I added USB power and lighting to my XLT truck bed - DIY writeup & photos

[psuarmy]

I made two modifications to the bed of the truck with the included 12V power access points near the tailgate.

First I bought a second bed storage cubby for the driver side since the XLT is only a cover and wanted to add a 12V socket and USB charger inside the storage cubby. I bought this dual socket from Amazon. It has covers and the USB has a USB C plug and a power switch built in so it is not always on and I didn't want/need a dedicated socket for a switch. As you can see my Lowes bolts for the cubby are rusting so I will need to go to Ford and get proper replacement bolts.

Also factory spray in liner doesn't cover everything when you add the cubby. The edges of the cubby are smaller than the cover that came with the truck. I bought a can of spray bed liner just to touch up the 1/8th to 1/4 of inch around the new cubby edges.

The sockets themselves were a pain to install because of the location. I had to take the cubby out and install the faceplate. I then had to install the sockets with only one turn on the backing screws. There was barely any room to slide the sockets past. After I fished the cubby with the loose sockets into place I had a very small gap to stick a long screwdriver into to finish tightening the screws a little at a time. It took a long time but I wanted to sockets facing the way they are for easier access.

You can see the little on/off switch on the right of the USB plugs.

I bought a second pigtail from Ford so I could install lights with the power access on the other side.

I bought these lights from Amazon

I bought this switch from Amazon

The light strips were too long, but I cut them to length and filled the ends with silicone. I cut the plugs and the switch that came with it off. On the drivers side I added 5 feet or so of wire and ran it under the bed. I dropped the spare and zip tied it wherever I could. I then fished it up the passenger side and out the access near the tailgate. The passenger side was much easier since the wire dropped straight down. I had to take both back tail lights off to make this work.

I had a replacement cover for the power access point 3d printed. The print came from here on Thingiverse. It took a few tries and some filing to get it to fit right. I then drilled a hole for the switch and soldered it all together 3 times. The first two I had a short, didn't know it and blew fuses. My neighbor then showed me my mistake and we got it right.

I don't know how well the 3M tape will hold the light strips up over time. so far they are holding. I have replacement tape if I need it.

now I have a flush subtle switch that had a blue light when on and LED lights that are hidden up under my tonneau cover rails. You have to almost lay in the bed to see the lights or any wires.

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[jons]

Looks great! What truck cover do you have? Also how did you run the wires?

 

[psuarmy]

Looks great! What truck cover do you have? Also how did you run the wires?

I have the hard trifold from ford.
I ran the wire through a hole at the very end of the bed right behind the taillights which I took out to reach. . On the passenger side I dropped the wire right behind the light to the the power access where I put the switch.

mom the driver side I did the same but dropped the spare tire. I ran An extended wire along the bed above the spare. Zip tying it anywhere I could. The there it a flat plastic plate under the bed on the passage right side. I reached up and my son grabbed the wire from me.

 

[willie]

I have the hard trifold from ford.
I ran the wire through a hole at the very end of the bed right behind the taillights which I took out to reach. . On the passenger side I dropped the wire right behind the light to the the power access where I put the switch.

mom the driver side I did the same but dropped the spare tire. I ran An extended wire along the bed above the spare. Zip tying it anywhere I could. The there it a flat plastic plate under the bed on the passage right side. I reached up and my son grabbed the wire from me.

 

[Tailender]

I hope you covered the back of the plugs because they're in the perfect spot for the road crap that the wheels throw up under the bed.

 

[sitruunatee]

Sweet work! I did something similar but different this past weekend. I almost added an LED light strip too but I already had the Touchlink lights and the default installed one.

Love the push button location too!

Mine for reference:

https://imgur.io/a/QnExyZd

 

[JB9]

Nice work to both of you… thanks for sharing!

I guess I’m on the same wavelength as @psuarmy having gone with the under-rail NiLight strip lights and ordering a second cubby from Ford for the drivers side.

I have the factory drop in bed liner instead of a spray in, so I had to notch some channels into the two side panels where the spacer bosses stick out so the light strips would lay flat. I used a hand held router with the panels clamped to a bench, but I think a sharp file would have worked just as well.

I really like your back-lighted push button switch though! That looks great!

Since I’m more mechanic than electrician, I just used the stock NiLight switch. I wanted to utilize the existing access port like you did though, so I ended up fashioning a small holding bracket out of sheet metal and trimming the heck out of the factory supplied dummy plate as shown:

Not as eloquent as yours, but it works.

Here’s the final result:

I’m using a TruXedo LoPro roll up bed cover that my kids got me for Christmas. Just got it installed this week due to the long production delays, and I love the way it looks. We’ll have to see how it holds up.

By the way… the factory part number for those missing cubby bolts is shown below:

I think I paid $45 total for the cubby and the bolts.

 

[psuarmy]

Nice work to both of you… thanks for sharing!

I guess I’m on the same wavelength as @psuarmy having gone with the under-rail NiLight strip lights and ordering a second cubby from Ford for the drivers side.

I have the factory drop in bed liner instead of a spray in, so I had to notch some channels into the two side panels where the spacer bosses stick out so the light strips would lay flat. I used a hand held router with the panels clamped to a bench, but I think a sharp file would have worked just as well.

I really like your back-lighted push button switch though! That looks great!

Since I’m more mechanic than electrician, I just used the stock NiLight switch. I wanted to utilize the existing access port like you did though, so I ended up fashioning a small holding bracket out of sheet metal and trimming the heck out of the factory supplied dummy plate as shown:

Not as eloquent as yours, but it works.

Here’s the final result:

I’m using a TruXedo LoPro roll up bed cover that my kids got me for Christmas. Just got it installed this week due to the long production delays, and I love the way it looks. We’ll have to see how it holds up.

By the way… the factory part number for those missing cubby bolts is shown below:

I think I paid $45 total for the cubby and the bolts.

Thanks for the bolt part number.

 

[JB9]

Curious about others
knowledge/experience with power to the DIY auxiliary 12v Flexbed wiring…

On my XLT 2.0EB with key start (no push button), I have to toggle the key to ACC or ON to initiate auxiliary power to the back. It doesn’t seem to be integrated with the rooftop bed light switch in any way.

Power seems to remain active for quite a while (I read up to 90 minutes in another post?), but definitely turns itself off at some point to protect the battery.

I don’t have remote start on my key fob and haven’t tried starting the engine remotely through FordPass to see if that turns on auxiliary power also. I assume it would?

Does anyone know what fuse protects the auxiliary power? I see an auxiliary power distribution box (#83) listed in the ECM fuse directory, but the note says this is for the hybrid engines.

Sorry to see not much information on this in the Maverick owners manual. Am I looking in the wrong place?

 

[psuarmy]

Curious about others
knowledge/experience with power to the DIY auxiliary 12v Flexbed wiring…

On my XLT 2.0EB with key start (no push button), I have to toggle the key to ACC or ON to initiate auxiliary power to the back. It doesn’t seem to be integrated with the rooftop bed light switch in any way.

Power seems to remain active for quite a while (I read up to 90 minutes in another post?), but definitely turns itself off at some point to protect the battery.

I don’t have remote start on my key fob and haven’t tried starting the engine remotely through FordPass to see if that turns on auxiliary power also. I assume it would?

Does anyone know what fuse protects the auxiliary power? I see an auxiliary power distribution box (#83) listed in the ECM fuse directory, but the note says this is for the hybrid engines.

Sorry to see not much information on this in the Maverick owners manual. Am I looking in the wrong place?

You are looking for fuse #84 (Pick up box power point). I know that it is the fuse for the 12V plugs in the bed. Seeing as I blew it twice with a bad splice.

I believe how long the power in the bed stays on is dependent on a few things. I have had it stay on for a while after removing the key but after a while I had to have the truck running for it to be on. Next day after driving it stayed on after I shut the truck off.

I would assume you would always have power with the truck running even if it was remote started.

 

[JB9]

Thanks for the fuse info… I’ll make a note in my manual.

My truck has been off all day so out of curiosity, I just went and verified the auxiliary power to the bed was off.

I then tried using remote start through FordPass and discovered that the 12v power was NOT available with the truck idling in remote start mode. (Perhaps if it had been enabled before the remote start, but definitely not because of it.)

I then shut the engine off (through FordPass) and toggled the key switch momentarily between ACC/OFF. That activated the 12v power and it will presumably continue with some delay.

 

[Sembazuru]

I'd heard about the timed power off of the bed accessory circuit, so in my mind planning bed lighting for the Mav that I have yet to be able to order (come on, open the Mav '23 order banks, Ford!) I've been thinking of wiring an illuminated switch so the illumination is on when the switch is off. That way when the lights are off and it is dark (likely time when I would want to turn the lights on) I can either know the circuit is off so I need to bump the key to at least the ACC position, or if the circuit is on I can find the switch in the dark.

 

[psuarmy]

I'd heard about the timed power off of the bed accessory circuit, so in my mind planning bed lighting for the Mav that I have yet to be able to order (come on, open the Mav '23 order banks, Ford!) I've been thinking of wiring an illuminated switch so the illumination is on when the switch is off. That way when the lights are off and it is dark (likely time when I would want to turn the lights on) I can either know the circuit is off so I need to bump the key to at least the ACC position, or if the circuit is on I can find the switch in the dark.

The switch that I used can be wire that way. I opted to have the blue light come on when I push it in, but I could reverse one wire and have the blue ring on with the switch in the off position. Or always on.

I didn’t want the drain on the battery every time I turned it off. I didn’t know how much that light draws being on. I assume not a lot but long term I didn’t know if it would hurt anything. I figured better safe then sorry.

 

[austinzone]

So for those of you who are finally realizing that the bed 12v harness sucks for bed lighting (because its off when you walk up to the truck) consider this:

1. buy a lighting kit that has an auto shutoff (mine is 15 mins)
2. run a new wire (constant 12v) from behind the back seat, through the fender well, back to your LED lights
3. profit

There is a wire going into the trailer brake box that is red/blue and robust. it is constant 12v. there is a great pass through grommet you can reach with the drivers side wheel liner pulled down.

if i ever get back in ill post pics.

 

[haleedog]

very cool, do you have links to the parts. What is the part number for the bed storage cubby?

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