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

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

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

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")

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

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

Will get some pictures tonight of them on

Good Luck!

 

[Afboy143]

So do they come on when the doors open? That would be great

 

[trucku]

MustangP51


Looks Awesome.

 

[Stic-o]

:Cough: cargo area

Now that would be a awsome upgrade, there is never enough light back there

 

[Lankhimself]

Very nice! That came out really well.

 

[MustangP51]

So do they come on when the doors open? That would be great

When I did the under dash lighting I though about It, but 1 I couldn't find the wire underneath the dash for the door lights, Haynes said it was a black/blue wire, I found 3, and as I recall none of them were for the door lights

:Cough: cargo area

Now that would be a awsome upgrade, there is never enough light back there

I was thinking about it, the only ideas I had involved pulling both trim pieces on each side to drill holes for 5 or so LEDs on each side. Any other Ideas?

 

[SIRIUS198]

what about installing some in a small size tubing or something like that, and mounting it near the roof where the panels meet the headliner. i'm no LED genius/god like a couple of you out there so let me know what you think.

by no means is this an insult or a shot, the stuff you guys are doing is awesome and i want to do it all to my own X, but its almost like Clark Griswold "Christmas Vacation" meets the Explorer. i absolutely love it.

anyone thought about doing some type of rock lights with LED's or what would normally be use for something like that?

 

[Htown451]

what if you did the same mod with the aluminum and mount it where the roof meets the door? just an idea

 

[MustangP51]

Is this what you guy are talking about?

Each Red circle could be an LED. Pull the molding off and drill a hole every 6 inches or so.

(Before anyone asks, Yes there is someone hanging on outside)

 

[M1A1]

Are those hand holds hollow? Probably not, but something to check real quick. I'd rather put holes in a cheap part like that than into the huge rear quarter panel. Otherwise, I'd put the holes a little lower, closer to the window, perhaps right on the corner so that the LEDs point downwards towards the other side. Just my $0.02.


Marty

 

[Htown451]

i was thinking the same as the picture you showed but if you put it above the cargo door instead of the sides

 

[SIRIUS198]

my idea didn't involve drilling any holes into the panel which i believe is the best way to go because they are huge! and probably a lot to replace if ya mess it up. i was thinking more where the headliner and the panel meet you could mount something there. not sure how though. also you guys just got me thinking about mounting them by the window. the metal bracket idea from the underseat lights but, if there is enough room, the led could all mount behind the panel at the top of the 2 side windows and there should be enough room for the led to sit between the panel and the window. not sure how that would look with them reflecting off the glass and all but...
think if you put them in the back hatch area that would be all you could see in the rear view mirror.

i'm gonna light up behind my sub panel tonight so it will glow through the slots in the panel. well i should say i'm gonna try!

 

[Garretthomas]

music interface

would it be possible to wire these to a music interface or would that interfere with resistance and what not n so forth u should send me the diagrams in how to make these customizations for the dash and under the back seat

 

[MustangP51]

I personally have not done anything to sync LEDs to music. I plan on doing it, but only after I install an aftermarket head unit, the stock system is a bit embarrassing.

Here is an Instructables on how to do it. It took me about an hour and reread the thing at least 7 times in order for it to click in my head on how the circuit works.

http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Music-Sync-Lamp/

Good Luck

 

[Garretthomas]

ok well would u be able to make me up a thread of instructions on how to hook all this up i mean the under dash led and the under rear seat led into a music interface step by step how to install them all i dont wanna mess up so the better the instructions the better the turn out for me and mayb show me how u wired all the resitors and lights up i really wanna do this but am not quit sure how u wired the boards up with the leds and i want my leds to be reall bright what would the best led size be to use on this project if u could email me all these instructions to stunt20005@hotmail.com id really appreciate it man

 

[MustangP51]

I only do a writeup or give instructions after I myself have done the project. That way I have already done the troubleshooting and worked out the bugs so I can answer any questions.

So after I have done my audio upgrades I will look into doing this.

In the meantime just start experimenting, you can get everything you need for a practice build at radio shack.

Alot more Info on how to wire the boards can be found on this thread.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202947

 

[BogFather]

Great write up here Mustang as usual. Just ordered 30 of the BLUE LED's Pre-wired with resistors. Can't wait to tackle this when they come in. Gonna do the front seats also since i already have a cross bar there from my seat swap. And might get antsy and use a few in other places as well....HeHeHe. When i get it all done i'll post some pics in my registry. Thanks again Ryan for great write-ups

 

[BogFather]

Hey Ryan did you wire in a relay?? Don't think these draw enough power but ya never know. Mine came in today and am going to buy the aluminum tonight. CAN"T wait to get started and see them LMAO . Will post my pics also

 

[MustangP51]

Hey Ryan did you wire in a relay?? Don't think these draw enough power but ya never know. Mine came in today and am going to buy the aluminum tonight. CAN"T wait to get started and see them LMAO . Will post my pics also

No there is no need for a relay, just run the power through a switch. can wait to see how it turns out for you.

 

[BogFather]

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

Hey Ryan is the stock 3/4 x 3/4 angle & what did you use the double sided tape for??

 

[MustangP51]

Hey Ryan is the stock 3/4 x 3/4 angle & what did you use the double sided tape for??

No the stock is not 3/4 x 3/4, the other side is about half the size of the 3/4" side.

Here is where to use the double sided tape.