Running Board Lights without Running Board

[Gonzo318]

I came across these LED bolt lights at O’Reilly’s the other day and remembered a post I had seen a while back: 4th gen ground lighting (without running boards)

 

[Gonzo318]

Low and behold, I still had all the bolts from when I took off the running boards 8 years ago. I picked up some 3 1/2” by 1 3/8” brackets and drilled holes for the bolts (5/16 bit for the original bolt and 3/8 bit for the LED bolt). Since the bracket came with screws, I screwed the bracket into some wood to drill the holes through.

 

[Gonzo318]

I needed a few washers to put on the original running board bolt (I had to scrounge around in my tool box). The front bracket sits relatively flat, but the rear bracket had to be bent a little so it wouldn’t aim the light underneath the truck.

 

[Gonzo318]

I ran the wires down the frame and spliced them into the existing wires for the running board lights. It took me longer to strip those tiny wires than it did to bolt everything on. I bent the brackets a bit once the lights came on to line them up. I wish the beam angle was a little wider, but all things considered...I’m happy with it.

 

[DZNUTS]

I’m shocked at how good those bolt lights look. Nice work [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bassmacka]

Pretty cool I was thinking of using these for interior lights for the rear hatch so I can see what is going on in the rear when camping . also could use some lights for engine bay

 

[Gonzo318]

I’m shocked at how good those bolt lights look. Nice work [emoji106]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pretty cool I was thinking of using these for interior lights for the rear hatch so I can see what is going on in the rear when camping . also could use some lights for engine bay

Thanks! Yeah, they’re surprisingly bright for such a compact light. If they hadn’t had the push button tester in the packaging I probably would have passed them by. They were super convenient to install since it’s essentially just a bolt. I wanted to mount them directly on the frame or body, but realized it’d be much easier to run the wire doing it this way.

 

[smoky]

Low and behold, I still had all the bolts from when I took off the running boards 8 years ago. I picked up some 3 1/2” by 1 3/8” brackets and drilled holes for the bolts (5/16 bit for the original bolt and 3/8 bit for the LED bolt). Since the bracket came with screws, I screwed the bracket into some wood to drill the holes through.

Digging up this old thread; btw, nice work, looks great!

Hoping to get some insight on the wiring/splicing portion of this project. I am not really electrically inclined, so any info would be great.

About to remove my running boards for some locally built sliders and would like to do something similar.

 

[4Fishing]

I ran the wires down the frame and spliced them into the existing wires for the running board lights. It took me longer to strip those tiny wires than it did to bolt everything on. I bent the brackets a bit once the lights came on to line them up. I wish the beam angle was a little wider, but all things considered...I’m happy with it.

Where are the existing wires on the 4Runner for running boards? Does the lights fade going on/off?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk