The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Cheap Bed Rail Lights

Saw the post about the $100.+ bedrail lights! Now this may not appeal to the purists, but I got sick of looking at the empty holes and took it upon myself to make my own.

I have some pics of them in my "tips and Tricks" album so I'm not just trolling. Check them out...instructions are below the pictures.

Dave

Hey that's cool. When I first started messing with these old trucks you had to make any kind of mods yourself. I too balk at $100 for bed lights. I'm going to try to rig something recessed a tad in the hole.

Me too! Are you using your bed lights as turn signals and brake lights or as brake lights only, or (?)

When I designed my replacement harness, I split everything up to the rear. I like to isolate the brake and turn signal circuits so I have a totally visible brake lights, when my turn signals are flashing. It takes a little more wire from front to back, but I feel more comfortable in traffic. The large 4 " LED truck lenses are running and brakes, while the amber LED on top of the running/brake lights and the bed rail light, are dedicated turn signals.

I liked the screw-off cap on the rail lights...you can get in there to change the bulb...the main body is tight enough so I'm not going to have some idiot stealing them and if they do take the cap, I can replace it easily and for pennies.

Ubetcha Cletis...creating you own stuff is half the fun of building. To save you a little looking....the tubing used in a boat seat post extension fits...the 1/8" outer edge could be rounded and polished..."O" ring front and back could snug in the lens and you'd be in business.

Think I'll just keep that $100. bucks in my own pocket!!!

Dave

I really like what you did on this project and the only change I'm going to make is to use the bed rail lights as stop/turn signals, my stop lights are just above the bumper and I'd like to have something higher up so the lil' ol' ladies, and backward-hat cruisers can see it and hopefully keep my backend from getting smacked. Might just wire them in as a "third brake light" only.

Don't see why that wouldn't work just fine....nobody misses my 4" LED brake lights so I'm covered. Had thought about putting LED bulbs (autozone) in the single pole sockets but the conventional bulbs through the thin replacement lense repair kit orange, really pops out.

If you're running the stock 53 tail light(s) you're going to need some more help. Especially, during the daylight hours. So many of the new cars are running huge lights in back that I think folks are oblivious to the older stock lighting. Didn't take many close calls for me to go with big lights and a huge trailer hitch!!!

Dave

Ooh...

That's pretty cool.

Hey Joe...steal away....it was a 2-1/2" Sure Pop...toss the guts...I haven't figured out what to do with them.....yet!

I mentioned to Cletis earlier, that if you wanted something to fit entirely inside the rail..you could use a chuck of aluminum tube.....a 3" piece of boat seat extension tube could be rounded on the end....polished up....a couple of fat 1-1/4"OD "O" rings inside the tube to hold the plastic lens...might not be quite so obvious.

Have at it.....but you gotta send me a picture of it flashing. It took me more time to trigger my camera when both turn signals were lit than to make the light!!!!! lolololol

Dave

When it rains it pours? Cool for sure

Bed Rail Roll Lights

Looking at those bed rail roll holes with nothing to fill the void except a plug was not acceptable to me. I wanted them for a purpose, like lights, a blinker or brake as the likely function. There has been a recent tip about lights in the rolls and upon looking at what is available commercially, those run about 100 bucks. Naugh, you have to be kidding! My thoughts about what I wanted are to keep the lights neatly hidden inside the tubes. I figured a piece of 1’’ PVC would be a good housing about 2’’ long should do the trick. If the insert diameter is smaller than 1.5’’ you can add several long strips of RTV silicon to the outside (let it dry before inserting) of whatever tube you choose and this should hold it inside the bed roll tube securely. My next step was to see what’s available on the open market for LED type lights. I found a 2 pack of 4 (amber) LED bulbs with a blade connection and a socket assembly that I could use. I had to solder the two wires to the socket because of its construction but everything will be hidden and should work fine. That cost was about $17.00 @ a (FLAPS) auto parts store.

LED’s are not cheap but over the long haul they work out well. I used LED bulbs so I should never have to gain access to this light unit again to change bulbs. I should also be able to seal this unit up. I have in the shop a couple of old amber clearance lenses (your choice) that I can cut to make a round shape and hot glue to the PVC housing. This was fairly easy to shape with a circular sander and took minutes to complete. I used a hot glue gun to assemble this light, which held the LED centered and the socket and wires. The completed project has the wires exposed out the back, which will run down the exterior stake pocket, protected with a split wire cover to the wiring harness to both left and right turn signal.

Dave (Fla54Chevy3100) started this thread a several weeks ago and used a sprinkler head to hold his incandescent light, socket and lens. His lens sticks outside the hole and that has its advantages, better visibility by having a larger diameter and being seen from a different angle. 4onthefloor is starting to make replacement tail light inserts and I for one think that is a great idea. The more lighting at the rear the better. LED’s are a bright light that lasts and uses lower wattages to operate. These were fun to make and work well in their application.

What you view in the photos are the components, the wired soldered socket, amber 4 bulb LED, PVC tube and what I used to make the lens from. I used black silicone on the outside of the PVC to ensure a tight fit within the bed roll tube. The completed version will soon be linked when I have the truck back from the paint shop. I'll install these and get them posted to my photo page.
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=587685-R1-016-6A.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=587685-R1-020-8A.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=587685-R1-024-10A.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=587685-R1-014-5A.jpg



12 VOLT ~ LED’s WILL work on a 6 volt system, they may not be as bright as with 12 volt BUT they work!!!