so i want to put rock lights and bed lights on my truck I'm going to put them on double pole switches so i have the option to have them on-off- or come on when i unlock or open the doors. Heres the thing though the easiest way i can think of is to use the same idea as the map light mod and run to a relay but is there another way anyone can think of? as this way will cause the lights to come on when i turn the dome light on inside.
Use a solid state relay and tap right off the map light mod, all controlled by the switch on the dome light. Don't use a coil relay, it needs to be a solid state type, They don't draw squat to turn them on. Grainger's, McMaster Carr, will have them.
yeah this was the only solution i could come up with I don't use the dome light too often so it shouldn't that big of a deal.
I was just curious if anyone had any other ideas
so after doing some investigating which involved a little bit of disassembly i found a solution that i think will work. I found running to the dome light is one constant hot and two grounds one is a direct ground and the other is set up so it activates when the doors are open or the truck is unlocked. so I'm going to set up one side of my switch to go through a relay to ground to activated the main relay i know its complicated and I'll put a wiring diagram up later to clear it all up.
*UPDATE*
So I finally got the lights installed I used an led underglow kit off ebay but i didn't use any relays like i had first planned. I put the 4 ft lights in the bed and the 3 ft lights under the doors I haven't taken any pictures as of yet and I'm gone again this week so bare with me I'll try to have some up this weekend. I used two double throw switches ran the lights ground wire to the common (center) terminal then one terminal went straight to ground and the other is wire taped into the blue ground wire that runs up to the dome light i tapped it behind the drivers side pillar as it was the easiest place to access it. I was a little worries about the amperage draw but after reading that the lights only draw 3 amps it settled my concern. What tapping into the blue ground to the dome light does is allows the bed and rock lights to come on when ever the dome light is on (when you open any door and when you unlock with keyless entry) and they dim on and off just like the dome very cool. Keep in mind that the switch has to be in the right position for this to work. The way i have it set up is down=auto up=on middle=off.
That looks pretty fricken sweet man! I wanna copy you, which leds did you buy. I searched on ebay and found some but not sure what they will look like on my truck. Yours are superb :thumbup:.
FYI, there is an easier place to tap the blue wire referenced above to pick up the ground for the dome light. It goes into the connector on the fuse block 2nd from the top left as shown in the picture below. I used it to run some cathode tubes for the foot wells and it works great. Comes on with the door/lock and fades in and out just like the dome.