LED Mod Thread

[Boricua SS]

See above!

Ok now thats pretty cool and looks a helluva lot easier to do over each individual bulb. Will the factory bulbs shine through at all? Or does the overpowering light from having 2 strips of LEDs just trump the factory lights?

As far as soldering the leads to the board, will all those leds burn out the circuit board if I pick one point to solder too? Or did you just run wires to another point in the wire harness somewhere that could handle all that and still light up when you turned your lights on

 

[Blckshdw]

Ok now thats pretty cool and looks a helluva lot easier to do over each individual bulb. Will the factory bulbs shine through at all? Or does the overpowering light from having 2 strips of LEDs just trump the factory lights?

They should work together. The board mounted bulbs should give you a somewhat direct line of site illumination. The strips give you a more ambient glow, which also happens to fill in all of the hot spots. This works well with a darker color like red, and probably blue. If you did this with something like white, it might be too much and you'd have to adjust your dimmer knob.

As far as soldering the leads to the board, will all those leds burn out the circuit board if I pick one point to solder too

The short answer is . I can give you a longer winded answer if you really want one

Edit: I know the inside of my cluster as a clear diffuser on the back of the gauge face, with large raised sections that are above each of the stock light locations. MrPhoenix80 may have removed his somehow, I'm not sure. I'm sure I probably would have if I tried this mod, as the diffuser wouldn't be needed anymore.

 

[Boricua SS]

:rotlf: I can take a hint with the short answer

My guess is the low current/wattage the leds produce wont overpower the circuit board since they're ran in siries as well. So now to pick a point to solder too and make sure I have the right polarities

 

[Blckshdw]

Good guess, now go feed your mod bug!!

 

[Blckshdw]

Okay guys ive been enlisted to help Aarkon to do the leds in his tb.. I need just lil bit of help with his back window switches though..

where is the light on the '08 rear switches??? My '03 had a socket right in the middle.. but yeah his doesnt.. lol

View attachment 21850

Now that I'm looking at this (and not watching TV at the same time) Did you put your meter on pads D1 and A in the center of the board? My rear modules have an SMD LED in that spot. So I was able to put my 5mm LED there with no resistor. Just a thought.

 

[Midnyteryder196]

Now that I'm looking at this (and not watching TV at the same time) Did you put your meter on pads D1 and A in the center of the board? My rear modules have an SMD LED in that spot. So I was able to put my 5mm LED there with no resistor. Just a thought.

I actually having had the chance to mess with them yet. I'm gonna meet up with him the weekend after easter and get started on the swap, so I will Deff check that out Carlton. I thought I had heard something about smd being on few of the boards but since I couldn't see by his pic I didn't know if some of them came without lighting.

 

[jimmyjam]

Now that I'm looking at this (and not watching TV at the same time) Did you put your meter on pads D1 and A in the center of the board? My rear modules have an SMD LED in that spot. So I was able to put my 5mm LED there with no resistor. Just a thought.

chances are you'll need more than just an led because if you follow that circuit it looks like it is missing a capacitor (left of the led spot) resistors (top of it) and a transistor (top left)

 

[PapaBear229]

Anyone wanna share how they got their steering wheel controls plugged back up after putting LEDs in them?

 

[Midnyteryder196]

Anyone wanna share how they got their steering wheel controls plugged back up after putting LEDs in them?

I think there is an article about replacing steering wheel controls, iirc you have to pull the air bag to put them back in.. I haven't gotten to my controls yet, but will soon .

Maybe someone who has actually done it can chime in for sure

 

[jstrut]

So I've changed everything in my truck to blue leds except for the cluster and the rear door switches, after reading these last few posts now i feel the need to go crazy and do those plus the vents and I've also had a thought of using strip lighting and doing the pocket on the door panels also. Thanks lot for kick staying my mod bug so early this year.

 

[PapaBear229]

I kinda wanna run a smd panel to the red reflectors on the door panels. I'm digging the pocket idea aswell

 

[Midnyteryder196]

I kinda wanna run a smd panel to the red reflectors on the door panels. I'm digging the pocket idea aswell

I have thought about the same thing about the reflector.. but I wanted to stay white like all my other dome lights, so would need to ditch the reflector, and get a clear piece for it

So I've changed everything in my truck to blue leds except for the cluster and the rear door switches, after reading these last few posts now i feel the need to go crazy and do those plus the vents and I've also had a thought of using strip lighting and doing the pocket on the door panels also. Thanks lot for kick staying my mod bug so early this year.

The mod bug tends to go wild around these parts...

Just go with the flow and everything will be alright

 

[PapaBear229]

I have thought about the same thing about the reflector.. but I wanted to stay white like all my other dome lights, so would need to ditch the reflector, and get a clear piece for it

I went red so it'd be easier for me

 

[jstrut]

I went red so it'd be easier for me

I already have my exterior door handles lit up blue and i thought of doing a smoke tint plexi ly up blue. I hate that the reflector doesn't light up.

 

[PapaBear229]

I know! I thought maybe my bulbs were just bad but when I painted them I had to take it off and there's nothin behind it. I was disappointed. I've been thinking about some puddle lights. I tried to do my vanity mirror lights white LEDs just so I could flip them down and see a bit better but that failed horribly. Don't cut the wires on one if you still want the other to work. I think I broke both of them :/

 

[Midnyteryder196]

I already have my exterior door handles lit up blue and i thought of doing a smoke tint plexi ly up blue. I hate that the reflector doesn't light up.

Are there pics of the handles up? I wanted to do that with mine actually

 

[mcsteven]

Are there pics of the handles up? I wanted to do that with mine actually

I have had the idea of doing blue facing the door panel, with some good white ones facing down (or side emitting) as puddle/entry lamps. I've got tons of ideas, just not all the necessary skills, tools, time and money (and patience. Lots and lots of that).

 

[mcsteven]

So I've changed everything in my truck to blue leds except for the cluster and the rear door switches, after reading these last few posts now i feel the need to go crazy and do those plus the vents and I've also had a thought of using strip lighting and doing the pocket on the door panels also. Thanks lot for kick staying my mod bug so early this year.

Don't fight it. Resistance is futile (and I always thought it was measured in ohms).
View attachment 34221
That's one helleva LED on his right side.

 

[jstrut]

Are there pics of the handles up? I wanted to do that with mine actually

The pictures of them are posted on page #47 of this thread along with my grill that's lit up.

 

[Bill05EnvoySLT]

I have read 98% of this thread, and found most of it very intersting..
I only wish there were more pics of finished products and the various locations you all have found to put them! some of you have very ingenious minds. very Creative people in here.

I was wondering if it was possible to take a door sil for example and cut the metal away( the letters in Envoy ) and replace with molded Lexan plastic and then under light it with LED's so when the door opens you get a dim lite shining through the Letters ENVOY against the brushed metal finish to make it stand out.

Also thought about other places to modify with low lvl lighting to accent some of the features. like lighting up the GMC logo on the fron grill and rear hatch door. Stupid stuff but things to make it different.


I bet we could get a old set from a bone yard and carefully cut out the letters use them as a template in a vacuform machine and make lexan insert to light up in the treddle...
I think this is giving me an IDEA!

 

[Blckshdw]

Kevin (DFWWIZ) sells lighted sill plates in various colors that sound like what you're talking about. His website is under reconstruction right now, but he can give you details on what he's got in stock.

Some guys on the other side have done the lighted bowtie mod in a few different ways. THere's a method that I plan to try later this year, it's less than simple, like most of the mod ideas in my head, so we'll see how that goes. I didn't consider lighting up the rear one. Maybe dimly lit would be OK since it would be in the face of the driver behind you.

 

[jimmyjam]

Kinda like... these?
http://www.tbssowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58834

 

[Bill05EnvoySLT]

Kinda like... these?
http://www.tbssowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58834

yes almost like that but i had 0 space between the light and the cut out sill. i was thinking of making a slightly raised letter back ground to fill in the metal sill so that they appear fluid and level then when you run your hand across you fell the seperation but its all level. kind of like 1 inserts into the metal frame but only the letters light up.. its very similar but that one looks like they just use a cnc and cut out the letters lay it over a colored plexiglass or lexan and clear it over the top.. my idea was to actually rais the lettering in lexan with a vacuform and fit the letters into the cut out letters in the metal frame. if you know what i mean.

 

[jimmyjam]

I pickin up what you're laying down, it would be awesome. do you have a vacuum table? only person I know that's attempted it (a certain "LED Guru") hasn't had much in the way of success...

I definitely think you need to cnc the letters out at least 16ga stainless, don't think cutting them out by hand would yield the results you'd want. unless you've got a much steadier hand than me

 

[djthumper]

Kevin (DFWWIZ) sells lighted sill plates in various colors that sound like what you're talking about. His website is under reconstruction right now, but he can give you details on what he's got in stock.

I can probably get a hold of those sill pics from his site and let them be seen.

 

[Fire06]

That would look good

 

[MAY03LT]

Getting back on topic...

Fresh set of empty 194 bases showed up from China today, so time to fix my burnt up dome lights. One for the front row, one for the third row.

.

Hey Carlton, is there a fancy name for these bases? I tried every combination of 194, bases, socket, and empty that I could think of in an ebay search and can't find anything. I think to make my LED glove box light work with the factory 02 switch, I am def gonna need one of these.

 

[Blckshdw]

I'm still getting used to the email notifications, as I was reading it, I was like "

he can't be using a 194 base in his cargo light!! What is he smoking?"

I'll do you one better than the name, here's the exact batch I bought.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330710404302?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649

And the quoted post does link back to the original post. It's the curved arrow at the top right corner of the quoted post. Clicking that will take you back to the OP

Edit: OK check that, pre-migration quoted posts don't link back

 

[MAY03LT]

I'm still getting used to the email notifications, as I was reading it, I was like "

he can't be using a 194 base in his cargo light!! What is he smoking?"

I'll do you one better than the name, here's the exact batch I bought.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330710404302?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649

And the quoted post does link back to the original post. It's the curved arrow at the top right corner of the quoted post. Clicking that will take you back to the OP

Thanks a milly bossman!

Yeah I was so used to the old format I didn't even think to look to the right. But some good came out of reading all 44 pages again, because I was at a roadblock with what to do about the glove box mod until I saw your post.

 

[bmcutright]

Another option is to tap into the brown wire that runs in the thick bundle under the driver's side dash, just above the brake pedal. That brown wire is for the trailer parking lights, but suits the same purpose. When I did my mod, I used that for the parking lights, and tapped the turn signal from the door modules as detailed in Jman's article GMTNation - Installing Mirror Turn Signals (since my LS didn't have turn signals built in)

This works fine for filament style bulbs, but with LEDs, since they are polarized, you'll need to wire up a relay system to send/stop voltage based on if you have your parking lights and/or turn signals on...

I am interested in doing this but I can't find the Jman article, and having low amber LED for parking and high amber LED for turning.

As for changing the instrument cluster, did yours have the DIC already? If not, do you know if it's possible to change to DIC from a basic one? If so, I would also be interested in blue LED backlighting like yours, and the blue/green 4x4 switch listed previously as well. I also like the italicized font of the newer clusters, can those be interchanged? Maybe they're particular to the DIC cluster? And does changing the cluster affect the odometer?

I know I have seen articles relating to changing the instrument cluster, but since the upgrade I haven't been able to find them.

 

[Blckshdw]

I am interested in doing this but I can't find the Jman article, and having low amber LED for parking and high amber LED for turning.

As for changing the instrument cluster, did yours have the DIC already? If not, do you know if it's possible to change to DIC from a basic one? If so, I would also be interested in blue LED backlighting like yours, and the blue/green 4x4 switch listed previously as well. I also like the italicized font of the newer clusters, can those be interchanged? Maybe they're particular to the DIC cluster? And does changing the cluster affect the odometer?

I know I have seen articles relating to changing the instrument cluster, but since the upgrade I haven't been able to find them.

Yeah, we have to rework all of the articles to work on the new site. It's a labor intensive process.

My TB did not have a DIC cluster stock, I bought a used one from an Ebay junkyard, but modded my stock cluster face (the white ones are a bit more rare) so the DIC display showed through. The italicized faces are in the SS models. The main differences there are the tachometer and speedo have different ranges of numbers, so if you use one of those, the numbers won't be completely accurate. The odometer is contained within the cluster, so if you get a new one, you'll need to get it reprogrammed to match the mileage on your current cluster. The place I went to to get mine done is over by Raymond James stadium, and they charged me $125.

For doing the side mirror mod, it's pretty easy. I can help you locate the necessary wires and get things taken apart when we work on your suspension stuff in 2 weeks. Do your mirrors already have turn signals in them, or no?

 

[bmcutright]

No, they do not. The only upgrade this had from a complete base model is the 4x4.

 

[Blckshdw]

No biggie. The harder part is finding that parking light wire, and fishing your extra wiring through the door boots. I'll try remember to throw my wire snake in the truck when we have the mini meet, should make quick work of that part. We can at least run the wiring through to the mirrors. I think I have my old amber mirror lenses in a box somewhere, you're welcome to them if you want em.

 

[bmcutright]

Works for me, keeping everything plain enough for now

 

[Blckshdw]

Works for me, keeping everything plain enough for now

Heh heh, in a year or so after being a member on this forum, I'm going to remind you of this post. By then, you probably won't believe that you said it.

 

[bmcutright]

I did say "for now", those LED interior lights look real nice, I was thinking red for the map lights (night mode)

 

[Blckshdw]

I want to redo my dome lights, with SMDs instead of the old school 5mm ones. Should be brighter, and allow me to use fewer, so things should fit together better. The 2nd row light housing doesn't close all the way, and the 3rd row lights, you can't push the switch (not that anyone ever sits back there that would need it) but it's the principality of the matter.

A couple of people have done red, it's not as bright as the other colors, so at least you won't have to worry about it being harsh on your eyes.

 

[SBUBandit]

I want to redo my dome lights, with SMDs instead of the old school 5mm ones. Should be brighter, and allow me to use fewer...

Use fewer? I quit reading at that point. Now you're just being ridiculous

 

[Blckshdw]

Use fewer? I quit reading at that point. Now you're just being rediculous

You need to quit reading and start modding. How long ago did I figure out the 194 switchback challenge you issued me? You get yours done yet?

But for real, I literally crammed as many LEDs in those that I could at the time. Upon further review, I could have arranged them differently and fit more in some cases. But the 2nd row dome lights vibrate in the headliner with the bass in some songs, so that's annoying. Just in my 1st row lights, some of the LEDs flicker and burn out. I've replaced those culprits once already, and the same spots are having the same issue. So somehow, those spots are seeing too much current. I'm guessing there's a problem with the resistor, and it's not limiting as much as it should be.

Perfect excuse for an overhaul. Get some better quality gear in there, then I won't need the high quantity anymore.

 

[bmcutright]

Rewired mirror signals to be solid and just so happened to get my LED bulbs in for them as well.

I wish fireman4215 posted more information on his truck on his profile, I like the front corner lights, mirror lights, and would like to find out how much lift and how big of tires are on it. Looks sharp, stands out but modest, things I would like to go for.