Underseat Led Diy
09-16-2006, 08:01 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 2,881
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vehicle: 2001/Hyundai/Tiburon
I was wanting to do the underseat LEDs, but I really didn't want to spend the money on getting the (acrylic?) bar of LEDs. I had a bunch of LEDs left over from another project, so I decided to do my own underseat LEDs on my own.
It's a really simply DIY, but took me a couple hours or so since I didn't do it all non-stop, and because I wanted them lined up perfectly.
Materials needed:
6-8-10 LEDs; depends on how bright you want it. I did 10, 6 normal, 4 shaved 5mm LEDs. I got mine on eBay with the resistors and a foot of wire already attached.
2-4 feet of wire (18+ guage wire is fine)
Duct tape (or another means of sticking the LEDs)
About 1-2 hours (could probably be done in half an hour per side if you're quick)
Fan (to keep you cool working in your car for that long wink1.gif )
Underneath the seat, behind the seat height adjustment bar, I taped 6 LED's to the bottom of the seat. Placement doesn't really matter, but that was the best place I could find that projected out well enough. There's about a 1" slot that I put the LEDs on. I did it in such a way that they would be aiming about at the middle of my floor. I put one on each edge going along the sides of the floor, then the other 4 spread out in such a way to get even coverage. I had to put more on the outsides (left side on the driver side, right side on the passenger) or else the seat slider lever gets in the way and creates an ugly shadow. Use the duct tape to attach the LEDs to the seat. (I know, it's probably not the best to use with electricity, but it works. Electrical tape doesn't hold them up well enough, and I didn't want to mess with glue.)
Once they're all taped in there, it's easy enough to readjust the aiming to cover the floor well enough.
Pics of attaching:
Get the wires contained well enough (or cut them to length) and attach them all to about foot or two of the other wire. (I did a really bad job of cleaning up my wires...) Run that wire towards the side console, and slip it underneath/inside the console. Then take off the shifter surround to access the wire, and use a wiretap or something to attach it to some power. (I simply cut the insulation on a wire, and attached my wire, then covered it with electrical tape). I ran power from the lights on my ashtray area (only on when your lights are), but hopefully I'll be running full time power from the engine bay at some point. It's best to connect them to a switch or something so that way they won't be on all the time when your lights are on. I haven't done the switch yet, but I'll hopefully be wiring all my LEDs to a few switches I'm wanting to put in my console somewhere.
Then take the 4 shaved LEDs and put them underneath the dash, below the steering wheel, just above the pedals. These shed lighht very nicely over top of the pedals, where the underseat LEDs didn't shine. It also prevented a huge shadow from my feet or anything else on the floor from showing up.
These were attached in the same way as the others, but it was a little harder to do since I was doing it blindly (I didn't take off the bottom part of my dash). It wasn't terribly hard, and went a bit faster than the others as I didn't have to work on direction, since they were shaved. I put them so just the LED itself was hooked over the edge. (There's a little lip on the edge of the dash piece, and I couldn't have it behind that, so they had to go over just a little bit.) Sorry, I couldn't fit my camera back there, so I couldn't get any pictures of it.
Wiring was run along the bottom of the dash and into the middle console right next to the radio. It was wired up to the power the same way as the underseat ones.
And the final product!! (Yes I know my floor isn't vacuumed yet...)
Enjoy!!
It's a really simply DIY, but took me a couple hours or so since I didn't do it all non-stop, and because I wanted them lined up perfectly.
Materials needed:
6-8-10 LEDs; depends on how bright you want it. I did 10, 6 normal, 4 shaved 5mm LEDs. I got mine on eBay with the resistors and a foot of wire already attached.
2-4 feet of wire (18+ guage wire is fine)
Duct tape (or another means of sticking the LEDs)
About 1-2 hours (could probably be done in half an hour per side if you're quick)
Fan (to keep you cool working in your car for that long wink1.gif )
Underneath the seat, behind the seat height adjustment bar, I taped 6 LED's to the bottom of the seat. Placement doesn't really matter, but that was the best place I could find that projected out well enough. There's about a 1" slot that I put the LEDs on. I did it in such a way that they would be aiming about at the middle of my floor. I put one on each edge going along the sides of the floor, then the other 4 spread out in such a way to get even coverage. I had to put more on the outsides (left side on the driver side, right side on the passenger) or else the seat slider lever gets in the way and creates an ugly shadow. Use the duct tape to attach the LEDs to the seat. (I know, it's probably not the best to use with electricity, but it works. Electrical tape doesn't hold them up well enough, and I didn't want to mess with glue.)
Once they're all taped in there, it's easy enough to readjust the aiming to cover the floor well enough.
Pics of attaching:
Get the wires contained well enough (or cut them to length) and attach them all to about foot or two of the other wire. (I did a really bad job of cleaning up my wires...) Run that wire towards the side console, and slip it underneath/inside the console. Then take off the shifter surround to access the wire, and use a wiretap or something to attach it to some power. (I simply cut the insulation on a wire, and attached my wire, then covered it with electrical tape). I ran power from the lights on my ashtray area (only on when your lights are), but hopefully I'll be running full time power from the engine bay at some point. It's best to connect them to a switch or something so that way they won't be on all the time when your lights are on. I haven't done the switch yet, but I'll hopefully be wiring all my LEDs to a few switches I'm wanting to put in my console somewhere.
Then take the 4 shaved LEDs and put them underneath the dash, below the steering wheel, just above the pedals. These shed lighht very nicely over top of the pedals, where the underseat LEDs didn't shine. It also prevented a huge shadow from my feet or anything else on the floor from showing up.
These were attached in the same way as the others, but it was a little harder to do since I was doing it blindly (I didn't take off the bottom part of my dash). It wasn't terribly hard, and went a bit faster than the others as I didn't have to work on direction, since they were shaved. I put them so just the LED itself was hooked over the edge. (There's a little lip on the edge of the dash piece, and I couldn't have it behind that, so they had to go over just a little bit.) Sorry, I couldn't fit my camera back there, so I couldn't get any pictures of it.
Wiring was run along the bottom of the dash and into the middle console right next to the radio. It was wired up to the power the same way as the underseat ones.
And the final product!! (Yes I know my floor isn't vacuumed yet...)
Enjoy!!
09-16-2006, 12:23 PM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 9,172
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vehicle: 2001/Hyundai/Tiburon
edited for ya.
what i would recommend doing to clean it up a bit is getting a thin long peice of abs plastic and drilling hole for the leds. then zip-tie it to the bottom of the seat.
what i would recommend doing to clean it up a bit is getting a thin long peice of abs plastic and drilling hole for the leds. then zip-tie it to the bottom of the seat.
09-16-2006, 09:49 PM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 490
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just a question..do u get any trouble moving the seat? or if people sit in the back? I wanted to do this with my one but i just thought that to move the seat freely i would need to leave some loose wires, and then people sitting in the back might get their feet into the wires and brake the whole thing..
09-16-2006, 11:42 PM
#8
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 2,881
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vehicle: 2001/Hyundai/Tiburon
As far as I know, the seat can move forward and backwards just fine. The main power wire is loose enough that it can move, and the other wires are clean enough that they won't catch on anything. I always keep my seat as far back as it goes anyhow. As for people getting in the backseat, I usually don't have people back there, but if i do, they typically get in the passenger side as the seat slides forward easier. I am planning on doing that side too though, but I don't forsee any problems.
I taped all my loose wires to the main bar that adjusts seat height, so if you try to rotate that knob, the wires would get twisted up. Didn't realize what it was for until I was finished, but I have no reason to change it anyhow. You could simply tape them to a different place, but I didn't feel like undoing it and moving it. Also, if the seat height changes, the aiming of the LEDs will change too, so that's not optimal.
Oh, and all the LEDs are far forward enough, there's no way to get your feet on them from the back seat either...
Admin, can you delete my 2nd post with the pictures in it or at least change them to URLs instead? No reason having them up there twice... Thanks!
I taped all my loose wires to the main bar that adjusts seat height, so if you try to rotate that knob, the wires would get twisted up. Didn't realize what it was for until I was finished, but I have no reason to change it anyhow. You could simply tape them to a different place, but I didn't feel like undoing it and moving it. Also, if the seat height changes, the aiming of the LEDs will change too, so that's not optimal.
Oh, and all the LEDs are far forward enough, there's no way to get your feet on them from the back seat either...
Admin, can you delete my 2nd post with the pictures in it or at least change them to URLs instead? No reason having them up there twice... Thanks!
09-17-2006, 12:25 AM
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 490
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
^Yeah well im pretty tall and i have my seats all the way back awel. But the passanger seat moves quite a bit, so the wire would need to be a bit loose and if it moves front and back it might get tangled in the feet..It depends where it goes though..
Anyway, good job! Ill do this aswel! And if somehow i manage to get my feet stuck in the wires ill blame you! haha jokes lmao.gif
Anyway, good job! Ill do this aswel! And if somehow i manage to get my feet stuck in the wires ill blame you! haha jokes lmao.gif
09-17-2006, 10:12 PM
#10
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 2,881
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vehicle: 2001/Hyundai/Tiburon
lol yeah, I'm 6' 9", so the seat is all the way back and reclined a bit...
On the passenger side, yes, it will probably be moved the most, so be sure to keep all your wires tidy, and then keep the one power wire loose enough so it can move around. Be careful that it's either not too loose or in the right place so you don't run the seat over it... And if you do move it a bit, then just quickly adjust the wire position so it's neat and clean again.
I can see what you mean about the one power wire possibly getting tangled in their feet, but it would just be when the seat is up all the way, and I have mine far up enough that it's out of the way, even with the seat up. Also, if you can do it right, the wire should be more or less tight when in the forward position, so there wouldn't be too much loose wire.
On the passenger side, yes, it will probably be moved the most, so be sure to keep all your wires tidy, and then keep the one power wire loose enough so it can move around. Be careful that it's either not too loose or in the right place so you don't run the seat over it... And if you do move it a bit, then just quickly adjust the wire position so it's neat and clean again.
I can see what you mean about the one power wire possibly getting tangled in their feet, but it would just be when the seat is up all the way, and I have mine far up enough that it's out of the way, even with the seat up. Also, if you can do it right, the wire should be more or less tight when in the forward position, so there wouldn't be too much loose wire.