Ive been wanting to put some leds or cathodes in my headlights but i am having trouble finding much info. i have searched and searched and i havent found a whole lot. Im sorry if its there and im missing it but i have tried. anybody know of a good diy write up or anything like that. This is what i want to do. The pictures are of stick_1NZ's ride and i hope he doesnt mind.



has anybody seen or used the varad headlight led flashers that are at https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie....php?t=103706? that may be an easy option but i just would really appreciate some input. Thanks for everything.

 

IMO, cathodes would be WAY to bright.

I like a single LED in each light. You can drill a hole for it (I recommend the top of the housing...nice dispersion that way. But Even better is to mount it right next to the headlight bulb. Look at it through the front of the housing and you will see what I mean...just to the left of the bulb is a small hole that could easily accomidate a single LED.

 

if i do put the single led in, where is the best place to wire it to? i want to be able to leave it on with the car off so i guess it would have to be to a hotwire somewhere and i guess it would need a switch. any adivice on the best way to get the whole wiring set up done?

 

Yes, run the wire to a switch (Lowes brand...looks OEM). There are 3 "punch-outs" below the "oven" in the dash...perfect spot for the switch IMO.

Run the wires through the wiring harness that is already there (or drill a hole...your choice) to your switch. You can leave two LEDs on for days w/o any concern with draining the battery.

 

yeah i already have one of the lowes switches for my interior lighting and i have the factory fog lights so it would be cool to go ahead and use the third slot. Do you know of a good place to get power and also a ground location? i tapped into the cig lighter for my interior stuff and i really am not that great and wiring and such so i need all the help i can get. Thanks for everything!

 

Consider the following:

1) Run the +/- to your interior cathode switch. Unless you don’t want them all on at the same time.

2) Tap off the battery. Personally, I don’t believe in tapping into the cig lighter and the like....I like everything to be coming off the battery or the fuse block. If you tap the battery, do something like this:


0000000000000000000 ---------------- to LED (w/resistor!!) Left headlamp
+ ------ inline fuse -----<
0000000000000000000---------------- to LED (w/resistor!!) Right headlamp

(ignore the 00's..had to put hem there to line everything up)


Do not blow off the importance of the fuse OR the resistors.

The negitive wire can be grounded anywhere it can touch bare metal. You can even just run the + off the battery and tap into an exsisting ground line (like your cathodes or whatever).

 

thanks for the quick response, i think i am having trobule understanding because i dont know how to tap into the battery. i just went outside and looked in the fuse block under the hood and i for sure do not understand how to do it. sorry to be a burden to you but can you explain that?
okay tell me if where i go wrong on this:
i go from wired led with resistor to the battery and from the battery through the firewall to my switch. where does the inline fuse go? am i thinking of the right piece here?

i know at some point i need to get power from the battery i just dont know when and how. thanks so much

 

If you're hesitant to drill a hole in your headlamp housings, there's this option. I just got a set but haven't installed them yet. The guy is a great seller BTW. had a problem and he stepped up and took care and then some.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...Pr4_PcY_BID_IT

 

what kind of bulbs do those use?

 

No, your close but not quite: LED to switch, switch to fuse, fuse to oring, oring to battery.

You want the fuse close to the battery...about 12" max away from it. Get an o-ring thingy (you crimp it onto the end of a wire) and you should be good to go.

Battery ---Oring----------fuse---------Switch--------LEDs (you can split the 1 wire into 2 anywhere AFTER the switch)

Eire the LEDs in parallel (each LED splices into its own power supply). Hope I didnt confuse things even more with the parallel comment.

 

Cool link ScionicMan.

 

okay i think i am starting to get it. so i go from led in headlight through the firewall to the switch. from the switch i go back through the firewall to my inline fuse holder. i attach an o ring onto the fuse holder and put in on the + battery terminal. i dont really understand the parallel comment. so each led needs to have its + wire go to the switch individually right? i cant just splice them togther somewhere before it goes through the firewall. so i will have two wires going into my switch and only one coming away from it going to the fuse. you are doing a great job helping me and i will get it eventually. thanks again

 

Correct.


I would do a short piece of wire between the fuse and the oring myself...6" is fine.



No...think of it as a Y...LEd each as a wire coming of of it and then somewhere in the engine are splice the two leads into 1, then run it through the firewall.


Again, to clarify, you should have 2 positive wires coming off your switch...one to the battery and one to both LED's

 

okay im pretty sure i have it now, im sure you are getting frustrated with my lack of knowledge but you have been great. okay we start with our two led's. each has its own + wire and somewhere before the firewall the splice together and become one. this single wire goes through the firewall and hooks into the switch. from the switch we run a wire to our fuse. so that means we have one wire coming in from the leds and one wire going out to the fuese. from the fuse we will have a 6" wire that connects to a o ring which directly attaches to the + battery post. this 6"'s of wire, is that an additional 6" on top of the wire from the fuse holder, or should i cut that wire back and attach my new wire? As for grounding, i can just ground both leds anywhere i can find bare metal and i can ground the switch in a similar spot. tell me what i got wrong this time, hopefully it wasnt so much. thanks

 

Thanks. We all have to start somewhere, so no worries.

Bingo!



No, the total length of wire from the oring to the fuse should be 12"...not a big deal if it is a few inchs longer or shorter, but the closer it is to the battery, the better chance it will catch any shorts w/o damaging your battery or electrical system.

Ground your LED's to your cathode ground...that would be easiest, but yes, anywhere you can find bare metal (or take some paint off to make it bare) will be fine.

 

great i think i have the wiring down. what is the best way to mount the leds? i went out and i see the little holes beside the bulb, what is the hole for, it looks like it was made for this. so how do i keep the led in place? also, any suggestions for routing the wiring through the engine bay? thanks

 

Oh no...here is where I sound getto ...I just did a basic mock up to see if I like the location with a dab of silicone just to see if the light reflected well. It looked good and I was going to secure them a bit better. That was a month ago ago and I have not gotten around to it. So far it is holding quite well.

You could use some stiff wire to make a more secure mount or?????

I like the silicone because 1) I can remove it and the car is back to OEM and 2) it makes it easier to play with the position of the led.

Use plenty of wire at stay along the edges....dont do a straight line from the lights to the firewall...it looks tacky and heat may damage the wires. I would say (starting from the drivers light) to run the + to the passenger light led +, (make them into 1 wire somewhere around there) then continue along side the fender, along the firewall back to the drivers side. Use wire ties (elec. tape works OK) and for an OEM look, wrap the wires in loom.

Slainte!!

My wknd starts now....see you on Monday.

 

where did you get those led's from, what is a good brand? does anyone know of a strobe light to use in the head lights?

 

This is a current pic of the headlights now. What I've done is I mounted a 4" blue cathode under the headlight housing right where the bumper meets the headlight. Also I mounted the same size blue cathode inside the housing and right next to the headlight bulb is a little hole where I mounted a blue LED.

 

hey bro, fellow devil dog here, one problem your pic, can't see it, waz up with that