Led interior lighting

[vonnat]

Hi All,
Starting on the interior of the 71.
Curious if anyone has added LED interior lights under seating or under the dash. Can I just tie the LED wiring
into the head light switch? Recommendations are much appreciated.
I would also like to do the rear speakers mounted on the interior portion of the wheel wells
trying not to get into custom fabrication, haven't got to the subwoofer yet.... Looking to the experts
for any leads.
Thanks in advance,
Vonna

 

[6872xtc]

I added a courtesy light package to my '70 K10. It adds lights under the dash, but I added one on each side where as the square trucks did one in the middle.
I went all LED on mine to brighten things up, but to also reduce amp draw and heat.
Superbrightleds has had the best quality and customer service when compared to some eBay sellers.

 

[Wes Harden]

Normal led lights don't dim with the headlight switch. Just fyi.

I have Sylvania Super bright 5 or 6000 kelvin in my front dome lamp spot and regular incandescent in the rear.
Not scientific but I think the incandescent is better light.

 

[shady]

4000 kelvin is closer to incandescent. And as odd as it sounds, incandescent is a better type of light. Led is too beamy or directional or something. It doesn't seem illuminate as much stuff, even though what it does illuminate seems brighter.

As for the switch, I'd just do a toggle.

 

[Wiregeek]

Can't help you on aftermarket direct replacements, but there's a lot of good generic info here.

You're gonna need to brush up on your DC power theory and basics at least a little bit, whether you want to or not.

If you order raw LEDs, you'll need to put an appropriate resistor in line with them to keep them from asploding.

If you order a "12v LED bulb" from Amazon, the resistor should be built into the product, so you'll be fine with just 12v.

@shady is correct in that a LOT of available LEDs do not have decent diffusers built into them. An LED is a much more focused 'spot' type of beam, and unless that's spread out by a good diffuser, it can be jarring and unpleasant. If you get an LED strip with a good diffuser on it and put it under dash, booyah.

Consider when you want the LED to come on. @6872xtc drops the lovely word 'Courtesy', which is the set of lamps that come on when the door is opened. I don't know IF the '72 has a door-open switch that would provide that circuit. If the dome light comes on when you open the door, you're stylin'. You'll just need to find the circuit at an appropriate or handy spot and splice in.

Put the damn blue scotch-lok down and use literally any other way.

I'm not sure what @Wes Harden is referencing - I think I'm not understanding, Wes is usually correct. But if you put your LED inline with the dimmer knob for the instrument cluster lights (again, if that's available in '72), the LEDs will dim along with the incandescents. Just.. not in a similar manner. The LED will not match the incandescent - so if you're gonna put dimmable LEDs on that circuit, you REALLY should replace all incandescents on that circuit.

Personally, I would run 'advanced courtesy lights' on the courtesy circuit, and I'd probably drop a capacitor in at the LED to allow for a more gradual dropoff in illumination. I had neons under dash in my S10 when I was 17, I'm over that now. I think.

 

[Wes Harden]

I meant you need to get the dimable led bulbs if you want the headlight reostat to dim the led's

 

[Wiregeek]

Oh, that shouldn't be the case. It's been a few years since I tore into any "LED Bulbs", but the automotive should just be a resistor inline with the LEDs. The headlight rheostat (the dimmer knob) just reduces the voltage on that line, so the simple LED should just get dimmer. I really wanna tear into a bulb that doesn't dim on reduced input voltage, though - I like being proved wrong, it means I get to learn something.

I've only ever seen LED modules with actual power supplies in AC / house bulbs, dimming gets more complicated when the electrons are going whoo whoo whoo instead of just cruising along like in automotive.

 

[6872xtc]

Regardless if a truck has door switches or not, you can tie into the dome light circuit by the fuse panel to add another light. It just won't turn on until you twist the headlight knob.
Look for the orange and white wires paired up. There are plug-in splitter connectors for this.

 

[vonnat]

Thank you all! Such great information as always!