Installed some LEDs on the rear top hatch. One facing the interior to light up the cargo/cooking area and one facing the exterior to light up the campground.
Simple mod really in terms of electrical connections, but a real PITA in terms of wire routing if you want the "OEM Look".
Had to take out all the interior panels on the rear hatch and the side panel where my BlueSea fuse box is located (this entailed taking out the fridge that I have permanently mounted and tied to the truck's drawer system and disassembling part of the drawer system itself). Nothing difficult, just time consuming.
After the panels where off, I routed the wires inside the hatch and along the OEM wire loom, then through the OEM rubber boot that connects the hatch to the truck's body, continued under the roof's liner and down the right rear side panels to the fuse box.
Had to drill a couple of holes to insert the wires. Used rubber grommets to protect the wires and for that "OEM look"
Wire routing is done!. LEDs are in place (they come with 3M double sided tape).
Now to the electrical connections. I'll detail them here in case there are some other "electrically impaired readers" (like me) that might benefit from my learning curve...
Positive and negative go to the fuse box. I used a simple switch that has three connections in the back. "Power" goes to the pos (+) from the fuse box, "load" goes to the pos (+) from the lights and ground goes to both neg (-) from the fuse box AND neg (-) from the lamp. My switch has a blue light on it, actually the switch doesn't need to be grounded if you do not want that light to turn on (or the switch you use doesn't have one), but the neg (-) on the lights needs to be connected to the neg (-) on the fusebox.
I prefer to solder all connections and then cover with heat shrink as this way I'm sure vibration on dirt roads will not loosen the connections over time. Once everything was wired properly and terminals where in place it was time to put everything back together.
The only thing I'm not totally pleased with is the switch placing. I wanted it on the right hand inner plastic cover for the pillar so my 10 year old son would reach without having to climb on the lower hatch, but upon inspection, there isn't enough space for the terminals to fit properly as the pillar is reinforced on the inside... maybe I could have managed to fit it, but clearance would have been very tight and I don't like live (pos +) terminals very close to the trucks body even if they are properly shrink wrapped. So just went and placed it on the upper hatch where there is plenty of space.
I'm happy with the result. It puts out a pretty decent amount of light with minimal draw on the car's battery. This pic was taken with no other lights except for the two LEDs.
) but if you need someone to help manhandle the bumper and pass the beer, I can help.
