Okay, I'm pretty savvy with stereo systems, but when it comes to the other electrical I'm a little less educated.

The Plan: I'm going to install arrays of 5 LEDs in the rear view mirrors like the old member Josiah had. I can't seem to contact him, so I do not know what he did to create them. I am thinking I need 3mm or 5mm LED bulbs to put into pre-drilled holes in the mirrors. Would look like this:



Do you guys think it is 3mm or 5mm bulbs?

So, I need to know where to tap into to run these with the DRLs. I only want them on when the DRLs are on and dont want them to blink with the turn signal. Which wires would I be looking for? (2004 Model Year built in Nov 03 at KY plant)

Do I need resistors of some sort? or just tap, solder LEDs to new run wire and good to go?

Thanks in advance.

 

If you only want the on with the DRLs ( not the parking lamps ) and they are 12 V LEDs, you will need to tap into the output of the DRL relay ( under the hood ) to make them work.

In the small relay / fuse panel under the hood are the 2 DRL relays, you want the DRL relay, and the output of it is the orange w/ light green stripe wire.

You will need to route this back into the cab of the truck and them through the rubber harness channel back into the doors.

If you want them on all the time ( DRL and with the headlamps ) the easy one to use is the instrumentation illumination circuit that the switches use. This is on anytime the key is in the run position.

The part about needing resistor or not, depends on the LEDs that you get. If they are 5V you will need a resistor, if they are 12V no resistor needed.

 

Thanks for the reply. Essentially, I want them on when I switch the interior lights/DRLs to on with the headlight switch (1st click) and then to stay on once the headlight switch is on too. So which wire is the one I'm looking for?

The bulbs are indeed 5V, so if I were to use a single resistor for each array of 5 bulbs wired in series, what size resistor do I need?

Thanks!

 

Interior lights ??? That would be the dome lamps.......

The DRLs are on when the headlamp switch is in the off position.

The 1st switch position to the left is autolamps ( if installed ) and the 1st switch position to the right is the parking lamps.

Not sure what you are asking for here.

 

Ah. The first switch to the right, so the parking lamps!! Sorry for the confusion. I figure if I wire them to the parking lamps, they will stay on with the headlights turned on correct?

 

Yes. Don't remember the color, but it should be evident which wires it is with a multimeter. One is ground, one is +12V whenever the headlight switch is not in off, and the other is +12V for the second filament whenever the turn signal or emergency lights are on.

I'd think you'd be able to also wire them in to the cluster illumination, though I'd think you'd need a relay for that.

 

Awesome, thanks for the info. I found some 5mm LEDs that are pre-wired with a resistor so they are ready to hookup to 12V without messing around with soldering = much easier. So now I just need to figure out which wire I am looking for. My DMM is at my other house, anyone know of the top of their head which wire is the parking lights/headlights? (first click to the right on headlight switch)

 

If you want them on with the parking lamp, that is the brown wire on the back of the main headlamp switch.

There is a thread on changing the cluster color, in the technical article forum, that shows how to the get the switch out to make finding the brown wire easier. When you pull the center trim panel by the radio, just follow the orange antenna wire under the dash to the passenger side kick panel.

If you have power windows / PDL the instrumentation illumination circuit has a ground in the door already that you can use for this.

Just want to be sure, the LEDs will be on, only when the parking lamps are on. If you have DRLs, these will not be on with them ( the main headlamp switch in the off position ).

 

I'm pretty sure I don't have full time DRLs anyways. When you turn the switch one click right, the side-reflector (amber) lights on the headlight housings turn on...and that is when I want the LEDs to turn on. When you turn the switch to the 2nd click to the right, the headlights turn on and the side reflectors remain on...so the LEDs would remain on. If that is too complicated then just wiring them to turn on with the headlights will be fine I guess. I'll see if I can find this brown wire you speak of, thanks.

I do have power locks so I will ground them right to the door, makes it easy.

 

Brown wire is what you need, that is the parking lamp circuit ( and it is on in the autolamp, park and head positions ).

The ground wire is in the connector in the door, not attached to the door. You need to get the ground from the harness.

The ground is the black wire from the power door lock switch, pin #4 on both L & R sides.

 

Wouldnt the easiest way be to run 2 relays....one triggered by the parking lights and one triggered by the headlights?

 

I don't quite get why, which is not a shock ( I can be very dense at times ).

The marker LEDs are planned to be on any time the parking lamps are on. When the headlamps are on, the parking lamps are on.

This is just my take on it, which I could be missing the obvious

 

haha. I think i got confused too with all the differend DRL/Parking lights/headlight talk.

Msall, you want them on whenever the headligh swtich is on anything but off, right? In other words, you want them on when its just parking lights and when its headlights? And your parking lights are on when your headlights are?

If so, then just run them off the parking light wire.

Like Sscully said, the parking light is a brown wire at the headlight switch. I would use that to trigger a relay.

 

Yes, that is the plan. LEDs are so low powered that I don't think I need any kind of fused relay or anything. Just a quick tap in to that brown wire for power and then grounded to the window harness in the doors like SSCULLY previously mentioned. Should have it done by monday, the LEDs just got here today.

 

I guess thats the installer in me. Just make sure you fuse that wire.