How To Install Underbody LED Lights On A Ford F150

Materials used:

• 3x4 inch double sided M3 tape pad and a couple extra strips
• 6 inch and 18 inch zip-ties
• 6-32 ¾ nuts, washers, and screws (for mounting hardware holes, yours may vary)
• 80 grit sandpaper
• Mounting brackets (usually comes with kit, but it’s cheap)
• Extra electrical wire
• Electrical tape and/or shrink wrap
• Ring/Spade terminals

Items included in Lighting kit:

• 2 – 48 inch and 2 – 32 inch LED tubes
• Transformer unit
• Wireless Remote and display unit
• On/off switch with 2-Amp in-line fuse

Tools/Safety used:

• Battery-powered drill
• Screwdriver
• Drill bits
• Socket set
• Knife
• Goggles
• Permanent marker

Optional Tools/materials:

• Wire cutters/strippers
• Wire nuts
• Sheet metal screws

Before installing the kit, unpack the lighting kit and lay it out in a flat, wide open area and use a 12V car battery to test them out and make sure everything is working properly. I also started on the left side of the truck and worked to the front and around to the back.

Step 1 - Before You Start Drilling

This project is much easier with 2 people and may take up to 4 hours if you take your time to do a good job.

Select a desirable location for the tubes under your truck in a location where they can be installed away from moving parts, hot objects/areas, exhaust systems, ABS components, SRS airbag components, and locations where a lift or jacks may be used to lift your truck. Find a place for the Transformer unit. You can place it inside the truck if there is room under the dash or outside under the hood, like I did. I decided to locate mine under the air intake in the engine, and ran all the wiring there.

After you are happy with their locations you can start installing the mounting hardware. Most hardware included with underbody lighting kits to mount the tubes isn’t very good, so you may have to improvise and make your own mounting hardware. A great store to go to would be your local plumbing store since they have all sorts of things to mount pipe. I used something different, but something very similar to this…

These are used to mount and hold pipes to walls, ceilings, and almost anything else. It may need to be modified (as in cutting one of the feet off), but you get the idea.

These are the type of brackets I used and can be ordered from www.store.yahoo.com/mobile-emotions/exbrforneunk.html

Step 2 - The Mounting

Place the mounting hardware on the bottom side (upside down) of where they will be mounted, and used a permanent marker to dot the holes where you will drill.

Drill the hole(s) needed to mount the mounting hardware. Clean the extra metal and rough edges off the holes with some 80 grit sandpaper. After the hole(s) have been drilled and cleaned, place the mounting hardware in its place and insert the screws and washers. I put the screws in upside-down and the nuts on the top, because it looked cleaner this way and it would be less likely that the end of the screw would catch on something while driving.

If you are having problems drilling due to the bit keeps moving, you can use a nail or anything with a point that’s strong enough and place it where you’ve made your mark and hit it with a once hammer. This will make a dent and keep the bit from moving randomly.

I used nylon nuts because they won’t come off from the vibration of the ride or you can put 2 or 3 nuts on the end and that should hold it pretty well too. After mounting the hardware for one tube has been completed, snap the tube into place and let the wire from the tube alone for now. Be sure to refer to the instructions that came with the lights to see which way the tube needs to be facing front.

Using the 18” or other zip-ties, zip-tie the tube to any holes or brackets nearby on the body of the truck. It’s a good idea to have anything extra holding the tubes just in case the mounting hardware fails.

(Left side of truck)

Step 3 - Drilling into the frame

Mounting the front tube wasn’t too hard because the frame of the truck was in a perfect spot. I had to drill into the frame to mount the tubes though :( My tubes had small holes on the sides for screws (and mostly likely yours will have these holes too) and I just used those to mount the lights as well as some zip-ties for some extra strength. (I used some sheet metal screws which are in the optional materials list to mount this tube.) There are pre-drilled holes from the factory to run the zip-ties through.

Step 4

Same steps as step 2

For the right side of the truck it is the exact same thing as step 2 (refer to that step for this part)

Step 5 - Last tube

The final tube, and I think the trickiest one, is the rear of the truck. This is because the spare tire was very close to the tube and I could only use one hole from the mounting hardware, so the solution is to zip-tie the tube very well. Drill into the frame of the rear bumper to mount the hardware and make sure the hardware is aligned with one another, so your tube is level and not lopsided. You may need an extra hand for this part.

After you have mounted the hardware and positioned the tube, zip-tie the tube to the bumper any way you can.

Step 6 - Feeding the wire

Start feeding the wire towards the location of the Transformer unit. For the rear tube I followed the wires from the rear taillights and zip-tied them to the existing wires every 1 ½ feet.

I’ve outlined the wire coming from the rear tube that’s following the taillight wires.

When you come to the end of the wire, most likely for the rear tube, you will need to add more wire. My kit used regular Ethernet cable and connectors (used for computer networking a.k.a. Cat5e cable & RJ45 Connectors). All I needed to do was buy some more Ethernet cable and a coupler.

Ethernet (RJ45) coupler

In your case it probably won’t be this easy. Simply cut the end of the connector off and leave at least 1 foot of wire from the connector. Make sure to write on a piece of paper what color wire goes to what for when you rewire it with your new wire, because your new wire might be a different color, or put a piece of tape on each wire and label them that way. Add as much wire as needed and try to use the same gauge (thickness) of wire. Use electrical tape or wire nuts to connect the wires together and seal it with more electrical tape or shrink wrap to seal any open areas.

For the side tubes you can run the wire behind the wheel wells, zip-tying it as you go. For the front tube you can easily find a way to run it into the engine. After you are done wiring them to wherever you decided to mount the Transformer unit, clean the area where the Transformer unit will be placed and use a 3x4 inch double-sided tape pad to secure it to the clean surface. I placed mine under the air intake since there was enough room there for the wires and unit.

Start connecting all of the wires from the tubes to the Transformer unit (the power switch, and anything else will be done later). Neatly roll and zip-tie all of the wires together and fasten them all together with one or two zip-tie(s) to something mounted nearby.

STEP 7 - Placing the switch/display unit

Now for your switch and/or display unit (if equipped separately). There is a small opening in the firewall right under the steering wheel. You will need to cut a hole in the rubber, but be careful not to damage the existing cables! You may need an extra pair of hands to help you feed the wire through.

It’s easier to feed the wire from the inside of the truck to the outside and have someone help you pull on it.

Make sure you have enough wire to play with for when you mount the switch and/or display unit. Decide where you want them. I mounted my display unit under the cigarette lighter on the floor. This is an ideal place because for me no one sits in the middle and it’s in a nice location where I can see it. Simply pull the plastic back and it should unsnap. Run the wire behind it and use some extra double-sided tape to mount it to the plastic.

When you are done mounting everything take all the extra slack out of the wiring and zip-tie the wires very well, so they do not get in the way of the gas and brake pedals while driving. Have your friend pull the extra slack from the engine compartment and connect the wires to the Transformer unit. Leave a little slack for movement and zip-tie the wire in the engine compartment too.

Final Step - Powering up

After all the mounting has been done, it’s time to hook it up to the battery. Follow the path of existing wires toward the battery and zip-tie it as well.

When you have reached the battery determine which side goes to Positive and which side goes to Negative. Refer to the instructions that came with your lights. Strip the ends off and add a terminal connector to the end to connect it to the battery. Loosen the Negative side first and connect the Negative side of the lights to the battery, and then the same for the Positive. Tighten them as you finish each one. Now turn on your lights and see how they look!

Lighting kit used was Flowlighting Blaze kit from www.oznium.com (A very great kit for a great price!)

Article by Warren (a.k.a. WD in the forums)