I'm looking to install some Aux lighting at the rear of my truck in case I would need extra lighting at night for hitching up to a trailer or whatever. I don't want bulky lights hanging from my bumper, so I was looking at the possibility of mounting a couple LED strips between the tailgate, and bumper, but I don't know if that kind of lighting will be bright enough. Has anyone tried this, or know if the 5050 LED strips are bright enough. I'm looking at buying two 12" strips, both with 12 LEDs off Ebay. Thanks.

 

I converted my reverse bulbs to h3 100w, pretty easy, did a post with pics on how I did it.

 

All it cost me were bulbs, a relay and some load resistors. Pretty cheap mod.

 

I'll keep that in mind as a possibility, thanks

 

Go to Walmart buy the slim style "fog lights", mount them by your hitch and run wires to a switch and there you go I believe lights are like $15 and the wires are long so shouldn't even need to cut and add length

 

yeah but he's looking for something more subtle... like no housings and lights hanging off his bumper. Have to admit I agree on that... I don't like fixtures hanging below my bumper.

 

Another option if you are interested that i just put in my truck is some of the cree 5w high powered led bulbs in the reverse and the cargo lights. Those suckers are some bright lights..almost as bright as headlights it almost seems lol. You can look them up. Retro Solutions is a person that sells them. They are a direct replacement to your stock reverse lights and for the cargo lights, you have to install a resistor.

 

I appreciate all the input, and the options. I think I'm gonna buy the LEDs to see just how bright they are, and if they aren't what I'm looking for, I'll use them for something else, and look at doing something else. Thanks again

 

2-12" LED strips aren't going to be bright enough for what you want to do.
Installing them between the bumper and tailgate is essentially where my 60" LED brake strip is. I has higher powered bulbs than 5050 because they are the dome style. And are not bright enough for utility type work. The reason is, because they are tucked behind the bumper and not on the bumper itself. So, the light gets lost within and only has a small area it lights up well.

You'll be able to see....right next to the bumper. Def not at your trailer unless it's pitch black out and no other light polution.

I mounted slim foglights to my leafspring. If you look in my sig link of Light pics and scroll down towards the middle, I have a few pics that show them mounted and working. Those are brighter than any LED strip will be. You cannot see them and they have been on truck for a while now with no issue's. They are metal casing and glass lens. I have 55w bulbs in them and they are recycled from a car I used them on 7yrs ago. I believe I paid $30 for them.