What do you do with that funky...
What do you do with that funky unfinished looking curl at the end of your bedside rails? There are many things you could do, however one of the smarter things you could do would be to fill them with light-super bright LED lights at that. Mar-K makes its easy-to-install hole caps with LED lights for GM and Dodge Stepside and Ford Flareside pickup beds. With a minimum investment in both time and cash, you can perform a quick and easy upgrade that not only looks great but increases your safety by adding a bit of additional lighting to the back of your truck.
There's nothing in the world as disconcerting as the screech of locked brakes coming from behind as we sit motionless behind the wheel. It doesn't matter if it's at a stoplight or at the end of a line of unmoving traffic; it's still a sound that'll relocate one's heart from the chest to the throat in an instant.
Of course, we all have the option of adding what are commonly called third or high-mounted brake lights to our classic pickups but often many designs tend to look a bit cheesy and nearly all like tacked on afterthoughts (in all fairness though, if you look long and hard enough there are some designs out there that are nicer and more fitting than I've insinuated). For those of us with Stepside- and/or Flareside-style beds the folks at Mar-K Quality Parts offer some really neat little LED light assemblies that fit easily and unobtrusively into the ends of our bedside rails. Like Mar-K's unlit machined billet endcaps the lighted hole caps create a nice finished look to an otherwise neglected portion of many a pickup bed.
These LEDs are accessory lights...
These LEDs are accessory lights designed to be connected to your existing rear lighting system. The bulbs are 12-volt, 19-LED, 1157-style dual-intensity for the red and amber LEDs and 1156-style single intensity for the white LEDs. The lighted hole caps provide additional lighting at the rear of your truck. Keep in mind that they're not intended to replace your existing taillight/brake light system; they're just an added way to improve both looks and safety. And though it's only common sense I feel obligated to mention that the red LED are for brake and taillights, the amber for turn signals, and white for backup lights only.
Here we'll take a look at these cool little LED-equipped caps and also at just how easy their installation and wiring is too. I can think of nothing that will increase a classic trucker's safety and peace of mind while adding a great little detail for such a minor investment in time and greenbacks.
 The Mar-K LED lighted hole...  The Mar-K LED lighted hole caps have a separate ground wire for reliability. The dual-intensity bulbs have three wires and the single intensity bulbs have two. These wires will have to be extended with 18-gauge stranded and insulated wires to reach the truck wiring harness where they'll be connected to the brake and taillight wires. Plan on extending the ground wire to a grounding point on the frame, not the bed sheetmetal since direct-to-frame grounding is the most direct and best way to ground any electrical accessory. As is the case with any electrical wiring process, make sure you crimp the splice and ring connectors securely with a quality crimping tool. As a matter of fact, this would be an ideal situation to incorporate the the SpliSeal system showcased in the May 2010 issue of CT (see "Connection Protection" on page 24 of that issue). Locate the best area of the truck's rear wiring for tapping into the brake light and taillight harness and make your splice using enough wire to connect from the LED ho |  As stated earlier, the most...  As stated earlier, the most reliable way to achieve a good solid ground is to wire the ground directly to the truck frame. Use a quality ring terminal crimped connector at the end of the ground wire and attach it to the frame using a small machine screw and star lock washer. If you want to use the red LED as a single intensity light, meaning only brake or only taillight (not both), just splice the red and white wires together and connect them as one to the appropriate wire in the truck wiring harness. |  You can extend the wires to...  You can extend the wires to the front of the bed curl and then down to the wiring harness or you can bring them down through the rear stake pocket to the taillight wires. Some trucks have a gap between the stake pocket and the curl, which allows the wires to be threaded down into the rear stake pocket and to the wiring at the rear cross sill. Depending on how tight your stake pocket or the bedside top curl fits to the bedside skin, you may need to drill a small hole to feed the wires from the bedside curl into the front face of the rear stake pockets. If there is no gap between the end of the rear sill and the stake pocket, you will need to drill a medium-sized hole in the rear cross sill to allow the wiring to pass through. Use grommets and sleeving to protect the wires from chaffing against the sheetmetal edges. |
 Thread the three wires into...  Thread the three wires into the bedside curl and all the way to the splicing points on your truck wiring harness. Make permanent splices to the appropriate wires and seal them with heat-shrink tubing (or the SpliSeal system) to prevent corrosion. Once the wires are connected the next step is to install the cap inside the bedrail curl. All Mar-K hole caps have an O-ring that will aid in making a good tight fit. Due to the many model years of usage and the variations from one truck to the next, the parts may not fit perfectly, especially if your bedside has had minor damage-so you may have to file the aluminum cap housing slightly or reshape the curl opening if there is a tight spot. Be sure to test the lights for proper operation. When you are ready to permanently install them, apply some epoxy or other durable adhesive to the O-ring area before inserting them into the bedside curl. This will help prevent them from falling out or being easily stolen. |  Finally, there are some special...  Finally, there are some special instructions for installing on '67-87 GM Stepsides. On these years the O-ring must be cut to allow it to fit into the curl opening. The adhesive will keep the O-ring in the curl cap groove during installation and prevent the cap from falling out of the bedside curl. Now, your caps are in place, and you are ready to roll. Mar-K's bed cap lights will not only add a nice finishing touch to those bedrails, but also provide a bit more peace of mind by making your classic truck easier to see in low light or complete darkness. |  For those of you who may already...  For those of you who may already have additional rear lighting but still may want to fill those unsightly holes in the end of your bedrails, here's an example of Mar-K's machined caps. These are their new '34-39 Chevy pickup Bow Tie versions; pretty nice looking aren't they? |
*A note about using LED lamps for turn signals and hazard flashers: If your turn signals flash correctly without the LED lamps, they will still work when you add the LED lights to the circuit. If LEDs are the only bulbs used in the turn signal circuit, then LED lamps used as a turn signal may not flash at the correct rate with standard thermal flasher units found on most pickups. This is due to their extremely low current draw. These installations will require either an electronic flasher designed for LED bulbs or a "heavy-duty" flasher to be installed for proper flashing rate. These hole caps contain polarized LED bulbs meaning that they will only illuminate if wired correctly. Be sure to follow instructions that are specific to your make and model that are included with your hole caps.