tuan92129

So, my friend decides to buy me and 8 pack of blue led lights (led directional grille lights) and I'm still deciding where to put them on my 95 es 300.
Based on installation difficulty level and style where should i use them?
1. step lights, 4 on each side.
2. front foot well lighting
3. .....

For any of these, am i able to use the ignition light bulb as a power source?
(i have NO experience with anything electrical) so yeah

Nextourer

maplight?
licence plate light?

mkool

I would go with #2. That's more pratical to me. It looks more neat. Only thing I have to find out how to install them. Any ideas??

tuan92129

So my grandpa taught me some stuff about wiring and for $25 (yeah I'm cheap), i added 4 step lights to each side with an led ignition bulb, and two foot well leds. It turns off when you close the doors, but is it too ricey???

https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/sh...0&ppuser=51157

Nextourer

wow nice! I've always wanted to do that (I prefer the 4 round circles of 4 LED clusters than a flood light from a neon tube) but kits are usually expensive.

How can I add that to my car? or should I PM you?

tuan92129

Thanks However, decided to go cheap (only in highschool) so, i would have gone with the step lights from Pilot automotive (you can find them at autozone) They are $25 for four step lights (in clusters of 5) x2, and they come with mounting brackets. There was a picture of this gs with the step lights that i really liked it was "Valenza Entrance Illumination" or something. white in the middle with a blue ring.

For my cheap lights, i took a wire and ran it from the ignition bulb wire to the underside of the car (wires are visible when doors are open) then, i ran it underneath the car behind the metal trim and resorted to epoxying the lights to the bottom of the car. i bought 8 blue leds that came with a clear cover which i sealed in epoxy, (didn't use a neon tube).

Nextourer

So it's $25 for two or $25 for each set of 4?

What's this ignition bulb wire you speak of?

I'm not an EE so I can't DIY this mod unless there's a step-by-step procedure lol.

tcheung87

I have LED entry lights as well, but I bought them from an online retailer, installation was not easy but not too difficult as long as you're willing to work for it. Clean look

tcheung87

Here are the pics, since I cannot attach at the moment. https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/sh...y.php?cat=3746

tuan92129

I kind of bsed my way through the installation lol, so you don't need to know what you are doing to do this, and i finished it in 2 hours. If the step lights are too difficult, $3 will get you an led ignition light. (will post pics later)
The Pilot automotive step lights were $25 for 4 clusters of 5 leds, so you need two of them.

tcheung87's step lights looks like single leds? how did you run the wires and to what power source?

Nextourer

tcheung, those are really nice.

So yeah, that's basically the effect I want. The problem is, the Prius is low to the ground so... would I need some protection for the lights? I don't know.

I still don't know the ignition thing that you speak of, but sure post pics later.

tcheung87

I purchased them from http://www.jlevisw.com

Well the lights came with 3M adhesive backing on a metal bracket, I decided not to use the adhesive and ended up drilling into the frame just using a tiny drill bit and a small screw. Not sure of the size because my uncle did most of the drilling. I doubt you will need protection for hte lights, they are behind a hard plastic and completely waterproof.

My installation in general wasn't that complicated but it took a lot of effort and time. Basically ended up removing the interior driver side dash panel, the A pillar one, to find the dome light wire, tapped into that. I followed the rest of this write up from ScionLife. I ended up cutting the wires in half to split the lights 5/5 so i could run the wire through the heatshield and to the other side (afraid of hot exhaust) then soldered it back together and ran the lights across the other side of the car.

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/view...17628&start=25

Scroll down until nd4spd_4_a_tc's write up appears, . I did drill a small hole through my floor under hte mats and carpet, and covered it with a small grommet for the wiring, you will need to run a power and a ground through it. An alternative would be to go through the wheel well.

tuan92129

That seems very complicated.... Since the wires were very thin, i just stuck them inbetween the door jamb, underneath the body trim, and behind the wheel well. to get to the other side of the car, i stuck the wire inside the dash between the trim, but every car is going to be different.

I think the Prius already has led ignition light. which is the ring around the ignition. more pics..same look just blue

Nextourer

Looks classy!

Ohh, *that* light lol. Yeah we do have one. You mean you used that as a power source? Hmm.. all this power source and grounding thing is confusing to me. I wish I was more interested in circuitry.

How visible are the light bulbs as you approach the car? I'm debating whether to have the lights hidden and just have the spot lights visible or have both the bulbs and the spot light visible.

tcheung, thanks for the link! That set seems pretty good. Too bad I just missed the August group buy on ScionLife! $40 still seems fairly reasonable though.

tuan92129

grounding??? uhh no idea either lol.
if you want the lights hidden, just place the lights behind the metal trim under the car. Since the prius is so low, it wouldn't really matter where you put it. You will also have to tap into a different source if you want the lights on when you unlock the door. Be sure to aim the lights correctly.. mine were crooked and i had to blur the lights.