I know I've seen it on here before but I couldn't remember where.

Most trucks, there's a gap under the Tgate where people stick the little LED brake/turn lights. Ours doesn't. So where does everybody put them? Just exposed on the bottom edge of the gate? Or make a custom panel that attaches to the trailer hitch receiver/bottom of the bumper?


Well the electrical hobbyist in me wants to take it a tick further.

Take a 1m (3ft) strip of addressable RGB LED's, and make them respond to the brake lights and turn signals.

Brake lights: Flash 3 times then steady on red (100% red, 0% green, 0% blue)
Turn left: scroll right to left continuous orange (100% red, 40% green, 0% blue)
Turn right: scroll left to right continuous orange (100% red, 40% green, 0% blue)
emergency flashers: scroll from inside out, alternating between red, orange, and yellow (100% red, 100% green, 0% blue)

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11272 would be perfect. Not a bad price, either. Total build cost would probably be around $90.

 

Have mine on very bottom edge of t-gate over to the left corner as to not have wire exposed.

 

Have you had any problems with it being exposed there, carwashes/ect?

The reason i come to it now, if you look, all ambulances and fire trucks have scrolling turn signals, and the emergency flasher setup is straight off every emergency vehicle ever made (with some red added in).

Last week I was at a red light, and I noticed a car in my mirror not slowing down. I had a carlength in front of me (for this reason) so i start pulsing the brake to flash the lights and get their attention. I used up every bit of room I had in front of me, and they were still on my bumper. But no contact.

 

No I haven't had issues with water. And I have used a pressure washer on my t-gate. The 1 I have appears to be seal. It works my brake light and turn signal and plugs to my 4-pin trailer wire.It came with double sided tape and screws I elected not to use the screws.If I can find a pic of it I will post it.

 

Found it. Bought this off of Amazon.




Anzo USA 531044 49-Inch 4-Function Universal LED Tailgate Light Bar

by 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
Size Name:

List Price: $49.95 Price: $45.90 You Save: $4.05 (8%)

 

I wouldn't mind getting a ready-made one, but I like the challenge of making my own and putting a custom algorithm into it

 

The only way you could do it like they are supposed to is get a roll pan. It would have to go on the lower edge of the gate which I dont think I would like as much. I leave my tow hitch in for this reason. If I have to worry about someone bending my class 5 hitch then ill be frigged either way. I want a off road bumper anyway lol

 

Making your own would be better. However I am not that creative and I hate electrical.

 

That's my deal, I don't know how clean it would look being 100% exposed....they're designed to be mostly hidden, and just turn on from that normally ignored space.

On my way home yesterday, there was a rear-ender at a light. Rav4 was the front vehicle. The back vehicle wouldn't have been too bad off- except for where the spare is on a Rav4. Yea, that car wasn't being driven away. clipped the top of the radiator and crumpled the hood.

 

I'll take some pics of my old/new setup tomorrow. I made a L plate that bolted to the bottom of my tonneau cover that placed the led bar on top of the tailgate. Worked great for 2 years until my $30 china bar died.

I now have 2 Maxxima led trailer stt strips mounted to the bottom of my trailer hitch, way brighter than the bar!

I have quite a few leds on my Dakota!
Recon Ram led cab lights
Recon Big Rig led bars
6 Maxxima 3/4" leds in grille guard
Putco Rocket Locker bed rails
2 Maxxima surface mount stt strips under trailer hitch