L.e.d. Door pockets

[boochieboy]

I just wanted to post a few pics of the l.e.d. lighting I installed in my door pockets yesterday, in case anyone else was thinking of doing it. I wired them directly to the battery with an inline fuse, then to a l.e.d. rocker switch I installed below the fog light and mirror buttons.

I used 12" flexible strips w/adhesive backing and stuck them to the backs of the upper edge of the door pockets. The thin profile of them is great in this area, so you don't snag your hand on them when reaching into the pocket. These are similar to what I used:


You don't have to drill holes in your doors to run the wires behind them. There is a small gap near the upper front area of the pockets that you can just dremel ever so slightly and slide them right through. If you look on the back of your door panel, and shine a flashlight through from the front side, you'll see the gap. Here is where they come out the back of the door:

I crimped and soldered quick disconnects to the led wires as well.

This is where my power wires with the quick disconnects come out above the speaker opening.

The hardest part is running the wires through the rubber grommit in the door jamb. Luckily I have thin wrists and could finneagle around inside the doors. Oh, and drilling the hole in the firewall for the power wire was a real pain in the ass,,,,,,a right angle drill would've been a godsend.

I threw on my Dynamat while I was in there too.


Here is the led rocker switch for the lights

I was going to put it between the fog button and mirror button, but I thought it might get a little flimsy cutting another hole in between them......plus the wires would've been crowded in there. Putting it in this area also makes it real easy to access the back of the switch through the fuse panel, and there's 3 or 4 gold bolts around the fusebox you can pick from to ground the led's and switch.


And here is the final product.






Here's some better pics without the camera's flash or dome light. You can see how bright they are.




I chose blue because that's the color of my gauges, calipers, and under the hood components.
As I said before, they are super bright, and you don't get any hot spots of light. I picked up the two 12" l.e.d. strips for $20, a 10 amp fused power wire for $5 and switch for $3 = total cost: $28. Connectors, heatshrink, solder etc. I already had on hand.
P.S. If you do something like this or with other lighting, make sure you wire everything up and then put your fuse in last, otherwise it's gonna blow like mine did the first time.

[raks_22]

nice, it looks like photoshopped x)

[zobgel]

good job!

[G-spot]

hmmm, good idea

[HungarianHunter]

This would be cool to wire to the door buttons, so that when someone opens the door it lights up, and goes off when the door is closed.

^ Would this be as simple as tapping into the negative wire that the door button controls, and finding any other point that is positive? (or negative, if the door button is positive)

[mrg7243]

thats sick props for originality

[boochieboy]

This would be cool to wire to the door buttons, so that when someone opens the door it lights up, and goes off when the door is closed.

^ Would this be as simple as tapping into the negative wire that the door button controls, and finding any other point that is positive? (or negative, if the door button is positive)

I thought about doing it that way at first, but I changed my mind and went with a switch so I could have complete control of when they were on or off. I know you've been asking how to do it that way for a while now, but I really don't know what way would be best.

[OMEGA PHX]

I would say tap it to the dome light wires so they turn on when you open the doors.

[djhah]

i have thought of doing this to my g i just havent got to it. as for wiring them to the door i would think you could find the wires from the dome and tap in there?. were did you pick the lights up at?

[boochieboy]

i have thought of doing this to my g i just havent got to it. as for wiring them to the door i would think you could find the wires from the dome and tap in there?. were did you pick the lights up at?

I was in AutoZone getting oil and I saw them there on the rack. They had a button on the package so you can see them lit. Could probably find them cheaper online though. I know I'm not the first one to think of doing this and I'm not trying to take credit on the idea, but am I the first one to actually light the pockets?

[HungarianHunter]

Yeah I think you're the first to actually do it, I had this idea a while ago but never got around to it :P looks awesome though, I ordered me two strips after seeing this XD

Ebay has them cheeeap, just type in LED strips. Got 2 strips for 3.99 shipped.

Could someone tell me if this would work? :

Run 2 wires, from the negative/"trigger" wire found on the dome light, just tap into those two wires, and run 2 wires off of the originals down through the center console, so basically the dome light is still connected, I just split it so I have 2 more of the same wire in the center console, that way I can just connect whatever I want to it, would it still function just like the dome light?

[boochieboy]

Yeah I think you're the first to actually do it, I had this idea a while ago but never got around to it :P looks awesome though, I ordered me two strips after seeing this XD

Ebay has them cheeeap, just type in LED strips. Got 2 strips for 3.99 shipped.

Could someone tell me if this would work? :

Run 2 wires, from the negative/"trigger" wire found on the dome light, just tap into those two wires, and run 2 wires off of the originals down through the center console, so basically the dome light is still connected, I just split it so I have 2 more of the same wire in the center console, that way I can just connect whatever I want to it, would it still function just like the dome light?

WOW, that's a great price! Hey, just so you know,,,if you reach in your door pocket and feel around near the upper lip, there is actually a raised plastic line about 1/2 inch down that runs the whole length of the pocket. You can follow that line with the lights to get them in there perfectly straight...that's what I did. What color you get?

[HungarianHunter]

Oh nice, thanks for the info!

I got blue as well, because my gauges, dome light, AC controls, radio illumination, and in interior LED kit are blue :P

[Mr. Bishi]

Looks nice, but the cupholder ashtray looks even better. Looks like it catches all the ash.

[E_Emerson88]

looks pretty cool

[boochieboy]

Oh nice, thanks for the info!

I got blue as well, because my gauges, dome light, AC controls, radio illumination, and in interior LED kit are blue :P

Nice. Good luck on the install

Looks nice, but the cupholder ashtray looks even better. Looks like it catches all the ash.

For sure does buddy. Catches and holds it in there so u don't smell it at all. You're just supposed to drop the cig in when you're done, but I always put them out on top first then drop em in,,,,that's why there's ashes on top. $3 @ Walmart

[mrjaydeeone]

nice mod

[boochieboy]

nice, it looks like photoshopped x)

good job!

hmmm, good idea

thats sick props for originality

looks pretty cool

nice mod

Thanks guys. If only I made up my mind on fabric, I could've re-upholstered the panels while I had them off. Oh well, another day.

[Jeffylou87]

Not bad..

[Galantman03]

This would be cool to wire to the door buttons, so that when someone opens the door it lights up, and goes off when the door is closed.

^ Would this be as simple as tapping into the negative wire that the door button controls, and finding any other point that is positive? (or negative, if the door button is positive)

i tried doing that with the exterior door handles, but it kinda didn't look right, usually, well me i want it on till i turn off the car lol. led door pockets, hmm for some reason i was thinking of this