LED Door Switch Conversion - Sport Trac

[interscope8]

LED Door Light Conversion for the Gen 1 Sport Trac

This is the BETA of my Light Conversion write up. What I mean by that is I will be changing it over the next few weeks and add pictures where needed. When I was doing this I was not sure it was even going to work, then it did and I forgot to take pics.​

What you'll need:

• 18x 3mm LEDs of your color choice.
• Needle Nose Pliers (small enough to bend LED Leads)
• Flat Head Screw Driver
• Soldering Iron
• Small Diameter Solder, I used .022"
• Patience

Start by taking by taking the switch holders out of the door panels. Pull up on the front then the rear of the panel and it will pull right out. No tools needed for this part! Then unplug the wiring harness and take it to your work area.

Now, start by taking the switches off of the panel. This can be done pretty easily using the flat head to pry the switch housings out of the bottom of the panel. There are 2 clips on either side of every switch that need pryed apart, be patient and dont break anything here.

After you have the switch out of the panel it becomes a little more difficult to take apart.

Use your screwdriver to pry the actual rocking switch off the top. This is the part that will mess up the switch if you are a brute and don't baby it. I broke 3 switches by pushing as hard as I could. Make sure your screw driver is all the way to the middle of the switch head, this will make sure you dont snap any of the plastic and apply steady force, slowly increasing till you feel it pop out. If you go full blast you will snap off the bottom of the switch making it useless, or it will mess up the track on the bottom of the switch making the switch "sticky".

After the switch is apart you should be able to pop 2-4 more little tabs and the switch assembly will open up and you'll be left with the circuit board.

Finding the LEDs and their leads is simple, use your eyes.

Once I get pics I will post pics showing the + and - leads on each switch.

Remove the original LED solder, take one of your new LEDs and bend it to the factory shape as close as you can. Be mindful of which lead goes to where on the board. The only important dimension here is height, make sure your LED is as low as the factory ones so they dont hinder your switch reassembly and movement.

After that put it back together and put it all back and test it out! The Lock switches will light up as soon as you plug them in, the window switches will need to have the Trac turned on. Also (didn't know this until I did it), the window switches wont light up when the window lock is engaged! Neat huh.

PICS WILL BE UPLOADED WHEN I GET MY REPLACEMENT SWITCHES

 

[interscope8]

Nevermind, found one on eBay. Here are some teaser pics, when I get my new 4 switch board I'll make a write up! Gimme feedback

 

[05dakotatrac]

looks good scope

 

[01STrunner]

AWESOME! I want to do this!

 

[interscope8]

Im surprised I haven't got more feedback yet to be honest! It looks really sharp on the inside now and they are a lot brighter than the factory lights. Over break Im getting my interior all snazzed back up. Joined the Purdue Off Road club and they are having a show in April, trying to look nice enough to fit in

 

[01STrunner]

Sweet! I'm in the off road club at Clemson and it's definitely a fun group of people.

 

[Pjibs]

This is awesome! Keep it up!

 

[OffTrac]

Looks great. I've been silently watching this thread.

I'm not so sure I'd want those that bright, though. Still rolling this one around in my head. Definitely looks awesome.

 

[01STrunner]

I'm going to do red to match my door handles plus they'll be ok for night vision.

 

[interscope8]

Looks great. I've been silently watching this thread.

I'm not so sure I'd want those that bright, though. Still rolling this one around in my head. Definitely looks awesome.

The pictures make it look a lot brighter than what they are. They aren't a distraction while driving at all. They're just brighter enough to tell they are on during the day without having to shade them with your hands.

 

[OffTrac]

Cool. Maybe I'll switch out for a brighter green.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I'm not so sure I'd want those that bright, though. Still rolling this one around in my head. Definitely looks awesome.

they are the same, or close to what the factory is. i did my thread years ago, and have made several of these since then, and would never want green again. the green to me is harder on your eyes then blue.

 

[OffTrac]

Agggh, but my truck is green. This just may not be worth my time. On the bright side, there's a few dollars I'll save.

 

[interscope8]

Agggh, but my truck is green. This just may not be worth my time. On the bright side, there's a few dollars I'll save.

Cost me $6 to do the whole project... not counting the stuff I broke being reckless.

And my truck is silver but I used blue!

 

[OffTrac]

For every project I do, I find or create one more project. $6 can turn onto a whole lot more when my tools get involved, lol.

 

[Pjibs]

Gunna get red! its gunna look like I'm inside of a submarine when I'm done!

 

[05dakotatrac]

trust me as a previous owner of three different pontiacs red gets old quick. i want mulitple colors similar to the fusion hybrids with white and blue mixs

 

[vroomzoomboom]

the other switches and cluster are easily done as well, and with not much cost.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/

also, P51Mustang did some really good write ups as well.

 

[interscope8]

the other switches and cluster are easily done as well, and with not much cost.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/

also, P51Mustang did some really good write ups as well.

My last final is on thursday so after that Im parking the truck in my garage at home and taking the interior apart to repaint and switch the other lights out