LED lights under truck

Roger. Thanks a lot for the info. The main reason I chose the dome light ground wire was just as you stated. The less switches to mess with the better for me. And, as you stated, when the door shuts, they go off, and even if you mistakenly leave it open, they eventually go off.
I do plan to use the add-a-circuit. The idea someone else had of putting in a bigger fuse not only doesn't protect the wires and circuit it feeds, it may also void the warranty if there was a problem. Putting in larger rated fuse than intended is never a good idea, and could be dangerous and costly!!
Again, thanks. I appreciate your input.

 

Thank you .....A 2nd set to "look at" ..

Please post up with pix once you are finished....This idea was "Slow" to take off BUT with more write-ups and pix folks might just ad it to their "mod list"..

 

I'll sure post some pix once I'm finished. Just waiting on some t-taps I ordered. Hopefully they'll be in by the weekend, so I hope to complete the install by then. Hope to post next week. Thanks...

 

Hey all. Finished up the LED lights under my truck a couple of days ahead of schedule. Everything worked out great, and they look great, too. Thanks for all the input. I posted a couple of pics on my page in case some of you want to check them out. Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Hey Steve,

I viewed your pics... good job, looks great!

I've included some pics of my installation(s). It's a little different than yours, but the intent of the under-door LEDs was purely functional so that I could avoid stepping out into a mud puddle or a pile of dog sh*#. They also serve as a safety item to warn other approaching drivers that the door is open.

I've also included pics of the underhood and interior LEDs. (My camera doesn't take very good night shots.)

Originally, the cargo lights were controlled by a separate switch instead of the dome light circuit, and likewise, the underhood and the footwell/under-door courtesy LEDs were controlled with separate switches.

However, the mercury switch for the underhood LED is set up with a 30 degree threshold to turn them on, and it later occurred to me that should I park on a steep hill or driveway they may come on and run the battery dead.

To play safe, I rewired the underhood as well as the footwell/underdoor courtesy LEDs on the dome light circuit. The switches for both still remain so that I can turn them off if I wish to. Now, I don't have to worry about leaving anything on, since the dome light circuit shuts everything off automatically. (Note: I prefer not to sacrifice my OEM switch locations for accessories that aren't activated while one is driving. So that's why I utilized nonstandard switches and locations for them.)

 

Hey Roger. Those look great, too. I especially like the ones for the foot well and under hood. That could come in handy if you had a problem at night and you were in a poorly lighted area. But who am I kidding? It's a Toyota....
I took mine out tonight on the town, and my wife loves the new lights. Not to mention, the heads turning when I stopped somewhere and got out, or in. The only negative I see is when I use the remote start, the lights go off.....so, you can't have it all, I guess.
I'm happy with the outcome, though, and my wife loves it, too, so it was worth it.
Thanks for the help. My wife is thinking of things to do to her Tacoma now.

 

Just did mine this week. 7000 lumens

 

Looks good and really bright... Wow! What are you using for a light source to get 7000 lumens?

 

Nicely done on all of them...different themes but great ideas...

 

sub for later

 

Lots of great information in this thread so im going to add to it rather that start a new one.

I wanted bed lights that were triggered and controlled by the dome light / doors. anything less i deemed a PITA or i would forget them and drain the battery.

i didnt over think matters, regardless of the debate about putting a 3 amp led ribbon on the dome circuit thats controlled and fed via the ECU, doesnt bug me.

special thanks to roger in this thread for his assistance planning and checking my connections.

bullet points:

remove a-piller, drivers side kick panel, and the door sill trim back.

i tapped the blue wire in the large connector in the a-piller, thats the variable ground from the ECU. for + i used the always on door locks fuse in the top right corner of the cabin fuse box with an add a circuit.

ran the wire down, along the door wire channel under the door sill trim. there are several ways to get to the back and out of the cab. i did mine a little differently than those who went through the floor grommet. under these sills are holes open and exposed. if you look under the truck there are plugs in the threaded bolt holes where running boards bolt to the truck. (i dont have them and dont plan on having them). i simply passed the wire through this hole out the bottom to the chassis, its a factory hole thats open just sitting there. i sealed both sides of the hole with Butyl (available in autoparts store). super handy for stuff like this. ran the wire back along the chassis in a 3/8th wire conduit, up into the tail light, into the rear fender / bed cavity, drilled a hole through the bed box and installed a grommet for the wire pass through.

my LED ribbon isnt here yet so ive got everything capped and tied off.

i used 18 AWG wire that i bought at West Marine, its marine grade wire (weather/oil resistant), thats two conductor stranded, and its encased in a heavy protective jacket. about .50 a foot called "safety wire" (yellow and black). i needed about 25 feet. and 10 feet of plastic conduit tubing. This type of wire inside the plastic wire loom will hopefully outlive the truck.

thats it for now, i'll update here once the LED ribbon arrives in the mail. glad to have the annoying part of this project out of the way the rest will be easy and quick.
special thanks to Kulahaga!

 

The end result looks great! Thanks for the instructions everyone

 

Part II of my install from post #34

the LED ribbon came yesterday.
agaisnt my better judgement i decided to give tape a try this time. in my last truck i secured the ribbon with stainless fasteners. i will go that route of the tape doesnt hold up... i used 1cm x 7' strips of double sided 3m tape. and affixed the ribbon to that. made the electrical connections. and everything works i couldnt be happier.

i'll compile these two posts into a single one in another thread thats more on topic since this ones more about under body lights.

the fact these operate with the dome light makes life so much easier. this is the only way i'd do this mod.

 

More importantly...what lift is that under your truck? Looks sweet!

 

this is what I accomplished as far as this idea goes, thanks to caribe makaira for the advice.

Bought it on Ebay, just type in "laser puddle light" and chose your style.


So basically I removed the door panel and drill a hole with the provided drill bit.


Then I ran the wires from door to inside cabin through the gromet, I removed the speaker for access.


I spliced the negative wire of the added light to the negative wire of the dome light. I decided to splice it at the door switch. Then I spliced the positive wire to constant 12V (battery)


So when you open the door, the light will come on.


I don't want to go into detail of how/where to run wires since everybody has their own preference so this is just a quick write up. The one thing I recommend to do before installing is to somehow glue the projection glass inside the housing otherwise, it will twist and turn from vibration due to driving and sounds coming from speaker. The projection glass is just freely sitting inside the housing. You can open by unscrewing the end cap where the wire are coming out.

 

That is awesome! ^^^

 

thanks, it was the pain in the a** trying to run wires from inside the cabin to the door....

 

That little rubber tube thingie is a PITA, I ended up dislodging the boot of it from the door side of it to kinda straighten it out some and using a thick solid core wire attached to the smaller wires to fish it through there.

 

i had to do the same thing, on the passenger side it was a little easier because there are less wires and more space but on the driver side is the pain