Note: Lights have been updated since this post.
Don't judge the wiring diagrams; I'm no electrician. A few key things were important to me when preparing my lighting plan:
Camp Lighting: Being able to operate lights from the rooftop tent that would illuminate the surrounding area when stepping out for a bit in the middle of the night. That means some good side lighting, a solid solution for power, and the ability to operate on battery without draining it. I wanted this not only for a late-night bathroom run, but also because we've packed up to escape a forest fire in the middle of the night, and some better light would've been nice.
Off-Road Lighting: If you've explored a bit too much and found yourself in the dark before, then you understand the need. A light bar and ditch lights look cool I suppose, but they also serve a necessary function, and that is providing obstacle visibility.
Yellow/Amber Fogs: Driving in snow (a regular occurrence in Colorado), I've found that yellow light makes a huge difference in terms of visibility. I considered wiring this into the existing fog light connection, but my preference would be to have everything in one place.
All Electronics Switch Panel: Rather than have disparate switches all over the place, I wanted a single switch panel that operated everything electronic.
Clean Look: My focus was to wrap and hide wires in a way that didn't reveal there were any wires at all. I also wanted clean lines with the light installs, meaning a light bar that sits even with the Rhino Rack, side lighting that is tucked perfectly under the Rhino Rack, etc.
Ability to Disconnect: In all cases, I need to be able to remove the hardtop, roof rack, bed rack, etc. and be able to easily disconnect any electronics attached to it.
Trigger 6 Module
The Trigger 6 is a Bluetooth-enabled device with 6 circuits. It mounts in the engine bay and included a 6-switch panel that mounts in the cab above the rear-view mirror. The coolest part is that this switch panel is magnetic and can be detached, switching from a wired power source to battery, and allowing you to operate the switches from anywhere in the Bluetooth range.
That means I could take my switch panel and bring it up into the tent, switching things on and off whenever I'd like. You can also connect your phone for this, but I haven't tried that yet. There's just one caveat here; you have to choose between the Trigger being powered via the truck's battery or ignition.
Special Wiring: The unit has a yellow and red wire that connect to the battery. Red powers your circuits, yellow supplies power to the Trigger unit. If you connect both to the battery, you can operate the switches regardless of whether the vehicle is on, but you run the risk of depleting your battery. I wanted both, so I connected the red cable to the battery, then ran the yellow wire through a toggle switch, which I mounted on the EVO Stubby Bumper for ease for access (but you could mount one anywhere).
Now, I leave the switch off all the time, which runs the unit via ignition. Then when camping, I flip the switch on and for that evening I'm able to power the lights via the truck's battery and I don't have to open the hood or make any weird wiring changes.
Important Note: I didn't understand that each of the Triggers circuits were specific to certain amperages. In fact, they are. Meaning, you can't power a handful of lights on the 5 amp circuit. I found this out the hard way when I connected my compressor to #6 (5 amp). It blew it instantly and there's no way to fix it. Now that circuit stays on constantly (draws minimal power) and there's no turning it off or using it. Yes, they note in the instructions that a compressor can only be powered via a relay, but I missed that part.
Choosing Lights
In the past, I've used cheap lighting and it has worked out just fine. I'd like to invest in something more substantial and long-lasting, but these inexpensive lights are easy and cheap to replace. For most lighting, I used a brand called Nilight, available on Amazon. Here are the products I used:
Getting The Clean Look
Easy: wiring harness cloth tape and adhesive cable clips. All in all, I went through more than a whole roll of the tape and more than a full bag of cable clips (60 pieces/bag). I also used a ton of heat shrink and in some cases used self-soldering heat shrink, which was bulky but really effective. Lastly, a lot of tap connectors as I was connecting numerous lights to the same circuit. This way, I could connect just one light to the battery, but T off of that line to power the other lights.
Some connector plugs from Amazon also helped me set up everything in a way that they could easily be removed. Rubber gaskets gave me a water-tight seal for wires running into the hardtop. Lastly, wire loom tubing protected the wires running from the bed to the engine bay, though a fair amount of the wiring was run inside the cab, under the edge trim (note: running through the firewall sucks).
In the case of the lights tucked under the Rhino Rack, I did drill new holes in the mounting brackets to bring them closer to the rack.
Here are some of the products I went with:
Wiring The Light Bar, Ditch Lights, Rear Lights, Fog Lights, and Compressor
Again, I'm not an electrician and I don't know much about producing accurate wiring diagrams. But, this how things were wired, in theory. Only things to note here are 1) that I chose to drill a hole into the cab at the back of the hardtop, which wouldn't conflict with my Hothead Headliners. The wires and gasket are visible from the exterior, but it's a much better location on the interior. Lastly, 2) All wiring from the bed was run through some of the pre-drilled holes in the front passenger corner of the bed. I was able to run wiring for 6 lights and 1 compressor (a total of 6 wires going through the hole).
Wiring The Side Lights
Four lights were tucked under the Rhino Rack, with brackets minorly adjusted to keep a tight fit. Those four units put out minimal light, which is fine. The four lights on the bed rack put out significantly more light.
Naturally, this wiring took a while. But, with just a fundamental understanding of how this stuff works and some patience in planning, you can do this yourself.