Topic: LED Interior lights

[Jeffy]

Decided to install some LED lights that I've had since before winter.  I think I actually bought them in the summer.  If you drive a YJ, you know how bad the interior light(s) can be.  If you're lucky you have one on each side.  If you're unlucky like me, you have one.  The extra light was an option.  I had the idea of using a 'neon' tube many years ago but never got around to it.  Anything's better then the stock setup.  I once had a generic interior light that you can bolt to your headliner.  I had mine zip-tied to the rollbar.  It was really bright but it was cheap and would break often.  I ended up removing it completely many years ago.  Now, I've got a hard top with an interior light but it's the worst design.  The tiny bulb is supposed to shine through a beige piece of opaque plastic.  It sort of glows orange.  I don't know why they even bothered to put a light there at all really.



So while buying some stuff on Amazon, I ended up ordering some strip lights.  Now I've seen these for a while and they're used all over the place.  Interior light for under the counter, exterior lights, lights for fishtanks, backlighting for TV's etc...  They're also very cheap.  I think I paid $4 for 5 meters.  That's a lot of lights.  The nice thing is you can cut them to length and with the extra you can solder new wires to them and they will work so there is no waste.  You can also string two groups together to bridge gaps so you can daisy chain them together.  I ended up just using one long strip and not worrying about hiding the lights.

What I mean is if you look at the lights you'll need the individual lights.  If you have them recessed it will look more like one long light source.  Before I had the A/C I was going to jsut stick it to the underside of teh instrument panel.  That's the metal part of the dash that all the plastic parts bolt to.  With the A/C duct, it's a little more complicated.  Though, I ended up just sticking the lights to the underside adn following the contour of the duct.  There are two places where the LED's are exposed but I don't think it's going to be a big deal.  I ended up wiring the lights to the passenger side interior light socket since it was easy to get to and unused.

I'm hoping the lights stick ok to the ducting.  There's a texture on the duct but the lights seem to be sticking okay right now.  The strip is stiff so it should help support itself.  The other nice thing about the LED's is that they're waterproof.  So I won't have to worry about any water getting on them.

Haven't really thought about what I'll use the rest of the LED's for.  I had the idea of attaching them to my main hoop aimed up so they will reflect off the white top.  Another idea would be to hide them in the side rails of the tub but there's already a lot of crap stuffed up in there.  The tail light wiring and my 2M antenna run down one side and my CB and AM/FM antenna run down the other.  I'm thinking about getting a replacement LED bulb for the rear dome light and then maybe get a clear lens that they sell on ebay.

Anyways it's a cheap mod that makes a pretty big difference if you drive at night and need to see what's rolling around on the floor.

[jfrabat]

I am actually working on a similar project in my Jeep; I am adding the second courtesy light switch (already have it at home, but have not yet installed it), and I ordered an LED dome light and 2 LED strip lights.  I plan to use the dome light on the rear part of the Tuffy overhead console (to light the rear of the Jeep) and the LED strips much like you did (although I did not think of taking them all the way across, but that is not a bad option).

[Jeffy]

If you can at all, don't mount the lights so they're visable.  The only problems that I have are where the wires are.  I'm not sure what to really do there.  I should have sleeved it with heat shrink tubing but it's not that bad.  I used some electrical tape to hold it to the A/C duct but it's coming off.  I should use black gaffers or cloth tape instead.  I'm trying to decide of I want to clip off the extra light on the drivers side.  It's pulling back because it's on the curve.  There is a chip between it and the next light but I don't think it's important.

It's really bright so if you don't want it to go all the way across then you can probably get by by just mounting it to the center duct area and still have plenty of light to see.

[jfrabat]

If you can at all, don't mount the lights so they're visable.  The only problems that I have are where the wires are.  I'm not sure what to really do there.  I should have sleeved it with heat shrink tubing but it's not that bad.  I used some electrical tape to hold it to the A/C duct but it's coming off.  I should use black gaffers or cloth tape instead.  I'm trying to decide of I want to clip off the extra light on the drivers side.  It's pulling back because it's on the curve.  There is a chip between it and the next light but I don't think it's important.

It's really bright so if you don't want it to go all the way across then you can probably get by by just mounting it to the center duct area and still have plenty of light to see.

Honsetly speaking, the lights I bought are actually intended for DRL, so I am guessing (hoping?) they are really bright...  But I do intend to place them in a way were you cannot see the light directly, but have them illuminate the foot wells (plus one overhead right by the roll bar for the rear seats).