LED's in Door Handles
 

Here is the link to my gallery, showing the basic steps to installing a LED in the door handle. I took these photos yesterday, nearly a year after I did the mod. So I dont have anything that acctually shows me drilling the hole.


https://www.f150online.com/galleries...w.cfm?num=1342

that looks good. do you have any pics of it at nite? when do they come on? where did you find the lights? i know ill have alot more questions later. this looks like a new mod

The led's can be had at radio shack, I got them somewhere else (leftovers from work). THey are tied into the instrument lights, which come on when you turn your parking lights on. I looked for a pic of them lit up at night, but I couldnt find one. I'll keep looking.

Are they 12volt LED's or did you set down the voltage? ... did you just disassemble the door handle or do you need to remove the door panel ?

oops ... guess I should have looked at the pic first before asking about the door panel .

Yes they are 12V, but our truck put out a wee more than 12 volts and in time it will damage the led, so a resistor is necessary. The door panel comes off, unhook and remove the door handle and your off.

Shark99,
Where did you find the dimmer wire that accesible? I am actually putting two 12v LED's in my center console(Lariat w/captains chairs) so I can see cup holders at night. I want them wired into dash lights but the ability to dim may be nicer.

harleyrider,
I did the same thing on mine with captains chairs and the center console. The lights work great and illuminate the holders well. What I did is tie the lights into the dash ashtray/coin tray/cupholder light. If you pull out the assembly the bulb is mounted on the backside and goes to a connector right behind it. I took the connector apart so I could de-wrap the wires to solder in the new wires for the console and then heatshrink tube them all back together. Its pretty easy to do and the lights dim with the dash lights. I also found out if you take a coathanger and pull the wires under the rug from the console to the dash where the floor heater vents are it makes it real quick. The cupholder comes out with a firm upwards pull. Grab the holder in the middle and wiggle and pull and it will pop out.

2000, thanks! That is where I was planning to go with it. Just noticed sharks pics showed a nice big open area to work. I'll see tonight. I also put some in the console. So much easier to find stuff in the dark now. There is a write up in the Harley F150 section.

that's an awesome idea and a great how to... I'm gonna have to study that one and seriously think of doing it... ever since I replaced my door panel controls with the billet ones I've hated the fact that they are no longer lit up... this would totally cure my problem I think... thanks again!!!

How many LED's do you think the ash tray light bulb wire could hold. I have two leds wired to it right now in the pop out cup holder. I would also like to add two LED's to the center console cupholders (captians chairs). I also thought about adding 1-4 LED's in each door panal. Right there woul be 6-12 LED's.
I know LED's consume very little power but I still want to be on the safe side and not over do it.

Anyone know where I can find blue LED's?

Try www.partsexpress.com , specifically this page:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...ID=15769&DID=7

Thanks, I use to get Part's Express catalogs. I forgot all about them. When it comes time to install my LED's I will have to look them up.

The ones that I used in the console
 

I got the Green LEDs from :

http://www.signaldynamics.com/

Item #: 03264 Category: Indicator / Bulkhead
Indicator Green LED
Description:
Price: $12.99

These are slightly larger, but have a flat facde to them, so you don't have to worry about clearing them off with a coffee cup.

Care does need to be taken in the positoning fo them, due to the size of the Indicator 1/2" X 1-1/8"

As stated before drill the hole slightly smaller, and test fit them, to make sure you don't have to epoxy them in.

The white indicator lights work great as floor lighting, hooked to a switch on the dash.
I just used a circuit put them to a switch below the Vacuum gauge next to the shift lever area of the trim plate ( as the Vacuum gauge mods suggests location wise ), then hook up the lights.
1 in each kick panel ( D & P ), and 3 across the bottom of the lower dash panel area ( again watch the depth for the mounting locations ).

Hit the switch, and you can see where you dropped something on the floor.

Just another take on the mod.

Never thought about the door handle though....good idea.