Poor Man's Ambient Light Cup Holder Ring, Installed
#121
Hey guys,
I know the thread is a little dated but I found it and decided to do the mod.
I purchased the Pilot optic glow in blue from Autozone as others have done.
Its the one that is about 3mm in diameter.
I had to dremel out some plastic around the edge of the cup holder to give the light wand a place to sit and allow the chrome to sit flush on the console.
I found that hot glue actually holds the tube in place pretty well. Its a little messy if you're not careful but it works fast and seems to bond okay to the light wand.
I know others had said they tried multiple adhesives with little success, not sure if hot glue was one of them.
While I was under the console I also added a small blue LED to the small compartment at the front of the console. Its dark and I can never see my wallet or whatever I have in there without the dome light.
I decided to tie my power into the shift lever LED lights as another poster suggested. This way nothing to turn on or off, it works with auto parking lights which come on when its dark and I need the extra accent lighting.
Next is to tie in some footwell lights to my drivers sill wires. I think someone said thin purple and black. Others have said yellow/green. I'll figure it out.
Anyway, this was a cheap mod ~$20.00 and looks pretty decent at night.
Definitely better than spending $300.00 on a platinum cup holder light ring that's for sure.
BTW- The blue in the storage compartment and rings match perfectly. The camera photo makes it look darker but its not. I may need to put a resistor or potentiometer on the hot lead since when its totally dark these two accents are bright. They do dim with the factory dim switch since I tied it into the shift lever LED. But may need to tone them down independently of the factory dim control.
I know the thread is a little dated but I found it and decided to do the mod.
I purchased the Pilot optic glow in blue from Autozone as others have done.
Its the one that is about 3mm in diameter.
I had to dremel out some plastic around the edge of the cup holder to give the light wand a place to sit and allow the chrome to sit flush on the console.
I found that hot glue actually holds the tube in place pretty well. Its a little messy if you're not careful but it works fast and seems to bond okay to the light wand.
I know others had said they tried multiple adhesives with little success, not sure if hot glue was one of them.
While I was under the console I also added a small blue LED to the small compartment at the front of the console. Its dark and I can never see my wallet or whatever I have in there without the dome light.
I decided to tie my power into the shift lever LED lights as another poster suggested. This way nothing to turn on or off, it works with auto parking lights which come on when its dark and I need the extra accent lighting.
Next is to tie in some footwell lights to my drivers sill wires. I think someone said thin purple and black. Others have said yellow/green. I'll figure it out.
Anyway, this was a cheap mod ~$20.00 and looks pretty decent at night.
Definitely better than spending $300.00 on a platinum cup holder light ring that's for sure.
BTW- The blue in the storage compartment and rings match perfectly. The camera photo makes it look darker but its not. I may need to put a resistor or potentiometer on the hot lead since when its totally dark these two accents are bright. They do dim with the factory dim switch since I tied it into the shift lever LED. But may need to tone them down independently of the factory dim control.
My question for you is how/ where did you find the led to hook into the shifter. Did you have to take some more bolts off? I was thinking of running the pwr to the headlight fuse or switch but the way you did seems so much easier.....let me know thanks!!
#122
Senior Member
Thread Starter
something to look at before dannytexas answers....check out post 93, Sharper4 has a pic and some instructions on hard wiring it to the shifter light.
#123
I'm on the mobile version. Do you have a pg number. Posts# aren't tracked on mobile version..but thank you for the heads up
#125
Senior Member
Nice install, im doing the same mod. Even added a light into the storage area like you did. Just waiting on a nicer day to get outside and start some wiring.
My question for you is how/ where did you find the led to hook into the shifter. Did you have to take some more bolts off? I was thinking of running the pwr to the headlight fuse or switch but the way you did seems so much easier.....let me know thanks!!
My question for you is how/ where did you find the led to hook into the shifter. Did you have to take some more bolts off? I was thinking of running the pwr to the headlight fuse or switch but the way you did seems so much easier.....let me know thanks!!
Basically I have about 6" of wire total, from the lights to the shifter.
It turns on and off as expected, with the parking lights.
#126
Senior Member
kmaximus;3282244]IT LIVES!!!! J/K
dannytexas, that looks great. I'm glad to hear you were able to get it going with the hot glue. Hot glue was one of the 20 different glues I tried, but it would never fully stick for me. Do you have any pictures of how much you used? I didn't apply much when testing, it was the same time the clear shrink tubing idea came to light and I went that route
I didn't glue the light without the console piece and chrome trip piece all together.
I'm more than 7 months with my ring setup and still looks great, best not 300 bucks I spent yet
Check out this controller as an alternative option for your dimming:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...te-/1370/3140/
http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...te-/1370/3140/
And thanks Kmax for posting all the how-to's of this mod. Also to Nick.
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kmaximus (02-05-2014)
#127
Thanks for the responses and everyone chiming in and building these write up. Just finished my install. Used an ignition source for pwr. I'll just use the remote to turn it off when need to.
Another question....where is everyone mounting there strips on the back of the front seats.....couldn't figure it out..unless hot gluing them to the cloth part of the seat at the bottom....any ideas?
Another question....where is everyone mounting there strips on the back of the front seats.....couldn't figure it out..unless hot gluing them to the cloth part of the seat at the bottom....any ideas?
#128
Senior Member
Thread Starter
EWeezY, glad to hear you got it installed, post some pics when you can, would love to see the final product
as for the rears, mine are mounted under the back of the front seats to the plastic clip holding the seat cover on. I took it a step further and used a piece of corner guard from home depot to create a right angle and mounted the led strip to that so that the light shines out not down. heavy duty double sized tape was used for the mounting.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Trimaco-1...184G/100118843
Post 111, right above Michael Mennel post shows a bunch of pictures of this setup
as for the rears, mine are mounted under the back of the front seats to the plastic clip holding the seat cover on. I took it a step further and used a piece of corner guard from home depot to create a right angle and mounted the led strip to that so that the light shines out not down. heavy duty double sized tape was used for the mounting.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Trimaco-1...184G/100118843
Post 111, right above Michael Mennel post shows a bunch of pictures of this setup
#129
I just purchased all the parts needed for this project and can't wait to get it done! I appreciate all the links and instructions on how to install it. I'll post up pics when I'm done. Great mod and very inexpensive!
#130
Just finished my install!!!! Looks great. Love the look at night. Almost to bright!! Might cover a few leds to dim the light
Here's the link. Sorry video work is crappy. Was very cold outside!!!
Thanks to all the people who posted and did the write up!!!
Here's the link. Sorry video work is crappy. Was very cold outside!!!
Thanks to all the people who posted and did the write up!!!