Rear Light Project w/photos

[ccie]

Just finished setting up my “back-up” lights. The relays are located above the spare tire. The PIAA cast a 25 degree beam, and the KC Flood lights cast a 180 degree beam. The UP position is wired to the battery so no key is required. The middle position is “OFF” to avoid reflection if connected to the white trailer, and the down position has the lights come on with the standard backup switch (reverse lever).

The small lights tucked inside the bed (one each side) help to illuminate the black Line-X bed with the BakFlip cover closed at night. They are small enough that they don’t require a relay and are connected to the battery.

 

[smitty3500]

Nice install. Have any pics at night time with the lights on?

 

[Matt400]

Always fun to see what other people are up to. How did you cut the holes in the bumper and make them looks so nice?



Thanks for sharing.

 

[ccie]

The 1st photo is backing into my drive with only the factory lights. The 2nd is with the factory and the add on lights. I used a 2" wood/metal drill bit from Home Depot.

 

[rbattelle]

Wow, nice install! Like Matt, I'm curious what you used to drill the bumper. Hole saw?

Ryan

 

[ccie]

I used a 2” version of this (see URL)



Bi-Metal Hole Saw 4 1/2"

 

[RankRam]

Very nice install!



Ryan,



He said he used a 2" wood/metal drill bit from Home Depot.

 

[Pawpaw]

That is a nice install.



I'm trying to get time to install new backup lights on mine.



I have a Ranch Hand back bumper with 10" drop and auxiliary backup lights.



Ranch Hand - Back Bumpers



Unfortunately, the lights in the bumper offer little to no help. They are the same lights that you see on the big rig trailers in red, amber, and white (mine are white, obviously.



I bought a set of these: Optilux Auxiliary Lights



They are surprisingly well made with an all metal housing. I'd always thought Optilux = junk. Apparently not necessarily so.



There is a separate fog and driving light in each housing. I'll hook up the fog lights to come on with the backup lights. I'll install a switch on the dash for any time I need even more light "out back".



They fit perfectly inside my existing rubber grommets. I just need to figure out how to mount them securely.





Bob

 

[Allnew2Me]

Nice clean job. I did something similar using foglights.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com...scussions/173498-let-there-light-reverse.html

 

[JFlagg]

Can you turn those on from inside the cab without putting the truck in reverse? Say, if you had a tailgater and wanted to "warn" them to back off:-laf I plan on doing something similar to my truck, but I want a swith in the cab. Clean install though.

 

[CRuth]

I purposely didn't wire mine so I could turn them without being in reverse. Too much temptation. I'd sure hate to find out it was a cop behind me.

 

[ccie]

I didn’t wire a switch in the cab to avoid the temptation. I figure that with a Smarty I can just “smoke” tailgaters :-laf. I do like having them wired into the reverse lever so they come on automatically. On my 2001 I had a switch in the cab but didn’t connect them to the reverse lever. I found that I didn’t use them sometimes when I should have. It is also nice being able to turn them on without the key from the location I want to use them. On my 2001 I didn’t have bright enough lights setup on the back either. This time I went with the two sets, both drawing enough current that they require a relay.