So i have finally finished running all the wires for lights and installing those LEDs now. All that is left to do is make a cabinet for the front compartment to house all the electronics and switch panel stuff.
Drilled the hole through the wood and metal floor. And installed a cable gland to protect the wires and waterproof the area it passes through.
A little trick i learned when i did an apprenticeship for being a Low-Voltage electrician.
For both my truck and this trailer i like to pass the majority of my wires through the chassis. To accomplish this i used a fiberglass fish-take. This one is from harbor frieght. It costs about 7 bucks. Works great. Love the flexy tip. Makes passing wires through the chassis a breeze. I ran the entire 7 pole trailer harness in this fashion.
Ran the fishtake all the way to the rear end near the bumper
Here is how i wrap the wires on the fishtale. I pass 1 wire through the loop. Fold it back to the wires tape it all in place then pull on the other end. This job is so much easier then you have somebody helping you feed the wires on the other end.
Here you can see it was all pulled out. If you run into any issues passing wire you can always pull it back and use lubericant to pass. I didnt have to do that this time. Never pull harder or you might strip/knick the sheath off the wires! Just dont connect the wires till they obviously dry if you decide to use soapy water.
Wired up an ON/OFF switch for the inside of rear compartment. I had to cut the hole for the tailgate latch system a bit larger to pass the wires through the frame and get the switch in there. It was an extremely tight fit. Just had to maneuver it a bit to get it to fit.
This is the only exposed wire on the floor. For the most part it is all out of the way. I chose to run the wire on inside the steel 2x2" compartment tube so it wouldnt get snagged on anything with putting gear in and taking gear out. I would have drilled this cable gland further back but the compartment mount and chassis was in the way on the underside so this was the only spot i could drill through.
And it is all secured out of the way with a cable gland clamp.
Once the wires were ran i folded over the metal piece where the latch system closes into. And siliconed it shut.
The wires were ran into the front compartment through the cable gland. One set for for the tailgate lights, one for the rear compartment light, and the other for the rock lights that were already ran from a previous day. Plus a grounding cable that grounds onto the chassis.
Cable now has wire loom. These will be passed to the other side where my switchboard will be located. Im gonna eventually hold the wires out of the way with wire loom clamps like i did for the rear.
The finished product. Definitely super bright!
For the tail gate i could not drill the lights in place to secure the clamps for wires or lights. So i had to weld on washers with about a 3/8" hole. Along the edge of the tailgate door. Then i passed the wires through there to hug along the door, along the latch, then to the end of the tailgate. Here you can see how i passed the wire.
A nice clean install along the upper frame so it wont get stuck on any of the camping gear when i drive.
Just one of these lights is more then enough light for just the compartment alone. And the fact that i left the bare aluminum exposed helps with reflecting that light even more to make it seem brighter then it actually is.
