Footwell Accent Lighting/ Ambient Lighting

[cleger]

This is the beginning of a install I'm working on... Adding footwell lights that work with the dome lights and dash lights to help light the inside up a little at night
YouTube link of the video of it working
(Listen at the very end of the video for my wife saying "Can I get out".. It's so funny. )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTut3Va0fLs&sns=em

How it currently works:
1.)My 4Runner has lighted running boards. I noticed that the running boards don't go off with the dome lights always. If the vehicle is running the dome lights go off right when you shut the door, but the running board lights stay on for about 10-15 seconds after that or until you shift into gear... I wanted the footwell lights to do this just to kinda let you get situated better, but then they dim off like normal.

2.) I wanted amber accent lighting to come on with the dash lights in the footwells as well and also dim with the dimmer switch so I tapped into the dimming dash circuit.

Changes I plan to make:
1.) fix the led that blinks(it's got a broken wire where I bent it too much)
2.) add one more led to the drivers side to make the light "fuller"
3.) put some resistors on the amber lights to dim it down a few notches(all while still letting it be able to dim with dash light) because it is too bright right now.
4.) wire in a circuit with switches (using diodes) to let me turn on all the lights at full brightness when I need to see really good
5.) possibly wire it up to the maplights where when you turn either right or left side on and the same footwell lights up... Cool huh?

6.) MOST IMPORTANTLY- duplicate this for the backseat

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[zopperman]

Love the footwell lights. really useful down there.
Would love to see some pics of how they're mounted. I have some LED strips that I was going to put down there (can't decide if the blue I have would be stupid)
number 4 the circuit and swicthes would be great to have, I'd love to see a wiring diagram of how you plan to do it
and 6 - tapping into the maplights would be clutch... how would you do this? Relay and 12v from the maplights?

 

[cleger]

I will take some pics this afternoon of my LEDs and where they are mounted, really it's not very clean how I did it, but they are just single flat LEDs. They come with sticky on the back but I, yes this is gonna kill some people, used a Dab of hot glue to make them stick.

I wish I remembered to take pics of everything when I had my dash apart.

I tapped into the running boards right beside the seat where they go throigh the floor, I originally was going to tap into it right where it came out of the ecu but I really couldn't find a good solid source of which wires it was until I got done with the project. Lol.

I spliced into the dash lights right off the back of the dimmer switch. It was dark already and I wanted to finish so I just took my meter and tested each pin to see which ones got 12v and would vary as you turn the wheel. Top left pin and the 3rd pin down(2 down from the top pin)

And I am not completely sure that I'm not over loading all of my circuits. But it's just 4 LEDs on each of them and when I add the back it will be 4 more. 1mA LEDs.

I have all of my wiring right behind the panel by your feet. I have 2 speaker wires ran over to the passenger side for the dome circuit and the dash light circuit. Then my LEDs are spliced into the wires there under the glove box.
I plan on for the passenger side backseat just running my wires with all of the powe seat wires under the carpet and back under the dash and then splice in there. Driver side same thing.

As for making it work with maplights. Just solider wires to each side and run them across the headliner down the side to the dash put some diodes in so I won't have any backfeed to other lights and wa-la

 

[zopperman]

with the maplights, isn't the switch at the bulb? You'd have to wire it in after the switch to make that work.

 

[cleger]

with the maplights, isn't the switch at the bulb? You'd have to wire it in after the switch to make that work.

Yeah.