[Taleek]

I know this has been done before but I wanted to give a fairly clear write-up of how I did mine. I just finished them and they turned out great!

The Goal:

Install 5050 RGB LED strips as footwell lights and have them controlled by the dome. Basically when you turn the light manually on it turns on also when it's in door mode the lights come on when the doors open.

I decided to go with this RGB dimmer

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008GY6WM2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Because, I don't really like to use remotes in the car, mostly because they always get lost. Also this way you can keep whatever setting you put when the car is shutoff.


First I studied the dome switch and figured out with a multi-meter and some patience that it switches the ground, basically it's fed live 12V and depending which mode is selected it switches to that ground. So I soldered a wire straight to that switch and ran it down the drivers side A piller.







Now I also wanted to be able to run basically a separate circuit to the lights, becuase I feel I am going to expand with more later and wanted them all on a different fuse. I ran this ground to a spare relay I had.



An inline fuse I ripped off a car from pick-ur-part the last time I was delving







I know theres a bunch of wires I was connecting my flashlight charger to the battery as well, which is the second inline fuse.

So the relay's wiring: Ground from switch went to 85, live from battery went to 86. Then the fused from battery went to 30 and power to RGB controller went to 87



This is a down and dirty schematic I made in gimp really quickly

I can get pictures later of where and how I mounted the RGB Dimmer switch and rand the strips themselves if you guys want, but that part is really up to you and where you want to place them

Finally, The finished product!

 

[O_loung1]

awesome DIY guide Taleek! i like how the pictures show the areas of detail and the wiring diagram is perfect.

i went with the cheap remote method, wired into a 12v cigarette lighter splitter. the 4 set led ambient light kit cost about $17 on ebay and bought the cigarette outlet splitter for about $15. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HHT9FL2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

i was using the cigarette lighter splitter already for the 4 usb chargers. there are tons of splitters + usb chargers but few had enough amps on the usb outlets to charge more than 1 device quickly.

the ambient lights are nice and also if you loose anything at night, you will never have a problem finding stuff again.

 

[Taleek]

Thanks! If there's anything I should elaborate or add to on this, please throw suggestions at me.

The cig splitter works good, the only potential problem is how much of a load is being put on that single circuit, as long as you're not filling it up everything should be good.

I think I may add a way to turn the lights on with a switch in case I want them on separately without the dome light.

 

[speedkar9]

Good job.

I've use the 5050 SMD strips from dome to footwell lights on many cars:

 

[O_loung1]

The cig splitter works good, the only potential problem is how much of a load is being put on that single circuit, as long as you're not filling it up everything should be good.

good point, that was my main concern as well. i only have a dashcam charger + the led charger + 1 android usb charging cable running on the cig splitter most of the time. i think on long road trips with another 3 devices continually charging i might end up blowing a fuse but most of the time not everyone remembers to bring their own charging cable, so for short 90 minute beach trips it's been holding well at 1-2 usb devices.

what do you two LED gurus Taleek/SpeedKar99 think about LED front turnsignal switchbacks? the ones that act as DRL with white lights but turn amber when flashing? i saw a gen9 accord with them activated as DRL and they were bright and crisp.

 

[speedkar9]

what do you two LED gurus Taleek/SpeedKar99 think about LED front turnsignal switchbacks? the ones that act as DRL with white lights but turn amber when flashing? i saw a gen9 accord with them activated as DRL and they were bright and crisp.

I'm assuming your referring to a full bulb replacement, and not the strip lighting correct? Because I tried a set of the strip lighting thats meant to go under the headlight and it barely lasted a few months before it stopped working, apparently they don't hold up well out doors.

Switch back bulbs are cool, but are expensive (something like $25 per side plus resistors, last I looked into them). For the Gen 4 Camry though, you really need the clear corners from the 00-01 model for them to be noticed. You'll also want to cut some bulb connectors off some cars in the junkyard to make wiring it easier.

 

[O_loung1]

yes, exactly only the bulbs for the front side marker and turn signal. good tip on the clear corners.

as far as I have seen, the most reputable 5157s are still around $30+ shipping for a pair, which is very expensive.

my lte inside this building is spotty so I'll check your video link later

 

[Kingdom934]

I gotta like this thread and favorite.


I did some lighting in my Gen4 and Gen5. I gotta redo my job in the Gen5 because I want to clean it up the wiring. I got lighting all as mention there, but I also ran two lines one for when the headlight are on (tap into center shifter console) and when the door is open/close (center top light).


I'll use that same spot that speedkar9 used. I was having an issue trying to find a place for the rear passenger floor. I currently got it ghetto rig to a cardboard underneath the seat. Never occurred to me I could use that rear seat rail support haha!

 

[adalex]

Were u able to convert the ground door trigger to a + with the relay?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk