Tailgate LED lighting

[fore_endy]

Hi

I'm a mobile cycle mechanic who works out of the rear of my lwb kombi.

I'm looking to fit additional lighting to the inside of the tailgate to illuminate my work area when the tailgate is open.

Ideally this would be manually operated rather than in conjunction with the interior lights, to avoid them timing out...

Any ideas would be great.

Cheers

 

[MBBSA]

Hi fore_endy, I've moved the standard lights to the centre line (no need to modify wiring just unclipped and relocated) then added 6 new round LED's, 2 in the rear load area either side of the factory light fed off a switch on the left side of the loading area, 2 in the tailgate again fed off a switch on the left of the loading area and the other 2 have individual switches in the roof for the rear passengers. I got the lights off a mate who wasn't using them but they look the same as the ones in @Pauly forum shop. Hope this helps. The difference is unbelievable! Oh and all this is fed from my factory fit second battery under the passenger seat.

 

[fore_endy]

Wow, that looks great, more than enough light to work by.

Was the wiring tricky, I'm not particularly electrically minded....

Thanks

 

[travelvolts]

If you don't have the second battery you will have to take a fused feed direct from the battery or from the fuse box under the passenger seat if fitted.

 

[MBBSA]

Wiring was easy as I have added a small fuse panel under the passenger seat. Each circuit is fed individually and once the roof panels are down it was a piece
of cake. As for connecting into existing wiring @travelvolts has far more knowledge than me on where to tap a supply from.

 

[simon]

Wow @MBBSA that lighting is awesome

 

[Arrow]

So, I'm thinking about putting 2 LED spotlights in the tailgate fed from the interior light so they come on/off with door opening but also add a tilt switch so only once the lid is open will they pop on. Relatively straightforward. I want them to be pretty bright hense I don't want them bing on all the time, might add a switch to allow me to bypass to a constant on, also a forced off.

Tilt switch only there to stop the lights from coming on every time the sliding door open, save lighting up the rear excessively. Possibley overkill.

Anyone done anything like this? Also recommend a bright (enough to illuminate the ground) 12v spotlight that will sit nice in the tailgate?

Thanks.

 

[The Bear78]

Led spots in the tailgate is nothing new as I'm sure you've found.
I'm not sure about the tilt switch but my thinking was that you're only going to need light under the tailgate when you are also under the tailgate. To that end, I just used a simple rocker switch inside the van. I actually used a double rocker so I can also switch on the interior lights when at the rear for the same reason.
This arrangement could easily be incorporated into the existing interior light circuit or powered by a seperate supply so the time out function will not affect you.

 

[Arrow]

Yea, tilt switch is probably unnecessary. Simple rocker would do the trick.

 

[conal100]

Touch lights in the tail hooked up to the leisure battery is the only way to go! As are the ring led and dimmable spotlights.

 

[Dan_the_v8man]

I fitted these but didn't use the rubber mount. They're impact resistant and IP rated.


I also added a low profile LED strip light across the top for good measure

 

[Dellmassive]

Nice.. got a link?

 

[Dan_the_v8man]

Nice.. got a link?

For which one bud?

 

[WinFreak]

I like that led strip, that's what I want!!

 

[david173]

For which one bud?

Both

 

[david173]

Did you wire them into courtsey circuit or from leisure battery?

 

[Dan_the_v8man]

Did you wire them into courtsey circuit or from leisure battery?

Actually both, I have an ON-OFF-ON switch in the rear panel so I can use either

Because I have a shuttle I get a plastic trim along the top, so I took the light bar to pieces, screwed it directly through the back and re-soldered new wires that went through the rear but you could use it in its standard form in any van without the trim, I'd suggest adding some double sided tape along the length of the back as well as the screws on the end

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[Dellmassive]

For which one bud?

Was this one....

 

[Dan_the_v8man]

FYI - for anyone wanting to have selectable lighting power off an aux battery or interior light feed you will need to use a DPDT switch as the BCM switches the negative not the positive supply.


(Note the switch has 6 contacts)

 

[Dan_the_v8man]

Was this one....

View attachment 147645

Yup!