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Hey all - I searched and couldn't find a post similar to this (maybe because nobody else cares to do it) so I decided to do a quick write up.
I have a Lariat which already has ambient lighting which is nice but I felt like I could use a little more illumination around the center console area. I got the idea for how to fix this after riding in a friends BMW and noticed that unlike my Lariat, the BMW did not have ambient lighting in the doors or around the cup holders. Instead there were two little red LEDs near the map lights that shined straight down and provided just enough light to help see directly underneath the LEDs but they wren't overly bright or very noticeable.
to hold them in place. After pulling the center console down and moving the motion sensor module out of the way I found the perfect spot to mount them. I drilled two 7/32" holes for clips and then soldered the LEDs - negative wire to the #1 leg and the positive wire to the #10 leg of the console connector. Then I smeared some black RTV to hold in it place and fill any gaps. I am very pleased with the results - they're barely noticeable and almost look factory. They provide a nice concentrated beam of light directly below right where I wanted it and they're not too dim or too bright.
Overhead red LED ambient lights during day
Overhead console red LED ambient lights at night (with flash) Overhead red LED ambient lights at night Without overhead red LED ambient lights With overhead red LED ambient lights
Good idea. I'll have to figure out the wiring for an XLT as I'm sure it's different, but I like it.
Why would it be different? The wiring is the same, no matter the trim level. The op is not tapping into the ambient lighting that is controllable by the LIN data line, rather just the basic illumination circuit of the overhead console, which all trucks that have an overhead console will have. OP, very unique!
Ambient lighting is a mod I will be doing in the future and I may just add this nifty idea to it. Thanks for the idea and the write up. Very clean work.
As someone who has had many German cars, I can agree that the overhead lights are very cool, and useful. They all have them, MB, VW, BMW, Audi, etc. it’s standard on all those makes, but never really caught on in the American car segment. My only thing is that I would want the lights to be the blue color as the rest of the interior lights. I wonder if I could buy duplicates of what’s in the doors and mount them up there?
As someone who has had many German cars, I can agree that the overhead lights are very cool, and useful. They all have them, MB, VW, BMW, Audi, etc. it’s standard on all those makes, but never really caught on in the American car segment. My only thing is that I would want the lights to be the blue color as the rest of the interior lights. I wonder if I could buy duplicates of what’s in the doors and mount them up there?
Thanks OP, nice job!!
That is what I planed on doing. Once I pieced together the ambient lighting parts I needed, I was just going to order two extra of the smallest lights in the list and mount up there. Then, it would just be a matter of tying it into another source for the ambient lighting.
09-07-2018, 12:52 PM
Overhead Console Ambient Spot Lighting Added
