Let there be light!
April 26th, 2015, 3:15 PM
#11
Okay, my van is an '06 and it is my work van. When I got it, it only had the single dome light in the back, and with no windows at all, it was very dark in there. First thing I did was add 2 more dome lights from a junk yard and swapped in some LED bulbs. This helped but still a little dark.
Well I had some of those peel-n-stick led strips that I picked up from Amazon for $8 for 16'. I wired up some JST connectors on the ends of the strips and on the van's dome light wires and added a strip to each roof truss.
/snip/
So not bad for about $10 and about an hour of time. Here are the lights I used from amazon, one strip was flaky one morning, but has been fine since.
Amazon.com: HitLights Cool White SMD3528 LED Light Strip - 300 LEDs, 16.4 Ft Roll, Cut to length - 5000K, 82 Lumens / 1.5 Watts per foot, Requires 12V DC: Musical Instruments
Well I had some of those peel-n-stick led strips that I picked up from Amazon for $8 for 16'. I wired up some JST connectors on the ends of the strips and on the van's dome light wires and added a strip to each roof truss.
/snip/
So not bad for about $10 and about an hour of time. Here are the lights I used from amazon, one strip was flaky one morning, but has been fine since.
Amazon.com: HitLights Cool White SMD3528 LED Light Strip - 300 LEDs, 16.4 Ft Roll, Cut to length - 5000K, 82 Lumens / 1.5 Watts per foot, Requires 12V DC: Musical Instruments
EXCELLENT upgrade for work vans - many thanks for the links to parts.
April 28th, 2015, 7:09 PM
#12
Running down the driver's side of the van is a blue/white wire, and a black one (among many others). Just look at the wires that are coming out of the factory dome light, and follow those back to the bundle of wires. I just spliced in the jst connectors that I showed on the first page, I think I picked them up from ebay or dx.com a few years ago for a couple bucks for 10 of each male/female.
Then I bought the 16' led rope lighting from amazon for about $8. I soldered the jst connector to each strip and just plugged them in. I used rubbing alcohol to clean up the roof trusses before I stuck the led strips on.
Really, about all there is to it.
Then I bought the 16' led rope lighting from amazon for about $8. I soldered the jst connector to each strip and just plugged them in. I used rubbing alcohol to clean up the roof trusses before I stuck the led strips on.
Really, about all there is to it.
August 29th, 2016, 10:39 AM
#14
Just wanted to say thanks for this simple and 'brilliant'-ly (see what I did there? 
) effective way of lighting up the interior on our work vans.
I ran some bell wire alongside oem wiring harness for rear cargo area and spliced into oem rear dome light feed. I then spliced in the (4) - 4' sections I cut from the roll of LED lights after I had attached the pig-tails I made from the connectors (listed below). Easy job - 1/2 hour or so. I put one string along the interior on front of my cargo cage which lights up the passenger compartment like you're on stage... no problems reading work orders etc after dark now!
Here's a list of the materials for anyone who wants to do this:
) effective way of lighting up the interior on our work vans.I ran some bell wire alongside oem wiring harness for rear cargo area and spliced into oem rear dome light feed. I then spliced in the (4) - 4' sections I cut from the roll of LED lights after I had attached the pig-tails I made from the connectors (listed below). Easy job - 1/2 hour or so. I put one string along the interior on front of my cargo cage which lights up the passenger compartment like you're on stage... no problems reading work orders etc after dark now!
Here's a list of the materials for anyone who wants to do this:
- 6' of two conductor 'bell-wire' (18 ga or similar) from Lowes, Radio Shack etc or: http://amzn.to/2c3Uat0 (The Amazon pack has wayyyyyy more than you need but price is right for one-stop shopping to mailbox.)
- 16 feet of self adhesive LED strip lights: http://amzn.to/2bvpAK8
- (1) pack of connectors for strip lights. (Used to 'daisy-chain' these strips together but I simply cut one end off and turned them into quick connect 'pig-tails'): http://amzn.to/2byeDor
Rear cargo area with LED strips installed - night time shot from rear door.
Front cargo area. LED lights flood out camera but yes, they are THAT bright if you look at them.
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