Sloop Imports LED Light Strips Quick Install For Camp and Work Lighting For 5th Gen 4Runner
I’ll make this one short and simple.
If you’re looking for a quick and useful set of work or camp lights, work lights, underhood lights or anything similar – and do not need any fluff, then look no further.
The Sloop Import LED Light Strips are an easy, affordable, and effective solution to work and camp illumination.
Multiple Sizes and Color Options Available
The LED light Strips are a very simple but effective black anodized aluminum strip with magnetic backing. They come in 4 sizes, 4”, 12”, 23.5” and 39.6” and you can select between a white and red dual function/color strip or a white and orange dual function/color strip. You can operate each color independently or together for a little extra lumen boost.
The lights operate very simply; they turn on and they turn off. What more do you need?
Find them online:
- LED Light Strips (White/Amber): Check Price
- “The Two Pack” (White/Red): Check Price
- “The Two Pack” (White/Amber): Check Price
Sizes:
- 4”
- 12”
- 23.5”
- 39.6”
Colors:
- White and red dual function
- White and orange dual function
They ship with a positive and negative lead and that’s about it.
Getting them powered up is going to be up to you but the cool part is that you have a ton of options.
We decided that we wanted to make a 12” work light/camp light that would be powered by the 4Runner’s battery and another that would operate off of a cigarette lighter plug that we can plug either into the vehicle or our Goal Zero Yeti 500X. Keep reading for an overview of how to install the Sloop Imports LED Light Strips on your 4Runner.
12” Work Light/camp Light with Battery Clamp
For the 12” strip, we wanted a flexible, multi-purpose light that we could shuffle around from vehicle to vehicle without being permanently tethered down. The use for the light is anytime, anywhere and for really any use. We can carry this LED light strip with us in the back of the 4Runner recovery kit or tool kit and grab it at a moment’s notice.
Whether we need to work in the engine bay or replace a tire at night or at dusk, this Universal LED light strip is going to come in extremely handy.
We decided to use an alligator style battery clamp that we could attach to any 12volt battery.
The Battery Clamp (Optional)
The Battery clamp we selected was the SCCKE 14.8ft 14 AWG Extension Cord Eyelet Terminal with Battery Clamp (the actual amazon product description is like 40 words that I truncated for you).
Find it online:
- Extension Cord Battery Clam: Check Price
- Extra Fuse: Check Price
The almost 15 ft of cord would be perfect for our light since it ships with only about 12” of wire. Splicing the power cord to the lead on the light would give us a total of about 16ft which would be perfect for our intended purposes.
Splicing Power Cord To Lead On Light
The battery clamp comes with eyelet ends that we cut off, stripped and connected to the LED strip wires using some Solder Seal Wire connectors we found on amazon. You can choose to use whatever butt splice connectors and electrical crimps you have laying around. You don’t need to go to this exact route. But for reference take a look at the tools material section below. These are some of the items that we use to wire up the Sloop Imports LED light strips.
Tools and Materials:
- Solder Seal Wire (Buttsplice Connectors)
- Shrink tubing (with adhesive), various sizes
- Screwdriver
- #10 fork terminals, marine-grade
- Electrical Pliers
- Crimping tool
- Heat gun
These solder seal connectors are a godsend since we don’t prefer to pull out the soldering iron. Two simple connections and you’re good to go! Super simple. Just as a safety precaution and to not leave any wires exposed, grabbing some heat shrink would provide to offer a much better (waterproof) wiring harness.
To use, all you have to do is connect the battery clamps to the positive and negative terminals on your battery and you’re set!
As an added feature to the design, you can attach ring terminals to the end of the wiring harness on both the positive and negative sides of the Sloop Imports LED light strip leads. This would allow you to run a more secure solution to the battery leads. With that being said, both ring terminals and alligator clips we’ll both get the job done at the end of the day.
4” Camp Light with 12V Cigarette Lighter
For the 4” strip we had, we use a generic cigarette accessory plug we found at Walmart for about 5 bucks. You can find these cigarette lighter adapters pretty much anywhere. From AutoZone to Walmart to Amazon, you usually find them for under $10.
Find it Online:
- Car Replacement 12V Cigarette Lighter Male: Check Price
- 14 Gauge wire spool red and black: Check Price
- Braided Wire Loom: Check Price
Since the cord on the LED strip was only about 12” long, we decided to add about 6ft of wire to give us a little more flexibility to move the light around. We used 4 of the soldering connectors (2 from the cigarette plug to the 6ft lengths of wire we added and 2 from the 4” LED Strip).
Once everything was connected, we used a little bit of braided loom that we had laying around to clean everything up.
This light works perfectly at the dinner table or inside a tent and gives off more than adequate lighting to navigate around the campsite. Plugged into the Goal Zero, the light pulls 4 watts, so run time, near as makes no difference, is virtually forever.
Overall Impressions
The Sloop Imports LED light strips are super affordable and easy to use.
I really preferred that they left the power source up to you, which gives you the ability to get creative. They work well and that’s really all you need out of a simple LED Light Strip.
