cheap and easy interior LED lights

[corax]

LED madness has taken over with numerous threads on the subject, but you can't argue with the light output and low current draw these offer.

I found these overpriced LED strips from Autozone and decided to upgrade the interior lighting in my 4runner since the “Deck Light” is all but useless. These cost $15, but 1/2 the price is probably due to the “TRY ME” switch and battery in the package. The same type LED strip lights can be found online for about $12/foot (try google shopping or ebay "weatherproof LED strip") and can be cut into 4” sections – then it’s just a matter of soldering 2 wires onto each separate section. Measured current draw on both is 20-30mA (leave them on constant for a few days and the vehicle should still start) and best of all it’s an easy connection as these run straight off 12V (no need for a LED regulator).

Mounted them in the rear corners & drilled a 1/8” hole for the wires to pass through. These have 3M tape already on them, so just clean the shell and stick ‘em on (if you’ve never used 3M tape before, make sure the lights are where you want them because they won’t move once the tape makes contact).

The upper rear section of the shell is hollow and connects to the “d” pillar, but I still had to use a stiff piece of wire to run my LED wires into the pillar. Here’s the wiring at the base of the “d” pillar – I used a spare 2 pin Toyota connector that I had lying around to connect the shell to the body.

All that’s left is to run two wires straight to the Deck Light itself – connect the LED wires to the wires going to the bulb and you’re done. I tried taking some night-time photos, but anyone who’s tried that before knows that night pics don’t work very well. Suffice it to say that now there’s plenty of light in the back, but not so bright as to be blinding (I could comfortably read a book by this light, even up by the front seats).

Here's 4crawler’s Deck Light Mod for some more info

[YotaFun]

Hey Keith, can you get use some night shots?
Looks awesome though!

[04 Rocko Taco]

Avy,
Some day I promise I'll get back to taching you to read, and not just look at the pictures.

Hey Keith, can you get use some night shots?
Looks awesome though!

I tried taking some night-time photos, but anyone who’s tried that before knows that night pics don’t work very well. Suffice it to say that now there’s plenty of light in the back, but not so bright as to be blinding (I could comfortably read a book by this light, even up by the front seats).

All kidding aside Keith, these look super simple, and not to bad at all. Any pics you could try and scrape out of the dark would be loved, I'm sure man!

[YotaFun]

I did, but My post could have been vetter versed to say, "Can you make an attempt again?"
I know it can be done due to this:


I did read :-P

[04 Rocko Taco]

Dear God Avy, you have some seriously bright light back there.

[YotaFun]

Dear God Avy, you have some seriously bright light back there.

Oh how did you ever become a staff member.
Know your third gens, that's 99-02 in that picture, with a lot lighter interior the moi.
And I borrowed that pic from another thread here :-P

alright, all bashing aside,
With the kind of brightness these put out Keith you think they would be good for foot wells too?

[04 Rocko Taco]

I was wondering that as well Keith, I have been thinking of some LED lighting for my footwells in both the trail rig and the DD, and am unsure as I dont want it to be to bright or distracting.

[corax]

I'll try to take some pics tonight - I ttied last night, but the auto-exposure thing on my point and shoot camera kept turning the pics black

With the kind of brightness these put out Keith you think they would be good for foot wells too?

I was wondering that as well Keith, I have been thinking of some LED lighting for my footwells in both the trail rig and the DD, and am unsure as I dont want it to be to bright or distracting.

These should work fine for that + they also come in blue and red, which should keep the distraction level low

[corax]

Yeah, I suck at taking night pics - I tried playing with the few exposure settings my camera has and all I got was blurry images. So no night time pics, but I can safely say they're not as bright as SLOMatt's Cree LEDs

[slomatt]

Yeah, I suck at taking night pics - I tried playing with the few exposure settings my camera has and all I got was blurry images. So no night time pics, but I can safely say they're not as bright as SLOMatt's Cree LEDs

For night shots like that you'll need a tripod, or at least something solid to put the camera on. Pressing the shutter button can shake the camera, one trick you can try is to set the timer so you are not touching the camera while the picture is taken. Good luck!

- Matt