Floor Lighting?

[sick472]

Anybody using rope or string lights for floor lighting? I want to illuminate the floor boards when the dome light is turned on by the headlamp switch or open-door switches.

First, what to look for in LED rope lights? 12 volt dim-able, of course. There are a lot of options and I know noting about them. A short strip (about 5 or 6 foot long) could be strung along the lower edge of the dash or bench seat, tucked up a bit, and would light the whole floor up when the door was opened.

Secondly, even if the floor lighting was not LED...it seems that you would just wire the lights into the dome light connector that is located down by the high beam connector and fuse panel? Just wire it in parallel with the dome light right?

Ultimately, I am open to ideas for floor lighting in general, so I'm all ears.

[HO455]

You might like this. I have not used the lighting module but I have their fuel pump controller and the wiper delay modules in my Burban. Good products!

https://www.revolutionelectronics.com/Dome_Light.html

[gmc684x4]

I have seen led strip lights and led bar lights in places like Walmart

I would wire them using a relay to keep from overloading stock interior lighting circuit

Thinking about this myself for underhood lighting

[gmc684x4]

Thanks Ho455
I been looking at intermittent wippers the one kit i seen was over 500 that delay module looks like a good alternative

[EagleChief]

If you can find a simple LED strip on Amazon, that would work just fine. Should be able to get them in different lengths, and they usually come with 3M tape on the backside already. Most of them now, you can even cut them to a length you need. Downside is, you'd have to wire up the pieces that you cut.

I just did this for some lights above my kitchen cabinets. It isn't too hard to do, but I did have to teach myself how to solder wire.

LED's won't overload your stock wiring, they hardly pull any power. Personally, I wouldn't worry about putting in fuses or relays, although you can for a piece of mind, if you want. Should be easy enough to wire up. You could splice into your existing power wire for the overhead light, then find a ground somewhere.

I haven't used any in my C10, but my daily driver(2014 RAM), I have external LED's along the bottom of my cab that light up (white) when I open the doors, and they also function as (amber sequential) turn signals. Spliced one wire into my trailer wire loom for blinkers, then the other is routed into the cab under the dash and tied to my footwell lights.

[custom10nut]

Originally Posted by HO455

You might like this. I have not used the lighting module but I have their fuel pump controller and the wiper delay modules in my Burban. Good products!

https://www.revolutionelectronics.com/Dome_Light.html

I do believe this is the Company that has the “Wiper Delay” setup for our trucks.

[68 P.O.S.]

Have you looked at, or are interested in, the stock courtesy lights? Post #8 of the following thread shows some decent pics. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=727905

[special-K]

I use K/5 under dash interior lights

[sick472]

Originally Posted by HO455

You might like this. I have not used the lighting module but I have their fuel pump controller and the wiper delay modules in my Burban. Good products!

https://www.revolutionelectronics.com/Dome_Light.html

They sure make some cool gadgetry for bring our trucks up to today's creature comforts.

[sick472]

Originally Posted by gmc684x4

I have seen led strip lights and led bar lights in places like Walmart

I would wire them using a relay to keep from overloading stock interior lighting circuit

Thinking about this myself for underhood lighting

I am using an LED for the dome light and hope to add the floor lighting in LED too. This should keep the circuit well within it's amperage limits, but I do need to determine what is on that circuit to verify.

[sick472]

Originally Posted by EagleChief

...LED's won't overload your stock wiring, they hardly pull any power. Personally, I wouldn't worry about putting in fuses or relays, although you can for a piece of mind, if you want. Should be easy enough to wire up. You could splice into your existing power wire for the overhead light, then find a ground somewhere. ...

I am thinking that the ground leg of the new lights would have to be spliced into the dome light circuit (as well as the power leg as you mentioned). The dome light has constant power to it and the door switches (and head lamp switch) ground the circuit to compete the loop. If the floor lights where just grounded to a chassis ground...they would just stay on all the time. I would certainly like to get some back-up on this statement for personal confidence as I'm no whiz-bang with electrical.

Originally Posted by EagleChief

...I haven't used any in my C10, but my daily driver(2014 RAM), I have external LED's along the bottom of my cab that light up (white) when I open the doors, and they also function as (amber sequential) turn signals. Spliced one wire into my trailer wire loom for blinkers, then the other is routed into the cab under the dash and tied to my footwell lights.

Thanks, now I am thinking about exterior lighting...cool idea!

[sick472]

68 P.O.S & Special-K...I think you guys are talking about the same thing???

I like the idea a lot. With a quick image search, it would appear that the wiring harness is ready to just plug in. It's hard to tell from the small photos, but...

Is that the case?

If so, Where does it "just plug in" to?

Can LED's be bought to replace the old incandescent? (any leads on where to buy?)

I am guessing that there is a Male/Female plug that gets inserted between the dome light connector halves.

[68 P.O.S.]

Originally Posted by sick472

68 P.O.S & Special-K...I think you guys are talking about the same thing???

I like the idea a lot. With a quick image search, it would appear that the wiring harness is ready to just plug in. It's hard to tell from the small photos, but...

Is that the case?

If so, Where does it "just plug in" to?

Can LED's be bought to replace the old incandescent? (any leads on where to buy?)

I am guessing that there is a Male/Female plug that gets inserted between the dome light connector halves.

I believe we're talking about the same thing as well. Yes, they're easy hookup as well. The harness connects inline with the dimmer switch plug and you can replace the bulbs with LEDs. I believe the size is BA9. www.superbrightleds.com

[68 P.O.S.]

To put in a plug for a fellow member: https://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vbo...d.php?t=618187

[sick472]

Thanks for the help 68 POS...I will be getting one from Roger.

I little research and the courtesy bulbs were originally a #67, but could be replaced with the #631. They both have the BA15S base (15 millimeter base diameter / 3/4" bulb diameter). The difference is the #67 is a 7.965 watt and the #631 is 8.82.

I will be looking at buying this LED bulb (EDIT IF it's dimmable)...

Part # 67-W15 (67 LED Bulb - 15 LED Forward Firing Cluster - BA15S Base - Natural White)

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...t-car/169/766/

[Ol Blue K20]

I went to pick and pull and pulled courtesy lights from an old Cadillac. The mounting angle was wrong. I bent some brackets and I have floor lighting.

[EagleChief]

Originally Posted by sick472

I am thinking that the ground leg of the new lights would have to be spliced into the dome light circuit (as well as the power leg as you mentioned). The dome light has constant power to it and the door switches (and head lamp switch) ground the circuit to compete the loop. If the floor lights where just grounded to a chassis ground...they would just stay on all the time. I would certainly like to get some back-up on this statement for personal confidence as I'm no whiz-bang with electrical.



Thanks, now I am thinking about exterior lighting...cool idea!

You may be correct on the wiring. I'm no electrical expert either.

My exterior lights for my Ram, I bought from OPT7.com. You can see the example of how they work on their site. I have their headlights & foglights in my Ram, and a set of headlights in my wife's Durango. I really like them.

[Ol Blue K20]

My courtesy lights, I tried both legs into the dome light circuit. They're always hot and the switches are the ground.

[sick472]

I contacted superbrightleds asking about the 67-W15 LED bulb and it is not dimmable. Here's their response...

"The 67-W15 is not specified as being dimmable. Unfortunately, the other 67 led bulb we offer isn't dimmable either."

I am now contemplating using the 1156 replacement bulb with the same BA15S base...

1156-x30-CBT-CAR comes in the same 4300K natural white, but pulls 0.24 amps compared to the 0.09 amps of the 67-W15. It will be quite a bit brighter, but still pulls less than half of the original #67 amp draw of 0.57. I'm not sure if this is going to be acceptable for me, but these bulbs should also work for the reverse lights as an alternative.

I'm going to think on it...$10 a bulb worth looking around some more.

I want the dimmable aspect because a non-dimming bulb in this circuit would not work unless the headlamp switch is in the 100% load position and/or could do some crazy flickering. I tend to run my gage cluster lighting dimmed quite a bit.

[HO455]

The dome light circuit doesn't dim with the dash lights. The dash dimmer switch when rotated to full on makes contact with a switch that grounds the circuit as the door switch would through the white wire.
The power to the dash lights goes through the rheostat then to the fuse panel and to the rest of the circuit.
Non dimmable LEDs will work in the factory dome light circuit. They only would become a problem if you went to a different dome light control circuit.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=718853

[sick472]

That changes things HO455! Thanks for setting me straight. For some reason I was thinking the dome light dimmed (as would the floor lighting)...now I see the light, thanks again. Sometimes my brain acts its age.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by HO455

The dome light circuit doesn't dim with the dash lights. The dash dimmer switch when rotated to full on makes contact with a switch that grounds the circuit as the door switch would through the white wire.
The power to the dash lights goes through the rheostat then to the fuse panel and to the rest of the circuit.
Non dimmable LEDs will work in the factory dome light circuit. They only would become a problem if you went to a different dome light control circuit.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=718853

X2, you don't need a dimmable bulb