Hard tonneau light

[peterdeg]

Anyone got the genuine hard tonneau light? Where does the wiring run?

[mattz]

I wasn't aware they did a genuine hard cover light.
That would have saved me some hassles last night.
I'm currently running wires through the internals of the hard lid, it's totally hollow. If you strategically drill a couple of holes with the lid lifted you can feed the wires through the hard lid with a bit of help from gravity.

[helicoptercow]

Anyone got the genuine hard tonneau light? Where does the wiring run?

are you referring to running the wires themselves to a particular point under the tonneau or where it plugs in to power the light?

as mattz said, the covers structure is hollow for the best part, so you can feed and hide the wire inside the structure. alternatively you can use those 3M clips to hold the wires up out of harms way. Always good to put some bullet connectors between the tub and lid though so you can unclip the lights and remove the lid if required

In terms of how you would power the lights for the factory set up i have no idea how Mitsu would have done it, but probably along similar lines to how most of us who have added lights have done. You have to either run an auxillary cable to the tub along the chassis rails to a terminal block for muliple items or off a dual battery setup in the tub. either way cable is run along the rails.

[smouch1975]

Sorry, I can't load the pick from work CD will do it

< Hard Tonneau Interior Light &
Remote Key Operation
Suitable for both the 1 and 3 Piece Hard Tonneau Covers,
this accessory provides a useful interior light as well as
activating the cars remote key to unlock the Tonneau
Cover.

Page 143/180 of the MMAL Genuine accessories list

To answer the question above, power for the light should come from the lock/unlock feature

[peterdeg]

Sorry, should clarify. I want to put a light under there and was wondering where they ran the cabling when they install a genuine light. There's no obvious wire access points in the lid itself so was trying to figure out where they'd drill it and where they'd run the cable to.

[daryn]

Try This:

http://www.newtriton.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8758

[trickydevil]

This was setup when I had the hard lid.



Cost me about $10

[daryn]

This is my setup:

$15 strip light from Whitworths, switch on lid, runs to cig socket.

[helicoptercow]

Similar to daryns setup, except i ran 2 strips as i didn't think 1 gave enough light. The beauty of a strip along the edge of the tonneau is it also makes a great camp and cooking light. You can buy the stuff in 5m rolls off ebay.

Here is my setup

[helicoptercow]

Must have been drunk n taken that pic upside down

[big_bob_thefirst]

That's a neat set up... Gives me something to think about over the weekend... Where did u run the power too? Sockets on the wire so u could still remove the lid?

[helicoptercow]

It was a rush job before heasing off at chrissy, i was meant to have a it powered from a distribution/fuse block off a second battery but ran out of time, so this is how it ended up... And still is till i attack it in a couple of weeks and install the battery:lol:

I have the thick white twin core cable running from starter battery along the chassis rails and into the tub. At the end i put a switch that was to be secured in an easy reach location. From the switch I ran a light cable to the end of the strip across the front of the tub which runs feom left to right. On the right hand side i then soldered more cable and about a foot from the end of the light strip added bullet connectors so i can disconnect the second set lights when i remove the hard cover, and still operate the ones on the front of the tub. From the bullets the cable travels up the right hand side of the cover to the top where i soldered it to the end of another strip and ran it from right to left. I used 3m clips to hold the wires and double sided tape on the light strips. The LED lights are about $30 for 5m on ebay and are waterproof.

Here is a daytime pic if its any clearer... And hopefully the right way up

[trickydevil]

You can run power in at any of the corners in the tub. I brought mine in through the gap near the rear tail light. Worked a treat.

[mattz]

Due to popular demand.......well Peterdeg wanted some info and moooons didnt think I would do it.

Here it is.....My hard lid light.

I ran all the power from the second battery which is mounted in the corner of the tub. It then goes to a pressure switch so the light comes on when the lid is opened. I had to extend the switch a little and give it a slight bend to make it contact properly.
The electrical cable then runs into the internals of the hard lid via a strategic hole that I drilled and then back out of the lid at the light.
I poked a piece of wire(fencing type not electrical) from the hole I drilled at the light and then fed it through,with the help of gravity,along that diagonal chanel,to the lower hole(near the battery) then used another piece that I bent with a hook on it to hook on to it and pull it through.
I then tapped the electrical cable to it and pulled it through.
The light is a 30cm led light that throws out at a 120 degree angle. It is heaps.
I was also thinking of getting a 60cm one and mounting it right at the back of the hard lid,in the recessed bit,wiring it to a switch, and use it for camping and cooking on the tailgate......after seeing this one in action.....it's more than enough and throws enough light on the tail gate and will be plenty for a camping light.
While I was at it, I ran some 6mm cable to a Merritt plug,mounted in the tub liner near the tail gate and also a couple of cig lighter plugs,one on each side of the tub liner near the tail gate. One is to run my 12v 1amp versa-lite and the other is a spare.
They all run to the second battery with inline fuses, at the moment.......I might eventually run a separate fuse box.....if I get around to it.
Here is some pics.....the cable is usually hidden in some corrugated conduit to protect it.
You should see in the pics I used some bullet connectors so that I can unplug the wire to remove the hard lid

[Mooons]

Good write up Mattz I'm impressed

[mattz]

Good write up Mattz I'm impressed

And you didn't think I would do it.
That gave me the motivation.

[peterdeg]

Was walking the BCF last weekend and they had one 60cm strip light on special for about $10. Last one, so grabbed it.
Also got a tilt switch from Jaycar and a 2-pin connector from Supercheap.

The light is the stick-on sort. I initially stuck it to the underside of the tonneau but it fell off (probably lack of surface preparation on my part), so decided that some light elsewhere is better than no light from the perfect position and mounted at the top/side of the tub.

Earthed at the bolt the holds the tonneau lock brackets.
Positive from a cable I pulled in preparation for some reversing/work lights.

Tilt switch and plug. May have to screw-mount the switch as it seems to move.

[Duck]

I have installed a hard bar LED light into the hard cover routing the cables through the ribbing on the underneath of the cover & installed a rocker switch beside the light so that I can turn it on & off, the LED bar is 18 watts fo like daytime. It goves me approx 10 feet of light at the back of the truck so that I can use it for night fishing & have enough light to do the filleting on a table behind the truck. Works a treat, I bought the light fromm a company on the north side of Brissy cost a few hundred buscks but draws no power & because it is alloy I could pop rivett it under the lid so that even with the back fully loaded nothing can touch it as its recessed. I will try to attach a photo but other wise look at my shed its in there.