The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay CHEEP bed rail lights

For my bed rail lights I wanted to go as cheep as possible.... I used a piece of thick walled pvc tubing. Cut of a piece about 3 inches long, Sand a taper on one end and insert it into the roll. The taper helps it go in and will expand the rail. Then I cut a piece of 1/8 inch aluminum and trimmed it to the od of the pvc. Drilled a hole in the center of the alum disc to hold a waterproof led that I got from Waytek. After attaching wires to it I inserted in up against the previous pvc tube. Then another pvc tube is cut of about 1 1/2 inch long. Paint this one black and insert into rail right up against the alum disc holding the led. Then I cut a disc out of white 1/8 inch plexiglass and slid it in right up next to the 1 1/2 tube. Then I cut another piece of the pvc tube to about 1/2 inch. Painted it black also and inserted it into the rail right up against the white disc. This whole assembly was pushed about a 1/2 inch in from the end of the rail, and I touched up the rail inside with black paint. I am using it as a running light only and it is so bright I guess I am going to have to upgrade my tail/brake/turn lights. There is room for two lights to be mounted on the disc if you prefer...These lights should last for the life of the veh and are for marine apps. I have some pics but havent figured out how to post them yet.If I figure it out great..If I dont then email and I will try to send you some.

mine are different than yours in many ways Jim. Golly, does this mean that my truck has 4 wheels so there is nothing more to say because you or someone has already said it....Probably the last time I will share any mods or what I think may be good ideas. Thanks.

don't stop posting your ideas because of one remark.

Everyone has there own ideas on how to do things, and no idea is any better or worse than the next idea.

I've taken bits and pieces from all the post and used them to formulate my own idea on how to make something. does that mean I'm wrong or just smart enought to learn from everone elses expriences.

Ya Gary, I know you are right. Just having a bad morning I guess.. If you click on my profile and go to my album you can see the differences....Now that I think about it nothing is really new anymore.. It is all about small changes to a previous patent.

Just a thought, picked a few of these up at HF on sale for $3.99. All you need to keep is the 9 LED head, throw the rest of it away, turn up a little adaptor on the lathe from a chunk of aluminum. Replace the clear with a red lens, a couple of ohms resistance in series and they are good to go with a 6v supply.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2203544010098611668LVJQBU
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Now this is cool! Got at least 3 different ideas for the same thing. creativity is wonderfull, keeps us thinking "can I do that, and how can I make mine different".
Oh and fox (can I call you fox?) you can post pix by pasting the http address from your Webshots album into your post, like Denny did. There's a tip on this in the IT Short bus page that can explain it better, do a search there.

thanks Bill, I'll check it out. Was wondering how to mdo it...Bob

Did it in about 2 hrs with a pvc pipe connector and two 11.95 led marker lights from Flying J.
look fine.

thefoxesden3:
Which Waytek light did you use? We used the regular 194 sidemarker bulb in our lighted hole caps but some have requested a brighter light.

Thanks
Mar-Ktech

Fox , hey your idea is cool !...i have a set here My Unc. purchased yrs ago ...caps for cab end plain and for tail end matchin pair wich i am gonna make them the 3rd brake light ....but I have the receipt here ...OUTRAGES ! for what he payed for em ..
So keep up the engineerin n tips !
WE all can use all the $ savin tips we can get !