Hilux 4x4 Forum

Added some exterior lighting to Dreadnought.

Used 1m of Green LED's under the Eze Awn. Why Green?? Ever seen how many bugs and mosquitos are drawn with blue or white?

And also connected the work light on the one spare swing arm.

Everything is on ISO plugs.

Lyk lekker

Ahhhhh, its alive!!!

Ek het nogals gewonder wat van jou geword het.

Anyway, die ligte lyk nice. Waar kry jy die groen ligte?

Thabogrobler wrote:Ahhhhh, its alive!!!

Ek het nogals gewonder wat van jou geword het.

Anyway, die ligte lyk nice. Waar kry jy die groen ligte?

Thabo, where have you been

eBay.

En daar was lig........!!!!!!!!!!

Communica het ook alle kleure, lekker goedkoop ook!

Lyk GOOD

Lyk goed hoor!!

Thanks almal.
Tipies LED, maar meer lig as wat jy dink.

Heinrich is dit die met die klein (3528) of groot (5050) LEDs?

Ek het nog 2 rolle groen LEDs en so paar rolle Geel
Ek het ook een rol geel met groot LEDs wat ek gekry het om te toets, het nog nie op site gesit nie

http://www.4x4direct.co.za/shop/index.p ... ucts_id=53" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pieter, ek dink dit is die kleiner een.


Sal verseker nog bysit. Hulle werk baie lekker.

Heinrich, please forgive me for hijacking your thread a little!

I recently fitted some led lighting myself.

Dome light 12v 15x5mm LED

A lot brighter than the normal incandescent festoon lamp


I was too lazy to get out a tripod ...... excuse the blurry pic, (the camera was hand-held) with no flash so that you can really see how it lights up the cab.


Then I fitted one of these contact switches for the bonnet.


The LED strip lights come on as soon as you pop the hood .... two strips of 18 LED's. (Again hand-held camera without flash for that blurred effect.)


It lights up the engine bay beautifully for those times when you want to tinker about in the dark.


More often used, would be canopy lights, so I fitted strip light LED's there too .... also two strips of 18 LED's (one each side).


Glued an in-line toggle switch to the inner side of the canopy .....


.... and walla!



These LED strip lights, dome lights etc. are available from the forum shop, or otherwise from Mark (OOOMS) in Gauteng and myself in the E.Cape.

Andy, i love the one under the hood & it looks bright as well>>>> gonna get myself some too...

Baie nice, altwee van julle.!!

Thanks Andy.
I think some more ideas can be shared on this thread. I have also considered a strip under the bonnet.

Another thing I still want to do is "courtesy lights" under the doors that come on when the door is opened, each one separately operated by the contact switch for the interior light. On the SFA, this contact switch is just a grounding - no live, so it should be possible to share the switch with the interior light without interference. I just need to find a suitable live feed that isn't controlled by the ignition (no sense having a courtesy light if you have to have the key in the ignition first), and run a feed through to each door.


Just by the way, LED replacement of incandescent lamps (where it's suitable) makes sense on other levels besides just better / more lighting. Of course there is the factor of less power demand, so naturally you're less likely to run your battery down if you forget your park lights on, but there is also less demand on your alternator to replace the dispensed energy charge in the battery, so your battery and alternator should theoretically live just a little bit longer. To produce that charge takes energy from the motor, so although it would be completely insignificant IRO motor wear and tear, it will probably add up to enough fuel saving to pay for the replacement of the LED lamps when they expire after a number of years. And then of course there the benefit to the over-landers / campers ..... more battery power available for all the other camping gadgetry.

Traveler wrote:Thanks Andy.
I think some more ideas can be shared on this thread. I have also considered a strip under the bonnet.

Ek het weer gedink dit sal 'n goeie idee wees om 'n strip onder die sun-visor te sit, veral by die passasiers kant :wink2:

The only other place that I will still put a small strip (3 LED's), is under the dash on each side, on a separate switch, so that they can be used to illuminate the two front foot wells. How often do you want to find something in the dark that has dropped to the floor or something that is packed somewhere in a travelling bag at mom's feet? Could be a bit too bright for the purpose and distracting for the driver at night .... will have to test it in different positions and see.

Mud Dog wrote:The only other place that I will still put a small strip (3 LED's), is under the dash on each side, on a separate switch, so that they can be used to illuminate the two front foot wells. How often do you want to find something in the dark that has dropped to the floor or something that is packed somewhere in a travelling bag at mom's feet? Could be a bit too bright for the purpose and distracting for the driver at night .... will have to test it in different positions and see.

Ooooooh.....careful now.....

..... could be interesting!

Just use another colour, green and red does not affect your nightvision.

I am just scared that red might attract the wrong attention at a campsite.

Mud Dog wrote:Another thing I still want to do is "courtesy lights" under the doors that come on when the door is opened,

Hi guys, all the LED installations looks very smart, well done. I will be putting one on a switch under my hardcover and bonnet for a start.

I have been playing with the idea of courtesy lights on the vigo. Currently the interior light comes on when you unlock with the remote. Any ideas how to wire up 2 led strips on each side to work with the interior light "door setting"?

Must be honest I have no idea how it works but planned to get in there with a multimeter and plan how to wire from there.

I'm going to put some of those lights under the lid of my Engel. Nothing like grabbing a cold beer in the dark only to taste Sparberry.

Stephan_V wrote:

Mud Dog wrote:Another thing I still want to do is "courtesy lights" under the doors that come on when the door is opened,

Hi guys, all the LED installations looks very smart, well done. I will be putting one on a switch under my hardcover and bonnet for a start.

I have been playing with the idea of courtesy lights on the vigo. Currently the interior light comes on when you unlock with the remote. Any ideas how to wire up 2 led strips on each side to work with the interior light "door setting"?

Must be honest I have no idea how it works but planned to get in there with a multimeter and plan how to wire from there.

Stephan, do you want them to come on with the remote like the interior light, or only if the door is opened?

Traveler wrote:Thanks Andy.
I think some more ideas can be shared on this thread. I have also considered a strip under the bonnet.

Oos London, Oos Rand....julle laat my wonder met al die liggies so onder die trokkie???

No Thabo ... haven't gone that far! No, the courtesy lights under the doors will only come one once the doors are opened and is intended to spill some light on the ground at the door so that someone getting in or out of the vehicle can see their footing better at night. This is especially intended for Swambo who has a permanent medical condition affecting the control of her legs, and as it is she takes a tumble on level surfaces every now and then.

Mud Dog wrote:Stephan, do you want them to come on with the remote like the interior light, or only if the door is opened?

Hi Andy,

Im thniking both. ei it works in line with the "door" setting on the interior light. Currently when unlocking the inside light comes on and stays on for a little while or until you start. This way you can get some light around from a distance.
I had something simular on a previous car, the fog lights came on when you lock or unlock. Was great for in a dark "messy" garage etc.

The only worry is leaving a door open. Not sure if it will go off after a time and it may kill the battery if left for a couple of hours...

Then you might want to check what feeds come through to the interior light (might have separate feeds from doors and remote central locking unit. If there are more than 1 live feed then it would probably be easier to run a line straight off the interior light down the B-pillars on each side. If there is just one feed, find where it comes from Dash / B-pillar) and tap in from there .... just insulate your connections well. The LED's draw very little current ... no problem leaving them on for a couple of days even.

Mud Dog wrote:This is especially intended for Swambo who has a permanent medical condition affecting the control of her legs, and as it is she takes a tumble on level surfaces every now and then.

Haha!!! You must check her handbag for some strange liquids...

Mud Dog wrote:No Thabo ... haven't gone that far!

Andy, remember Thabo is from pretencious-Pretoria. The only East in that dictionary that is cool is Pretoria-East.

Thabogrobler wrote:

Mud Dog wrote:This is especially intended for Swambo who has a permanent medical condition affecting the control of her legs, and as it is she takes a tumble on level surfaces every now and then.

Haha!!! You must check her handbag for some strange liquids...

Eish Thabo, if only it were that simple ... funny though, ..... and very often in the past people that didn't know her might have thought her shakiness was 'liquid induced', but it's got to the stage where it's now obvious to an onlooker that there is something more serious amiss.

OOOOMS wrote:

Traveler wrote:Thanks Andy.
I think some more ideas can be shared on this thread. I have also considered a strip under the bonnet.

Ek het weer gedink dit sal 'n goeie idee wees om 'n strip onder die sun-visor te sit, veral by die passasiers kant :wink2:

You may end up with a passenger with sunglasses in the middle of the night in the middle of the bush

Mud Dog wrote:The only other place that I will still put a small strip (3 LED's), is under the dash on each side, on a separate switch, so that they can be used to illuminate the two front foot wells. How often do you want to find something in the dark that has dropped to the floor or something that is packed somewhere in a travelling bag at mom's feet? Could be a bit too bright for the purpose and distracting for the driver at night .... will have to test it in different positions and see.

Right under the dash works fine and won't distract you, I have on both sides on Letebele oom Andy

Stephan_V wrote:

Mud Dog wrote:Another thing I still want to do is "courtesy lights" under the doors that come on when the door is opened,

Hi guys, all the LED installations looks very smart, well done. I will be putting one on a switch under my hardcover and bonnet for a start.

I have been playing with the idea of courtesy lights on the vigo. Currently the interior light comes on when you unlock with the remote. Any ideas how to wire up 2 led strips on each side to work with the interior light "door setting"?

Must be honest I have no idea how it works but planned to get in there with a multimeter and plan how to wire from there.

Stephan get a permanent live (12v +) from somewhere in the car then connect the positive of the LED there. Then get a negative wire from the door switch and connect to the other side. To connect another one(s) just parallel them up.

Donkey wrote:

Stephan_V wrote:

Mud Dog wrote:Another thing I still want to do is "courtesy lights" under the doors that come on when the door is opened,

Hi guys, all the LED installations looks very smart, well done. I will be putting one on a switch under my hardcover and bonnet for a start.

I have been playing with the idea of courtesy lights on the vigo. Currently the interior light comes on when you unlock with the remote. Any ideas how to wire up 2 led strips on each side to work with the interior light "door setting"?

Must be honest I have no idea how it works but planned to get in there with a multimeter and plan how to wire from there.

Stephan get a permanent live (12v +) from somewhere in the car then connect the positive of the LED there. Then get a negative wire from the door switch and connect to the other side. To connect another one(s)just parallel them up.

Then they will all come on once any door is opened. I would prefer just the opened door to come on only. Therefore each door to have its own + feed and the - connected to the individual door switches.

Thanks Andy, I will have a look later this months and post some updates.

Traveler wrote:Just use another colour, green and red does not affect your nightvision.

I am just scared that red might attract the wrong attention at a campsite.

seriously though, I like your suggestion of the green lights to minimise the bugs... nice thinking

Andy wrote:Then they will all come on once any door is opened. I would prefer just the opened door to come on only. Therefore each door to have its own + feed and the - connected to the individual door switches.

This doesn't work quite as expected. I made up all the LED strips with their cables and fitted SWAMBO's one first. Found a live feed that isn't controlled by the ignition switch and wired it up. All worked well ..... until I opened another door and noticed that it came on, even though that door was closed. For a moment I was confused, but it didn't take me long to realise the reason. If you use the existing door switch you will have this 'problem' since each door switch is connected to the interior light .... this makes them common / interconnected and opening any door closes the circuit. To overcome this, one would have to install a second door switch at each door so that the courtesy lights are dedicated to their individual doors.

Andy just fit a diode in series with the wire of the existing door switch and T-in the additional light after the diode in the earth side of the diode, that way the additonal light cannot get an earth via the other door switches and will only switch on when that specific door is opened.

3RZ wrote:Andy just fit a diode in series with the wire of the existing door switch and T-in the additional light after the diode in the earth side of the diode, that way the additonal light cannot get an earth via the other door switches and will only switch on when that specific door is opened.

Ha! Of course!! Now why didn't I think of that!!
Thanks Willem ... saves me a lot of effort!!

Got a couple of diodes, stuck them in and it works fine. Each light is now dedicated to it's specific door.

Great stuff Just the way I like it, cheap, reliable, simple and effective

3RZ wrote:Great stuff Just the way I like it, cheap, reliable, simple and effective

65 cents for 4 diodes!!

Wasn't going to, but decided to put up a couple of pics.

There's ample light on the ground at the doors (makes a big difference for Swambo who uses a stool to get in)!


.... even with just one door open .....


The lights are actually hidden behind the door rubber so that they don't shine into ones eyes, even from a low angle, but in the dark they're so bright that it looks like they're visible.

the light under the bonnet is cool. All cars should have this. My previous car had a factory fitted light and it was always handy when one opened the bonnet, even if it is just to check the oil and water

Looking sharp Andy...

Well done , if we didn't know we'd say its factory fitted.

That is very handy (or should we say footy) indeed. Perfect application.

I eventually came around to fitting an LED H3 to the work light on the back of Dreadnought. And it actually works VERY well.

Ek wil ook led liggies onder die deur insit maar is onseker waar ek die diode moet insit by die T en watter kant moet die strepie op die diode wees...help bietji asb

Willem, you almost have it right - just look at the diagram below. Remember that the festoon light has a permanent + feed and it's activated when the door switch grounds the negative side wire. What I did was to take a permanent feed from the door remote / alarm unit (behind the passenger side kick panel) and fed that through to each door onto the + side of the LED strip. The wire from the - side of the strip is tee'd into the wire from the door switch - that section of the circuit must be without a diode. The in line diode is fitted to the other side of the tee connection.

Mud Dog wrote:Heinrich, please forgive me for hijacking your thread a little!

I recently fitted some led lighting myself.

Dome light 12v 15x5mm LED

domelight-15LED.JPG

A lot brighter than the normal incandescent festoon lamp

IMG_7174.JPG

I was too lazy to get out a tripod ...... excuse the blurry pic, (the camera was hand-held) with no flash so that you can really see how it lights up the cab.

IMG_7173.JPG

Then I fitted one of these contact switches for the bonnet.

IMG_7179.JPG

The LED strip lights come on as soon as you pop the hood .... two strips of 18 LED's. (Again hand-held camera without flash for that blurred effect.)

IMG_7175.JPG

It lights up the engine bay beautifully for those times when you want to tinker about in the dark.

IMG_7176.JPG

IMG_7177.JPG

More often used, would be canopy lights, so I fitted strip light LED's there too .... also two strips of 18 LED's (one each side).

IMG_7180.JPG

Glued an in-line toggle switch to the inner side of the canopy .....

IMG_7186.JPG

.... and walla!

IMG_7187.JPG

5050-waterproof.jpg

These LED strip lights, dome lights etc. are available from the forum shop, or otherwise from Mark (OOOMS) in Gauteng and myself in the E.Cape.

Hi Mud Dog, found this old thread and you have done exactly what I have planned. It looks awesome. I have a few questions regarding your canopy lights.

How and where did you wire the LED in? Tail lights? If so did you drill through the bin for access?

And how did you secure the wire to the ceiling and sides of the canopy? Glue?

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

Hi Drew. I have a 2nd battery that's permanently fitted in the load bin and charged by solar panel on the canopy roof. The wiring was indeed glued and to date it hasn't come adrift - just clean the surfaces where you want to lay your wiring with benzine first. I put a toggle switch for the lights close to the canopy door for easy access and can be easily reached through an open canopy window as well.

If you drill a hole in the bin for your application, treat and paint the bare metal and fit a rubber grommet. Don't take it off the tail lights cos then it will only work when the lights are on. Run a "live" from an existing fuse that is independent of the ignition switch, or run it directly off the battery with an in-line fuse. The negative (earth) can be taken off the load bin body it it is earthed.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Mud Dog wrote:Hi Drew. I have a 2nd battery that's permanently fitted in the load bin and charged by solar panel on the canopy roof. The wiring was indeed glued and to date it hasn't come adrift - just clean the surfaces where you want to lay your wiring with benzine first. I put a toggle switch for the lights close to the canopy door for easy access and can be easily reached through an open canopy window as well.

If you drill a hole in the bin for your application, treat and paint the bare metal and fit a rubber grommet. Don't take it off the tail lights cos then it will only work when the lights are on. Run a "live" from an existing fuse that is independent of the ignition switch, or run it directly off the battery with an in-line fuse. The negative (earth) can be taken off the load bin body it it is earthed.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the advice. I am reluctant to drill a whole onto the bin, but I was considering getting a small 12V battery to mount somewhere in the canopy, perhaps near the ceiling, that I can easily remove and charge when necessary.

I hope to get all the good necessary for this job in the next week or two and hopefully work will less hectic and I can put it all together. Cheers!

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

A small 7ah 12V battery should work fine, doesn't take up much space either. Just remember to keep it charged otherwise it will deteriorate quickly.

Anybody know where I can find a constant positive near the drivers side of an IFS? Or will I have to run a line from the engine bay?

Attempting the dash courtesy lights.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

Are you doing the foot well lights or the door lights? I took a constant feed off the alarm / immobiliser for the door courtesy lights but didn't bother with a constant feed for the foot well lights since one only uses these when already in the vehicle. Also, if they are accidentally switched on during the day one doesn't really notice that so they go off once the key is turned off all the way (they are activated from the "Accessory" position). This feed I took from the cigarette lighter since it was central and made wiring easier.

If you run any constant feed direct off the battery remember to put an in-line fuse close to the battery so as to protect the cable and prevent damage or fire in the event of a short.

Mud Dog wrote: ↑Wed Sep 27, 2017 11:00 pm Are you doing the foot well lights or the door lights? I took a constant feed off the alarm / immobiliser for the door courtesy lights but didn't bother with a constant feed for the foot well lights since one only uses these when already in the vehicle. Also, if they are accidentally switched on during the day one doesn't really notice that so they go off once the key is turned off all the way (they are activated from the "Accessory" position). This feed I took from the cigarette lighter since it was central and made wiring easier.

If you run any constant feed direct off the battery remember to put an in-line fuse close to the battery so as to protect the cable and prevent damage or fire in the event of a short.

Thanks Andy, when I get around to it I hope to do both the door lights and the under dash lights. Not sure yet if I will set it up like yours (ie the dash lights), as I originally just wanted them to come on with the door opening. I think I will have to fiddle a bit to see what works for me.

I copied this over from another of my postings .....

The way I see it is that foot-well lights should be manually switched ..... to my mind, the point of these lights is to assist in the dark if you dropped something or if Swambo / your passenger wants to look for something in her / his travelling bag, whatever. If you have to open a door while driving .... .... or activating the dome light for this purpose can be a bit distracting.

Just a couple of pics of my installation. The switch is below the cigarette lighter .... there is a punch-out to fit a switch, but mine already had a switch in there from the previous owner and conveniently enough it already had a "Lights" emblem on the switch ... not sure what it was used for before, but perfect for the foot-well lights.

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