$40 DIY Footwell LEDs / Ambient Lights 12V ignition

For those of you that don’t have the “blue mood lighting” in the footwells that stay on while driving, here’s a way to achieve that without ripping open the entire dash or center console. The basic idea is to pull the blue lights in the footwells from a 12V ignition source, and repurpose the original wires for aftermarket LEDs that will illuminate upon entry.

1. Remove the storage bin on top of the dash behind the radio (just clips, simply pops up and out). Remove the bottom plastic pieces on each side of the dash. Driver side has a screw on the left and right front with clips along the front. Passenger side is all clips at the front.

2. Remove the plug from the back of the aux power outlet (cigarette lighter). These are the two wires that will be tapped for 12v ignition. White/Red is power, Lavender is ground. (I used butt connectors because that’s what was laying around, but you could also use pins to tap into the back of the connector for all of taps in this diy)



3. Take some wire and run it down behind each side of the dash. I used a flashlight in the floorboard to help guide the wires down.

4. Unclip the factory lighting from the plastic bottom and expose the wires under the black wire sleeves. I cut the wires in half about 1.5” away from the light connecter. Simply tie the lights into the wires that you dropped down from the aux power outlet. White/red is power for both sides.



And just like that, you have ambient footwell lighting that comes on at ignition, and remains on until you turn the truck off.



HOWEVER, now you don’t have footwell lighting upon entry, but that’s okay, because now you have wires just begging for aftermarket LEDs!

5. Take the existing wires that you cut your factory footwell lights from, and tie in your new LEDs. I took this a step further and tapped two wires to run to the back. The LEDs I’m using are picture below. I bought them from Oreilly auto parts, $20 per pair. Really quite impressed with the light output.

6. To run lights to the back, pry up the plastic piece at the bottom of the door, followed by the kick panel (there’s a plastic screw in the back). I ran the wires down the channel, and instead of pulling out the plastic trim behind the seat belt, I was able to just slide it under all the way to the trim piece at the back bottom of door.



7. I drilled a very small hole in the back of the seat belt trim piece to feed my wires through. I wanted the lights to be high enough to where I could see into the under seat storage. From there, you can just tuck the wire behind the rubber door jamb all the way to the bottom where you can tie into the wire you ran from the front.



Results are amazing. I’m thrilled, and it didn’t feel like a hard project. Just a couple of hours of splicing, crimping, and taping!

 

Thx for sharing. Very nice work and illustrations. I don’t have OEM footwell lights but will tap power from where you did and buy the OEM blue footwell lights for clean mounting. Will also do something like you did for entry lighting but find another source of switched entry power.

 

I saw a YouTube video of a guy that tapped the entry lights from the pressure switch in the actual door jamb. It was kind of difficult to follow, but he shows you that switch between the 15-16 minute mark:

https://youtu.be/7CXiaPlf4fM?si=RCclmGMqa59x-Bu8

 

Does anyone have part numbers for OEM footwell lights? Anything for the rear seat footwells the attach under the driver and passenger seats?

 

Marine LED's will do the same thing. I have the whole cockpit on my surf boat done as well as transom lights.... all in blue. Buy them on Amazon and remember they dont need to be big. 2 small LED's per light will do the trick, you dont want it blinding.....all are 12v

I have the OEM mood lighting and run them at the middle setting, otherwise you lose your night vision on the back country roads

 

I believe it is
Part Number: 810800C010

 

I like this idea to tap into accessory lighting. I have a limited, and no foot well lighting. I have been trying to find a power source for cab lighting when doors are open, this may have to do, by running lights all the time.


Mike

 

OEM mood lighting runs if the truck is running, only notice it in the dark