How to: adding 100 series hatch/camping/work lights (1 Viewer)

[FullyLitLED]

Got the idea from the new model toyota's. A constant problem I have is not having enough light for when I am hooking up the trailer at night or working in the rear end of the truck. The interior gets lit up but sometimes having a significant amount of light on the floor will help.

Motivation for this upgrade came from the numerous amounts of people in the 80 section who are adding an extra dome light panel. Same principle, but these lights are multipurpose.

So here is a length writeup, sorry for the blabbering

Parts required:
-Dremel or similar rotary tool
-2x 80 series dome light assemblies with wiring
-atleast 3 to 4 feet of wire(black and red for color coding)
-wire strippers
-screwdriver(flat and phillips head)

optional
-LED dome light panels
-if your dome light assemblies do not match the interior color, go to home depot and find matching rustoleum paint for plastic trim

note: I skipped the part showing how to paint and color match the light assemblies to the interior, because lets face it, we all know how to tape and rattlecan

1. Begin by taking off the rear hatch trim. Make sure to unscrew the handle and pry it out

2. start with a clean work area then create a template like the one shown in the photos below.

3. make sure to measure, remeasure and measure again because after you cut it, there is no going back

 

[FullyLitLED]

4. Make sure to have gloves and protective eyewear before doing any work with a rotary tool. Last thing you want is particles in your way.

5. Now carefully work around the template that you made. If you made proper cuts, they will fit the dome light assembly perfectly

6. Now clean your cuts and test fit the dome light assemblies before adding and screwing in the hardware. The method of opening the lens of the dome light assembly is shown below. You will need to do this in order to access the mounting hardware.

 

[FullyLitLED]

7. Install bulb or LED panel in the dome light assembly(optional)

8. Now this is how the 100 series should have came with from the factory. Functional in every way! No matter what you need, you can use it for work or camping lights

I'll add the other how to information tomorrow, got lazy just about now

 

[FullyLitLED]

preview: this wiring diagram was provided by Cyclosteve(Thanks man!)

2nd picture: also wanted to show how I ran the wires. The only part that is exposed an looks non-oem is circled in red. I will try to cover that somehow but not sure how I will do it. All other parts outside the red box are hidden behind trim panels

 

[FullyLitLED]

8. Plan everything ahead of time! I said the wrong amount of wire earlier. Make sure to have at least 8 feet of wire for both positive and negative. No also plan to use an inline fuse in order to have added protection. I used a 7.5 amp inline fuse.

8a. This is not required but I used HID amp connectors because I wanted to make sure that I could quickly detach the wiring in case I need to do some servicing on the back side of the hatch panel. Good thing I never throw away anything that is not black headlight covers or orange tow hooks

9. I had an LED strip in place before so I already had wires spliced into the dome light. The two new dome lights that were added to the hatch follow the functionality of the cargo row dome light assembly(On, Off, Door) so I will post pictures of where I spliced in order to show how to get the same result. So happy that I can get rid of this LED strip already

10. Cut a notch in the upper hatch panel in order to be able to route the wires through that space. Now zip tie the wires to the wiring that is already there so that the wires do not get displaced.

10a. When running the wiring, make sure that no wires are pinched. I know this may not be required but I am a bit OCD about those things. Shrink-wrap EVERYTHING and every spot where two wire assemblies are connected

 

[FullyLitLED]

11. Shots of the final product before I put the door handle back in. Make sure to test whether or not your lights turn on because it could be a PITA to take everything apart again. View from the inside of the hundy! Looks OEM?

12. More pictures

Finally, clean up the mess you made with wires, tape and other dusty s*** and call it a day.

I will post pictures of the setup in action later tonight

Comments and concerns appreciated!

 

[FullyLitLED]

Last spot that I will reserve for this write up

 

[bamachem]

Awesome idea! I like it!

 

[B-RAD]

Great idea! Nice job...can't wait to see the rest of the photos and improved lighting!

 

[RobRed]

What do we have here??? LJ sporting a mod and a how to. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on you. Nice work and a good idea.

Sent from my iPad 2 using IH8MUD

 

[Mxndrnks]

Very cool. I like the oem look. This is my next project but I am going a slightly different route. The end product will be a light that can go either red or white using a 3-way switch. The end product will look like this:

Jeep not included......

 

[FullyLitLED]

Updated with more pics and details

Awesome idea! I like it!

Thank you!

Great idea! Nice job...can't wait to see the rest of the photos and improved lighting!

Later tonight I will post pics of the benefits

What do we have here??? LJ sporting a mod and a how to. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on you. Nice work and a good idea.

Sent from my iPad 2 using IH8MUD

Trying to be like you man Still need to finish my drawer setup!

Very cool. I like the oem look. This is my next project but I am going a slightly different route. The end product will be a light that can go either red or white using a 3-way switch. The end product will look like this:

Jeep not included......

Why didn't you post this earlier? Jk I love the idea but the red light scares me, feels like I am in a horror film, dont want to attract vampires But really, I think I might change the color to red after seeing this picture! Thanks!

 

[Mxndrnks]

Updated with more pics and details

Thank you!

Later tonight I will post pics of the benefits

Trying to be like you man Still need to finish my drawer setup!

Why didn't you post this earlier? Jk I love the idea but the red light scares me, feels like I am in a horror film, dont want to attract vampires But really, I think I might change the color to red after seeing this picture! Thanks!

The red is great because it doesn't kill your night vision. But there is also a white light in the same housing so you can easily switch between the two.

 

[RobRed]

8. Plan everything ahead of time! I said the wrong amount of wire earlier. Make sure to have at least 8 feet of wire for both positive and negative. No also plan to use an inline fuse in order to have added protection. I used a 7.5 amp inline fuse.

8a. This is not required but I used HID amp connectors because I wanted to make sure that I could quickly detach the wiring in case I need to do some servicing on the back side of the hatch panel. Good thing I never throw away anything that is not black headlight covers or orange tow hooks

9. I had an LED strip in place before so I already had wires spliced into the dome light. The two new dome lights that were added to the hatch follow the functionality of the cargo row dome light assembly(On, Off, Door) so I will post pictures of where I spliced in order to show how to get the same result. So happy that I can get rid of this LED strip already

10. Cut a notch in the upper hatch panel in order to be able to route the wires through that space. Now zip tie the wires to the wiring that is already there so that the wires do not get displaced.

10a. When running the wiring, make sure that no wires are pinched. I know this may not be required but I am a bit OCD about those things. Shrink-wrap EVERYTHING and every spot where two wire assemblies are connected

Excuse me sir... We do not use black tape except to wrap wires. We use it to connect them.

Sent from my iPad 2 using IH8MUD

 

[FullyLitLED]

Excuse me sir... We do not use black tape except to wrap wires. We use it to connect them.

Sent from my iPad 2 using IH8MUD

thats what I meant, solder, black tape, then shrink wrap

Now time for those action shots

pic 1: Interior lighting on
pic 2 and 3: work/hatch lights on

overall I am happy with the results, I will be using them next weekend when I head down to tahoe again

 

[RobRed]

I want to see these in person.

You should change the switch wiring so they're on in either position. Darin won't be happy if the switches are not aligned when both on.

Sent from my iPad 2 using IH8MUD

 

[FullyLitLED]

I want to see these in person.

You should change the switch wiring so they're on in either position. Darin won't be happy if the switches are not aligned when both on.

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I would have flipped the other housing around so they are in the same orientation but then it would look even more uneven. Darin can't possibly be that OCD

 

[RobRed]

I would have flipped the other housing around so they are in the same orientation but then it would look even more uneven. Darin can't possibly be that OCD

Darin is totally that OCD. Like I said wire them so either position turns them on.. That's the cool way.

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[FullyLitLED]

Darin is totally that OCD. Like I said wire them so either position turns them on.. That's the cool way.

Sent from my iPad 2 using IH8MUD

I will go back to do that maybe tmrw! Good tip cos I did not even get bothered by that...until you pointed it out lol

sent via ih8mud app through an old a** piece of technology

 

[wildsmith]

I put some flush mount lights in my upper tailgate with a seperate switch and I ran the wires through the rubber channel that the OEM wiring goes through, connected to an aux battery power feed point.