https://youtu.be/HH1zXihP50I?feature=shared

 

Nice. I got a set of 17+ style mirrors on mine and they have puddle lights on bottoms of them. They light up the whole side of the truck and I hooked them to dome lamp circuit like that so they stay on for 30 seconds or so when you unlock the doors at night with key fob.

 

Hey, Tpayne……..can you see the YouTube video? Because all I can see on my iPhone is a text of the URL….

Its very confusing because on two other Diesel forums I’m on the copied URL shows up as the actual video ready to be played.

thanks for your help! Big Horn


Post Edit: I did notice if I copy the URL text and add it to my search window, then it brings up the video from my YouTube, but I don’t understand why it isn’t linked without having to do that? I don’t have to on the other forums

 

 

Thank you sir, it seems odd that I can’t see that after I have posted…… thanks again

 

That extra light on our trucks is great…..especially out here in the country with no street lamps👍

 

@Big Horn 2

What do you want to call this thread?

PS... "Edit" isn't a viable option.

Despite the power of AI at our fingertips... there remains a few unsolved mysteries that mankind still falters at understanding.

1. Did Aliens really land in Roswell?
2. Were the ancient Pyramids built by extraterrestrials?
3. What happened to Amelia Earhart?
4. How come YouTube videos don't appear when Big Horn 2 posts the EXACT same URL link, to the letter, as tpayne21?

Perhaps some of these questions will never be answered, no matter how many NVIDIA graphic cards are thrown at them.

But I am at least working on trying to figure out the answer to #4, using FTE's mobile software simulator.

 

Thanks! I originally just put Edit as the title as I was trying to work the bugs out, and was getting really frustrated, so I just left it - thinking the link was broke🙄 Kids now days maneuver around this stuff like it’s nothing. Some days it pays just to be a “dumb welder” (little inside joke)

I’ll circle back later and add some pictures to show what the build involved using the OEM running boards. 👍

 

Sorry about the confusion with the YouTube video. I had every intention of posting it last, but now I will give some insight into the modifications that I did using the existing OEM running boards and making the lights work.


One of the first things I noticed after buying the truck in 2018 was the running boards seemed to flex downward when putting my weight on them.
My foot had slipped off a time or two when they were wet. Probably my weight had something to do with it too🤣. Below I’ve dropped the running boards on both sides:





From previous work I had done I knew there was rust behind the brackets, but I had just painted around them:





I cleaned up the rust damage and treated with Ospho:




Then I painted the treated areas with Majic brand tractor paint (Ford Grey), that I had already painted the underneath of the cab and bed with previously:




Removing the brackets and checking them on a square shown they were bent down from years of use:




An easy fix with the hydraulic press:





Once steel has bent, it will almost always follow the same weak spot again, even after being straightened unless provisions are made. I took measurements and there was room to add some gussets in the corners using pipe:





The pipe edges were ground along the cut 45’s
for a good fit and I drilled a hole in the corner of the bracket (seen below the gusset), as a trap for water would otherwise be formed once the gussets were welded:





The pipe gusset was then welded:









Rust was removed from the steel running board trays, and they were painted with black rustoleum, along with the brackets:





Next Page:

 

I had an idea of how I wanted the running board lights to work, and it was time to get some ideas down on paper. It’s always better to have a plan to follow😉:





I bought LED bullet lights in both white and amber. On both, the lenses are smoked grey and almost look identical. But the whole idea is to make them blend in to the black running boards, almost disappearing:




Next was setting up a laser for a perfectly straight line and marking hole locations for drilling. White and amber bullet lights would be alternated:





Here’s a picture after drilling:





And how they blend in with the running boards:





I found this product on-line, and it does a great job rejuvenating the black plastic:









I was ready to attach the steel trays to the brackets. Almost all of the OEM bolts with the “T” heads were rusted up solid and the nuts all twisted off during disassembly. I found some “T” bolts but they were junk, and made from very soft steel.
i bought grade 5 hex bolts (1/4”-20) and 5/16”flat washers. By putting the flat washer in a Vice and bending one flat at 90 degrees it will lock the hex head of the bolt in place, and keep it from spinning during assembly:









Here they are back on the truck:










Next page:

 

I wanted my dome light circuit to control my
White courtesy lights in the running boards. On the 2002 under the drivers door threshold plate you will find a black wire with blue stripe that is the dome light 12V+ and a black wire that is ground. Both are tapped:



I did not want the dome light circuit to see any voltage feedback so a relay was added. The above wires were used to energize the relay coil at terminals 86+ and 85-
While it might be over precautious I added a blocking diode (reverse biased) to the coil so that a high voltage spike, when the coil collapses, could not affect the VSM and damage the vehicle security module, of which the dome light circuit is part of:


Link Here


And my relay with the blocking diode soldered in:




I was happy to find under the carpet, and in the floor board a rubber plug to run the wires through and into a weatherproof box underneath for the cab for the relay, fuse, and junction block to make a tidy job, and seal tite conduit for routing the wires:









Individual circuit wires were ran the length of the running board and then cross over in seal tite to the right side rubbing board and another box:







Wires were tensioned using a grommet and plastic zip tie which helped keep them in order while tapping the bullet lights into them using T taps:








Since I only wanted the white running board lights on at night when thr done light comes on. I installed a 12V photoelectric switch behind the headlight to the core support:



It is barely noticeable with the grill back in place. The photocell output goes to the #30 terminal on the relay. The white lights still remain off even when the photo switch supplies power, until the dome light comes on, the relay coil is energized - closing the switch - and 12V+ goes from terminal 30 to terminal 87 and to the white bullet lights:




As an afterthought I decided that I may want to turn the white courtesy running boards lights off manually, and added a switch to the kick panel:






Next page:

 

Since the dome light ground wire is only for the relay coil, I went to the cab frame behind the kick panel for “Ground” (to be supplied to the running board light circuits):




And you can’t very well have loose wires dangling under your truck (or you shouldn’t) so I got started with some sheet metal work, to make guards that would cover up the light circuits.





The j channel that I formed in the sheet metal guard latches over a lip on the bottom of the steel running board tray, then curves upward and between the brackets, with the existing bolts holding them very secure:









The bottom of the guards gave me a place to add white bullet lights for ground effect. We live in the country with very little lighting outside, and when parking off road to deer hunt it sure helps to see where you’re stepping when it’s pitch black out:









One thing I didn’t include was the tapping into the wires at the front of the truck from the turn signals for the running boards. (2002 model) The left turn wire is light green with a white stripe, and the right turn signal is a white wire with light blue stripe. This also made picking up that flasher signal and running light power super easy when I later installed my 08 mirrors, as I had already run wires.

If you zoom in to the junction block you can see the diodes and resistors I used for not only flashing turn signals, but the use of resistors to lower the brightness of the LED bullet lights to match the rest of the trucks external lighting.




Wow, so it was a busy day at work but I wanted to get this thread updated. Now when you go back and watch the YouTube video you’ll know all “the moving parts” that it took to make it work.

I wish my Dad was still alive…..when I was a kid he would bring home all sorts of radio shack kits that were made for kids to learn electronics and build projects. It was close to his heart as an electrician,……but Noooo , I had to be a welder🙂 But we were a good
team years later when working together👍


Sorry I didn’t have the Video part figured out, I’m an old dog still trying to learn new tricks😉



Glenn (Big Horn)



Mod Edit to add OP's Video in Post #1 using Mobile 3
(Test methods 1-6 cleaned out)

7. Recommended Procedure to Big Horn 2

A. Select video on YouTube that you wish to share
B. Copy Video Link, either via URL entry bar in browser, or through YouTube's Share tool
C. Within posting window on FTE, select Chain Link micro-icon from horizontal menu bar of advance post editing tools
D. Insert copied YouTube URL in pop-up window as directed. Add text in title field as desired to describe the video link.

That should work for you to insert video in your post. It is an extra step beyond what works in most situations, where the YouTube video link can be placed directly in the post creation window without needing to use the Chain Link tool, but apparently there are some settings within your phone or browser that is preventing that from working. The issue is not on FTE's end.

 

Great set of how to photos @Big Horn 2

You are welcome to clean up the video posting tips clutter out of your post once you have read and understood it.

I'll be happy to do it for you also, since I'm the one who left the laundry hanging on the line.

 

When I post them Im using mobile phone and website. I just click share button on youtube then click copy. Then just past it in the reply window. Just plain text. No link option or anything and it always seems to embed them fine. Might be phone doing it somehow. There smarter then I am. lol

 

@Tpayne621

Your Post #4 was identical in every way as Glenn's Post #1. Not a single scintilla of difference when viewing in source mode.

Yet your link automatically parsed, and Glenn's did not.

I've tested direct copies of both posts using various means, and each renders the same result for us, but not for Glenn.

It's a Bermuda Triangle thing. Perhaps if we add lights to our running boards, it might happen to us too.

However, since Method 7 suggested above forces parsing (the adding of {url} {/url} modifiers), this work around is suggested for when videos do not appear.