Home Made LED Running Board Lights for around $60

TwoBallScrewBall · February 5, 2019

Edit - Got it done, used PVC 'Chair Rail' molding from Lowes, and some LED marker lights from Amazon. Details below in thread with more pics.

I'm looking for a 3" X 87" strip of something that I can use to fill the gap between my running boards and the lower part of my rocker panels. Running boards are flat rectangular boards, and I'm looking to add some running lights to the gap between the board and the rocker.

For the life of me I can't think of somewhere I can buy something like this. Would be looking for 2 strips, black would be preferred but worst case I could paint it if it's another color.

This is the truck, sorry for the bad pic, in this pic it looks like the gap is already closed off but I promise it's not.

Any ideas? Strip of rigid plastic like PVC would be best.

Edited February 14, 2019 by TwoBallScrewBall

HoosierZ · February 6, 2019

Go to your local home improvement store and pick up a piece of PVC trim board. It’s used for trimming around exterior doors and garage doors. I used a piece of dark brown and painted it with spray can bedliner. One side is smooth and the other side is fake wood grain.

Edited February 6, 2019 by HoosierZ

TwoBallScrewBall · February 7, 2019

That's the ticket! Found a nice 8' section of PVC 'chair rail', it's just over 3" tall, one face is flat and the other has about a 1" notched / recessed section that will work very well to let it sit nicely on the edge of the side step. Grabbed 2 of them, as well as some self drilling screws to mount onto the side of the step. Funny you mentioned the spray can bedliner also, as I was thinking about using that, I didn't want to risk having paint chip off down the road. I might also spray the treads on the steps as well, as they are extremely slick in the snow, sometimes in the rain also.

Thanks!

HoosierZ · February 8, 2019

You’re welcome. Happy to help

2WRDR · February 8, 2019

22 hours ago, TwoBallScrewBall said:

That's the ticket! Found a nice 8' section of PVC 'chair rail', it's just over 3" tall, one face is flat and the other has about a 1" notched / recessed section that will work very well to let it sit nicely on the edge of the side step. Grabbed 2 of them, as well as some self drilling screws to mount onto the side of the step. Funny you mentioned the spray can bedliner also, as I was thinking about using that, I didn't want to risk having paint chip off down the road. I might also spray the treads on the steps as well, as they are extremely slick in the snow, sometimes in the rain also.

Thanks!

Do you happen to have the part number on those. I'm not sure if this would work with my lighting I have installed but this sounds very interesting.

Farmerman1379 · February 8, 2019

On 2/5/2019 at 8:50 PM, HoosierZ said:

Go to your local home improvement store and pick up a piece of PVC trim board. It’s used for trimming around exterior doors and garage doors. I used a piece of dark brown and painted it with spray can bedliner. One side is smooth and the other side is fake wood grain.

How tall are those tires?

HoosierZ · February 8, 2019

5 hours ago, Farmerman1379 said:

How tall are those tires?

They’re 32.5”. 285/65/18

TwoBallScrewBall · February 12, 2019

Worked well. White PVC drilled for lights 6" apart, painted with Rustoleum spray on bedliner (had it in the garage already). Held to the aluminum running boards with self drilling screws. Wiring on each side is grounded on the aluminum running boards, and each side has a single +12 wire that I ran back to the trailer plug. Just plugged into the parking light pin of the 4-way trailer plug for now.

The bag of 50 LED lights was $30 on amazon, and I think the chair rails were about $12 each. Another $10 or so for screws and bedliner or paint. So cost about $65 to build the pair. The lights have rubber grommets which mount in a 3/4" hole. And I have 20 spares if any of them go out

Edited February 14, 2019 by TwoBallScrewBall

TwoBallScrewBall · February 14, 2019

On 2/8/2019 at 6:51 AM, 2WRDR said:

Do you happen to have the part number on those. I'm not sure if this would work with my lighting I have installed but this sounds very interesting.

Sorry, I do not. It was Lowes and it was sold as "Chair Rail Molding" in the molding aisle. There's a few other PVC styles there, at least at my local store, to check out. These worked great though.