changed to a dual.

 

im not sure if thats how he has it hooked up.
i think its on a switch.

 

5speedin i love your little dane cook title thing, thats one of my favorite little bits of his.

 

Thanks,
Already have a inline 15a fuse that came with the lights.

 

Yup, they're on a switch that is only active when the key is on or in the acc'y position.
I didn't want to take a chance on leaving the lights on after I park the truck & running my battery down.
This way even if I forget to turn them off (hopefully never happens) they'll go off when I'm in my parking spot & turn the truck off.

I could have the switch activated by the OEM backup lights, but every time I would go forward, the backup lights would go out. If I'm out somewhere (like on a farm) I'd rather have lights behind me for the entire time.

The switch has 2 LED's, green indicates the switch is receiving power (able to turn on) and it changes to red when the lights are on.

I don't plan on driving any distance with the backups on, maybe a short distance in a parking lot. Plus, the way they're mounted unless you get down on your knees, you can't see them.
The lights are smaller than my exhaust tips.

I'll try to get some pics tonight.

 

I keep wanting to do this but I have been too busy... I want mine to come on when I put it in reverse (I have a stick) no switch or anything just when gear "R" is selected... :)

 

I just have mine hooked up to a switch....That way when im hookin a trailer at dark i can see...and if for any reason were tail gatin i can flip the lights on so we can see...or turn the truck around and give everyone a sun burn with the KC's...

I actually left mine on, on accident once, went on a 20 mile drive somewhere and kept getting flashed and im like ? WTF....so i get to a gas station, and im just lookin around and im like "holy crap" lol blinded alot of people..

Rocky

 

^^^^Ha ha thats funny.... Did you wind up getting rid of your truck? Or did you have a change of heart??

 

FINALLY, some pics...



For some reason, the first picture makes my right side exhaust tip look lower than the left side. I know they're the same distance down from the roll pan.



I was down pretty low to the ground for the second pic.



I need some new mud flaps!



This one was from about waist level ^



This one was standing up ^



The switch had some super adhesive on the back & it's stuck there pretty well.
Notice my 3 way outlet attached to the ashtray door. Comes in handy for radar detector, cell phone charger, etc.
The outlet is connected to the OEM lighter wiring & I added a 1a fuse for insurance.
Nobody is ever going to be smoking in my truck anyway, so who needs an ashtray?!?



I never noticed how dirty it was around the radio bezel & ashtray before I saw these pics...

 

Looks good! I have been thinking of adding set of backup lights, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

I just hooked mine to my reverse light. So everytime I go in reverse they turn on.

 

Mine are hooked up to my reverse lights, they are getting dull though, might be time to replace

[img=http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/3651/im000637ur2.th.jpg]

 

I've had them hang below the bumper, I've had 'em mounted to the back of the hitch, I've made a hitch insert with lights mounted to it.....

They all got ripped off........rocks and woods.

Now, I'm pulling out the plasma cutter and cutting holes in the stock bumper for my kc backup lites.

 

Kinda hard to see but my brother used rubber tractor lights that flew when they get hit and he mounted 6 under his truck all around.

 

 

Cool low profile toolbox ^ Haven't seen many of them.

I was gonna go with the low profile, but I wanted one with gull-wing lids, all I could find around here were the single lid versions.

*** I wonder.... am I the only person with a diamond plate tool box AND a bed cover? ***
I had the cover long before the toolbox & bed rails....

My cover began life as one of those $300 ones with the aluminum frame & plastic (not metal) clips that held the fabric on the frame. After only about a year, the stitching starting coming loose & the company wouldn't stand behind their lifetime warranty... they claimed their warranty was lifetime on the aluminum frame only, NOT the fabric itself.
They wanted $200 to replace the fabric & $50 to ship it to me.
As you can guess, I let them know exactly where they could go...

I made a frame to fit inside the bed out of treated lumber & stretched the fabric over it & stapled it down.
I cut some slots for the aluminum support bars from the original design & it looked better than the original.
When I finally got the diamond plate rails & toolbox, I had to cut the cover down a little to fit the smaller opening though.

 

lookin good

i mounted lights under my friend's new F350 so he can have light back there when he's salting and plowing parking lots. Ford put in 4 additional Auxillary switches into the dash for anything you might think of, which was nice. so now he has his lights on the back connected to what looks like a factory switch.

 

i got the box from lowes, and it was on sale too. That is an old pic.

 

I thought about doing that for extra light when backing up on the trial, but they probley get rip off unless I mounted them on top of the bumper.