Anyone using VLED’s striplight bars?

I’m trying to decide what LED strips I want to put into the bed of my truck. I plan to hook it up so it turns on/off with the cargo light.

I’m a big fan of VLED, and have used them for all my other interior and exterior LEDs. So I was considering:

Exterior Aluminum LED Striplight Bars 5500K White
https://www.vleds.com/shop-products/light-bars/wpb-w-5-5k.html

Anyone using these?

I’m wondering a few things:

1. I’d probably get the 6” ones. How many do I need on the left and right sides to effectively light up the 5.5 foot bed? 6” doesn’t seem like much, so I imagine I need probably…what…3 or 4 on each side? More?

2. What does termination style (passthrough vs end) mean? I assume it refers to being able to daisy chain one of the lights, versus an end light that can’t be daisychained?

3. Do these strips come with 3M tape or screw mounts or something on the back?

 

1. I would get at least 4 - 6" if using in the bed of the truck. I've seen the 3" in person and they are pretty bright but for the bed I would assume you would want two near the cab and two near the gate. If you only do two at the front lets say, and you have stuff in the bed the light can be blocked.

2. Correct, passthrough is a light module with a wire at both ends that would be inside the daisy chain and an end termination would be at the end of the daisy chain. Dont forget it looks like you also need to buy the base adapter separately, so however you plan to terminate.

3. They come with very strong 3M tape, but also have tapped holes on the back for "custom brackets".

with all that being said, I recommend you go with the Matt Gecko Bed Lighting Kit. He is a vendor on here and provides an outstanding product from what I hear and it seems it is a more suitable solution for in bed lighting, mainly because it runs the whole perimeter of the bed and leaves no place unlit or blocked by cargo.

It also looks cheaper by far than this option if you go with 4- 6" lights from VLED.

VLED makes a great product and I have dealt with them many times but for this application you would be better off with the Matt Gecko kit IMHO.

Good Luck!

https://www.tundras.com/threads/mattgecko-led-bed-hood-light-kits.10453/

 

I looked at Matt's kit and contacted him last week; he's local. For liability reasons, his kit comes without parts/instructions to wire it up to the cargo light so it comes on/off at the same time. I get it, but that's a definite requirement. I don't want a separate switch for the bed lighting. But assuming I can figure that out on my own or through the forum here, his kit is still an option I'm considering. I love VLEDs, their warranty, their service, and their reliability, and am usually willing to pay extra for such things. But it's a good price difference and I have plenty else on my to-do list that need money. OTOH, I really prefer lighting that looks the same hue/temperature/etc. because I'm ridiculously OCD that way, and Matt's kit comes in 3500K, 5000K or 6500K, rather than 5500K that my exterior and interior VLEDs are. But I haven't ruled out Matt's kit yet; I suspect the deciding calculus will be the ease of installation. I don't know enough about the install that will be required for either option yet.

 

Vleds are great but can get expensive for bed lighting especially if not used all the time. They have 3M tape on them but they are not going to stick well in the bed. You would have to use something like a silicone. I have a whole truck full of Vled upgrades, but I used Nilight strips for the bed since they aren't on very often and they are pretty bright for $28.

 

Here you go..one 6” on each side.

 

I also used an OEM door switch to make my lights come on when the gate is dropped and off when closed.

 

You guys need to stop with all this ridiculous LED shit. I'm running out of money!

 

I can refer you to Capital One....lol.

 

Wow. That's only two 6" strips? That's a good deal more light than I would have expected from only using two.

How did you wire it?

 

LOL. LEDs are one of the biggest bangs-for-the-buck, IMHO. Relatively low cost, but I get a lot of value out of it. But that's me. To each their own.

Seriously though, this truck is getting to be expensive. It was a hard enough sell to convince my wife we needed to drop $60K on a new truck!

 

Do you have a part number for that switch?

 

I came straight from the battery with an inline fuse and then wired accordingly after that. I probably made it more complicated than it needed to be. I put Deutsch connections in so if I need to remove the bed I can just unplug them and all that....

 

It didn't come with the fuse, did it?

Beautiful job. Looks terrific.

I don't suppose you have a step-by-step write-up anywhere?

 

I do not, I just went to the local pull-a-part and robbed a Toyota Tacoma. I think all Toyota’s are the same and make sure you get the torx bolt that holds the switch in.

 

No, they do not come with anything. I made a complete harness for them, but I work a lot with wiring harnesses so it’s not that big of a deal to me.

 

super simple. I wired my vled puddle lights to the cargo circuit. You can easily tap the wire. there is info on it somewhere on this forum. I can look for it and post it when I find it. I don't think vled comes with directions either due to these being multiple a application product across multiple vehicles. Lots of good info here though.

 

This is genius.