LED Rear Under Seat Lighting (PICs) | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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LED Rear Under Seat Lighting (PICs)

This is part 2 to the Under Dash lighting mod I did several months ago. It took some thinking but I figured out how to do and LED setup under the rear seats and still have the seats fold up and down.

What you will need:
1/16 3/4x48 piece of aluminum angle ( Home Depot )
6 5mm Blue 13000mcd LEDs (grind the tips flat)
6 Resistors 470 ohm (the actual resistance was 463ohm)
Double sided tape
light gauge wire

The Stock
IMG_0107.jpg


First cut a piece for the single seat to 12" and a piece for the double seat to 25.5"
IMG_0106.jpg


For the single seat I drilled 2 5mm holes about .5" from each side of seat supports. And put an LED in each hole.
IMG_0096.jpg


For the double seat I also drilled 2 holes roughly .5" from each support, then found center, and then found half of each side from center and drilled the holes ( if that gibberish doesn't make sense drill a hole roughly every 6")
IMG_0097-2.jpg


Unbolt the seat supports and poke a hole thought the carpet and fish the wire to the plastic door trim under the carpet.
IMG_0100.jpg


Wire them to a switch, I used the same switch as the under dash lighting.
and turn them on
IMG_0101-1.jpg


Will get some pictures tonight of them on

Good Luck!
 



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Looks good, i like it.
 






Look pretty friggin sweet man! I have a question though, and maybe you could answer it.

The question is about how you wired it, did you wire them in series (as in one right after another) or in parallel (so if one goes out the rest will work)

Second question, I assume you put a resistor between the power and l.e.d.

power -> resistor -> l.e.d. ?

Thanks
 






Yes I never wire LEDs in series, they are always in parallel, If one goes out the rest will work.
 






Yes I never wire LEDs in series, they are always in parallel, If one goes out the rest will work.

sweet deal, so i guess the assumption about the resistors was accurate as well? between the power source and l.e.d.? that's what i woudl think
 






yes that is correct
 






yes that is correct

well i think i know what i'm doing this weekend. i would think that use this, you coudl possible make your own undercar kit for a LOT cheaper then what is normally advertised. just a thought.
 






It is in the works ;)

After I paint my frame
 






It is in the works ;)

After I paint my frame

Nice. I'm just trying to get my interior done, and this thread is helping a lot. Cheap, easy, and looks like it only takes about an hour of steady work to install.

I have just ONE more question, did you solder the wires, resistors, adn all, or did you just crimp it?
 






looks great MustangP51 I might have to copy you AGAIN :).
the wires are too thin to crimp, yes he soldered them (the actual led and resistor)
 






Nice. I'm just trying to get my interior done, and this thread is helping a lot. Cheap, easy, and looks like it only takes about an hour of steady work to install.

I have just ONE more question, did you solder the wires, resistors, adn all, or did you just crimp it?

I soldered all the connections. I would not recommend using crimps with light gauge wire in vehicles because they can loosen up with vibration. Use Hot Glue to secure and insulate all the wires and LEDs.

looks great MustangP51 I might have to copy you AGAIN :).
the wires are too thin to crimp, yes he soldered them (the actual led and resistor)

Thank you
Go right ahead, that's why I take the time to do these write-ups.
 






The LED master strikes again nice work man. All ur wright ups have kinda inspired me to do my own led mod. Bad thing is idk how:( but o well that 1/2 then fun to me.
 






looks great... very nice touch and gives a great dim glow in the interior... two thumbs up :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 












What stores can you buy these LEDs at? Radioshack? The more I see that people do these things by themselves, the more I think that it may be right for me. I have some tight areas to get around.
 






What stores can you buy these LEDs at? Radioshack? The more I see that people do these things by themselves, the more I think that it may be right for me. I have some tight areas to get around.

Don't buy from radio shack. Get them on eBay, much much cheaper for better LEDs. I buy all my LEDs through BestHongKong (eBay Seller) he gives you free resistors with your LEDs for 12v systems.
 






Don't buy from radio shack. Get them on eBay, much much cheaper for better LEDs. I buy all my LEDs through BestHongKong (eBay Seller) he gives you free resistors with your LEDs for 12v systems.

Thanks.
 






X2 for Ebay. You can get 100 LEDs WITH resistors for the price you could get 5 at radioshack.....

Ebay is the route I went/am going for LEDs and most other electronic parts I need for my projects.

Nice job on the angle aluminum. I never thought of that when I did mine. That makes for a lot cleaner of an install.

Keep up the good work :thumbsup:
 



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my vote is with ebay as well... i buy the 10mm bulk packs of 30 or 50 and it is such a better investment... it has about 15 times the light output (mcd) of the regular 5mm LEDs they sell at radioshack for 3 or 4 bucks a piece... ebay is the way to go cuz they get shipped in and u dont get ripped off
 






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