Alright I now have an A.R.E. cover this is the extang but you get the point... i have an idea of putting Neon lights underneath the rails on eather side to get more light in the bed at night... anyone done this? i know there is a Recon thing but i cant justify paying for it...







these are only $33 for 2

 

I'm trying to do the same thing but with blue lights in the bed but I cant figure how to get power to the bed of the truck to hook up a switch near the tailgate. Sry man hopfully someone can help us out.

 

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ead.php?t=3946

 

12-volt hook up mod?
https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ead.php?t=3946

EDIT: Tommy beat me to it...

 

running wires isnt my problem at all wiring is fun to me... its just wondering if that would be bright enough and if anyone has done it?

 

I've done it to two different boxes that I have had on my truck, and a small light under my custom tonneau. It usually doesn't take much light at all to see everything you want in the bed unless it's very black from a bed liner or something. I only used rope lights all the way around which worked great, weren't the brightest, but plenty of light and looked good.

 

you going to be cool and see if a mercury switch would work? so it turns on when the cover is lifted up?

 

wouldnt be hard to do i have one in the garage...smart idea

 

what about just a door pin switch? when the contacts are closed, the lights go off, when they are open, lights on......

 

also check the price of cathode's they are brighter than neon IIRC

 

Thanks for the link Tommy n Justin

 

ebay selling Siliconassets has a deal were you can get 2 in white for $9.30 shipped. they are 12" tubes and are really bright.


http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/7710/1000077ij5.jpg

 

When i had my Tonneau and Bed rug i put 4(2 on each side) 12" cathodes under the rails and had a switch mounted right by my obii(is that whats its called?) port below the steering wheel. Looked awesome and worked really well; i'd still have um if i had my tonneau and bedrug.

 

what you mean custom tonneau?

 

go to any autoparts store and pick up a set of 'sylvania DotIts' their $10 each about the size of a hockey puck, have 3 super bright leds each, and work AWESOME !.

multiple colors to choose from, works off two little tiny batteries, works from like 200F to -30F and if you leave them on by accident, they wont kill your battery. they also claim to have a 10,000hrs life... which means theoretically you could leave them on for over a year straight and theyd still work (about 8,000hrs are in a year) I have 2 in my bed... they face forward, one on each side and i put them behind that little pillar thing by the tail gate on both sides... they push on and off and are made of aluminum... the cheap ones are plastic. I say get those instead. no wires to contend with, no fuses, no bs, just buy em take em out and stick em on, their held on with 2 sided 3M tape and i have had mine for over a year and they have yuet to fall off... yet their small enuff to not be noticeable, and yet give off more than enuff light. you need 2 however since 1 doesnt quite do it.

 

are they ac or dc current? i take it you have installed them in your truck?

 

i had one of those in my tool box...lights up pretty well

 

zach, just go with a mercury switch or one of them pin switches for an alarm or something.

if you need help let me know, i live alot closer now.

 

The dot-its run off their own batteries as far as I know..

 

i have had the same thought since i have the factory tonneau... the front section is not the problem in lighting up since i can use the cargo lights... but the back section is another joy, its dark as hell... i know i saw an LED lighting kit that is battery operated at walmart, or i was thinking of thoes LED under-counter lights

 

i've got one of these lights in my camper shell and it lights up the whole area very well.... has its own switch built in