yota530

Okay, so I am in the process of a total revamp of my truck, its been stock long enough! Now its time to start with some mods, nothing to big at first! Start off with the interior do some little stuff there, then move to doing a SAS and lifts and all that good stuff, start with the cheapest first! So I am doing the LED dash conversion, which is a fun little one, pull the dash apart thats fun! But the led in the dash isn't what confuses me, I want to hardwire some led strips or something to that effect in the footwell my HU is blue right now and my dash lights are going to be blue, i found some 5 led ones on eBay I hope they work. Okay to the point, I was wondering if I can use the door switch to wire the led strips or whatever I use to give power to the 12 v strips, or if that wouldn't work. I appreciate all the help here! You guys have saved me many a times so hopefully I can get some help again. Also has anyone wired in extra 12 accessories like the 12 v things that you can get to make one 12 v socket three? http://direct.tesco.com/pi/Product/1...1TPS200289.jpg something like that? Ah, and to my last question is there a CB that will fit directly into the pocket under the HU in a 91 4runner? Thanks you guys!

Sorry, for the poor grammar and weak explanation, its new years ive searched and im tired! anyways thanks again! HAPPY 2010!

milehigheric

LED's draw hardly any current so you can get the power from essentially anywhere. The door switches are just that however - a switch. They ground when depressed (sad little buggers ) which turns the interior lights on. You can use this as your ground (which will act as your on off switch) but you will need +ive supply too...cigerate lighter circuit would be my choice. It has the most current overhead (can handle more current then it ussualy usses) in the vehicle so you can safely wire LEDs off it.

I'm not sure why you are talking about those spliters if your hardwiring the LEDs

yota530

Okay, so then I can use the door switch, as a..... switch, thats simple enough, and then ill have to wire into the positive side of the cigarette lighter? Now i think if I have it right the cigarette lighter is a quick connect switch behind the dash, maybe I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure its not hard wired in, So what wire would I go about splicing into.

Oh and I want a splitter because i have a stream light flash light, I bright bugger may I add! But it has a 12v charger it runs off of id like to hard wire in, but there are always cell phone chargers, and what not that I like to have extra spots for. So how would I go about wiring that in?

I am kind of electrical illiterate so I appreciate all the help!

iamsuperbleeder

isn't the 12v outlet (cig lighter) only powered on with the ignition though? at least that's the way it is in my 3rd gen PU

Might want to tap into the constant power for the radio instead of the 12v outlet

yota530

That is a good idea, and then i could ground it to the door switch. If i remember right the yellow wire is constant power. Now that would solve my splitter issue. But what about the led bar lights in the foot well. I only want those on when either dome lights are on or when the door is open. if its possible id like to wire them to the dome lights. So where do I start with that?

My 2nd gen 12v is only powered when the key is on too, but i think there is a mod to change that, to make your cig lighter power all the time

milehigheric

Yes, power supply for the cig lighter comes from AM1 (along with nearly all the other circuits). That power supply stops at the ignition barrel however and every circuit develops it's on charicteristics from there on. The cig lighter has its OWN circuit rated at 15A. Phone charges etc use maybe 2A when charging...that is what I was getting at with excessive overhead. The radio circuit in comparison (gets its power from AM1 also) but is only rated at 7.5A. Stereos tend to draw a bit of current if your not running external amps so I never wire anything off that circuit unless it is just a switch for a relay.

To the answer to you question about colours for the cig..my diagram shows either green or green red as the 12V (i never trust diagram colour codes so check it). The other should be white/black and goes to ground. If you decide to get your power from here just splice it before the connecter. Make sure you use the same guage wire as the cig circuit so you don't have to refuse.

So you have your 12V source, you now need a switched ground to control the on/off. The door switch would make the LED's come on when the doors are open but that would be the only time. Wiring to the dome light would make them come on when the door is open and when the dome is on...the problem is you can't get to it without removing the headliner, probably something you are not willing to do.

You need to determine how you want them to operate. You could combine a toggle switch (With its own ground) and the door switch so that they will operate when the doors are open and whenver the toggle is on...It's all up to you, posibilities are endless with wiring.


Honestly I would not hard wire that splitter device for asthetic reasons...thats just me however. You can buy single cigarete lighter sockets from alot of places. I would be mounting that in the dash somewhere and giving it its own circuit. The device you pictured just plugs into the existing cig lighter and splits it into 3 (or 4?). You still have a maximum of 15A to use however...

yota530

Okay, so then I probably shouldnt tap into my radio or AM1, because more than likely I will be blowing more fuses than is worth it. Thats easy enough I can just plug it in, thats not a big deal it was more just i would want to cut it into the foot wells, and keep it incognito. but i can figure something out. maybe running wires under the carpet.

Now to the foot well lights, whats my best bet there? I really dont want to pull the head liner down, it never seems to go back right. So my best bet is to put a switch in for it, now where would I ground it? I have little knowledge with any kind of car electrical, I have basic knowledge of stereos, and how things work from what electrical work I have done. Also how would I go about testing what wire is power wire?

Thanks for the help!

milehigheric

It is up to you where you ground it...If you are just having a toggle switch you would either use an existing ground (there are plenty around, every device needs one) or fasten a lug to bare metal to make your own.

Power wires are determined via multimeter, test light, colour codes etc.

JollyGreen

There is probably a little tiny plug with two wires heading up in the drivers kick at the very top of the kick panel "where your left foot sits while driving". It probably has black wires, but could be other colors
Un-plug it and your dome light will go out. "thats how you know you got the right one"
Just wire the led into the two wires here. They can handle plenty of current for led's and they will go off and on with the door.

yota530

Okay thats simple ground to the metal, easy enough just like a normal ground. Or I can splice one in thats easy enough. As far as testing I have a digital multimeter i assume its going to read about 12v? Then I would know that is the wire that is hot.

Okay, but now I am confused I was told that I had to take the head liner down, but JollyGreen Says that on the top of the kick panel there is a little plug that has black wires, and that is my dome light. Okay well if that is my dome light do I just splice into one wire or both to get power?

JollyGreen

just splice into both wires, one is ground when the door opens, the other is power all the time.

milehigheric

The dome light has a constant unswitched 12V supply. It operates via a 2 seperate grounds. One ground is through its mounts which makes contact when you turn the switch to 'on'. The other ground is from your door switches and provides ground to the light when the switch is on door and the door(s) are open.

The wire that jollygreen mentioned would just be your door switch wire that runs to the light. If you use that for your ground, your light would only be on when your doors are open as i said before.

yota530

Okay, so then I can use that wire for my lights. but it wont be switched with the dome like you said before. It will work though right? Now will I tap into both of the wires or just find which one is power and then ground with its own lug?

Now what if I want to wire it to the door and a toggle switch? How would I go about doing that? Am I getting to involved now or is it definitely possible.

And one more question, how do I go about cutting the switch in, I have never done it from a blank spot. I always have had knock outs to use. So do I use a dremel and cut it in and use a trim piece or what?

milehigheric

Toggle switch and door switch control is easily possible...Here is a diagram to help.



As to mounting the toggle switch, it is just a matter of drilling a hole the same size as the switch and either cliping it in, or using the the little screwy washer type things (on threaded switches) to secure it. It will make sense when you do it...Also try to use a dummy switch (the blank peices of plastic where you would expect to see a switch) rather than drilling holes into the dash itself.

wii_tarded

Do you not have an acces. light that shines on the ignition? splice into that. It stays on for a while after the door closes, is close to your foot well, and only have to remove the plastic from the steering. I installed an aux. "cig. lighter" in the back of my runner for stuff like powered coolers and dvd players when i go camping. It's wired to the fuse box and a switch so that i can turn it off and on when i need. With as much as you are looking to add, you might want to add another fused circuit for all these acces.

yota530

I do have that light, I can use that to wire into too? As for having to remove anything I already had to pull the whole dash apart and im changing out the lights and putting in leds in the dash so its like well im here might as well do the work I wanna do and do it the best way. I would be all for adding another fused panel or box but i dont even know where to start with that.

The picture is really helpful thanks for that! But I thought that I could wire into both of the door switches or the wire that JollyGreen was talking about. Now if I want to wire it with a switch then I would go about how you have your picture right? Because if I spliced a switch into the door switch wouldnt that toggle the dome light to?

milehigheric

Putting a switch inline with the door switch is pointless. You will just have an overide for the door switch. The diagram is correct if you want the doors to turn the lights on but also want the ability to turn the lights on anytime you wish with the door shut.

For the record you can tap from any circuit in your truck. If it has a certain characteristic that you want then use it. For example, if yuou want lights to come on when the headlights were on you would use the headlights, if you wanted them to come on when you hit the brakes then use the stop circuit. It is just a matter of finding a circuit that switces when you want the lights to come on. Im not really sure what you want?

yota530

Okay, So I want them to come on when the door is opened and I think that I want to wire in a switch. That is simple enough im sorry I keep going round and round with this, but any kind of automotive electrical scares me! I just dont want to foul anything up.

So lets see if I get this right! I want to use my cig. Lighter and splice into the wire that is hot, thats going to give the power to whatever I chose to light up. Then I am going to use the power from the door switch, which is under the kick panel that little 2 or three wire quick connect by my left foot. that is going to give me my ground, and uts going to bring the lights on when its grounded. Then off the wire that I am wiring towards the light I will wire a switch in, that will give me the choice to turn it on when I want. Do I have to ground the switch separately or what?

milehigheric

Yes the toggle switch will need it's own ground from some other place.

BTW...there is only one wire that comes out of the door switch, im not too familiar with the quick connects & which one is which (my harness is all custom now). Easiest way is to use a voltmeter on a known constant with the red probe, then probe each suspect door switch ground wire (with the door open) till you get continuity or a +ive voltage on the DMM

yota530

okay, so then that works, now what is the wire that I am talking about, I know you cant say for sure, but it has to do with the front dome light. When you unplug it, it turns the two map lights off. It seems easy enough to find the door switch, which would be my ground. The switch would be easy to ground somewhere else now would I ground to the frame or just to the body. Would that work? So any idea on the quick connect im talking about?