I've had the LEDs to do this for over a year now and never took the time to do it. So finally I did it this weekend... I think partly cause I had everything to do it and planned on doing it with the other part inspired by Jetttstream with the LED count challenge. 
So here it is, short write-up.....
Removed the front overhead dome light, sunroof, etc console. Also removed the rear passenger dome light fixture and of course the rear cargo dome light fixture. Figured out the size of the boards and drew it up, test fitted with card board. After that was done, traced it onto some blank circuit board from Radio Shack and just mirrored it for the other side. Cut them out and then test fitted it all again, sanded till I was happy and then took it to the back yard to spray paint the fronts with "chrome" paint... Yeah, not really chrome but makes it hard to see if someone was to tilt their neck specifically to look inside.
After a couple of hours drying in the sun, took them back inside and determined how I was going to lay the LEDs out on each part. Easiest thing to do is to fit as many as possible which isn't a big deal until you wire them so I kept it nice and simple. 48 per light on the fronts, 45 per light on the rear passengers, and 48 on the rear cargo light. For the 48 LED boards, just used wired 3 LEDs in series with 4 of them in parallel with a 48 ohm resistor per set. Then came the 45 LED boards, 3 LEDs in series with 5 of them in parallel with 45 ohm resistor per set. Ironically I had EXACTLY enough resistors of those sizes to finish without a trip to Radio Shack.
Once wired, I used some blank 194 sockets to make the front and rear plug & play. Everything I did is 100% reversible back to stock too... No cutting or anything crazy. I used a little liquid nails on all of them to make sure they stayed in place and if I did ever remove them it'd be no worries cause that stuff comes off pretty easily.
All the LEDs are white 55,000mcd LEDs and run at 20mA on a 13.7v circuit. So when SS is running they're even brighter than when the truck is off. Played it safe. I've done the same several years ago with the Firehawk and never had an issue and don't expect any with these.
All in all, took me a good 5-6 hours of my time start to finish to get these done. Nothing easy to just make, but in the end it's all about keeping the ability to go back to stock when I want and knowing that there is no one out there with a similar setup... Gotta stay different for sure!
So brightness you ask? Well, the night time pictures won't do them justice... We all know that the stock bulbs VS the SMT LEDs are WAY WAY brighter. With this setup, it doesn't even compare to the SMTs. I believe NASA can see my SS when I open the door now. I thought about sanding the heads of the LEDs flat to disperse the light, but wanted to try them out before I did that. If I like how it is, I'll leave it.... If not, I'll pull the console and fixtures back down to use a Dremel to sand the heads flat and disperse a little more light. I like how it is now, but it's new... After a week I'll see how I think about them and if I want to disperse the light a little more.
LED COUNT:
234 LED Interior Lights (Custom)
60 LED License Plate Lights (Custom)
60 LED Mirror Lights (Custom)
8 LED Dash SS Plug (Custom)
8 LED Front Bowtie Light (Custom)
96 LED Switchback LED Front Signals (Bought)
96 LED Reverse Lights (Bought)
104 LED Bermuda Black LED Taillights (Bought)
1 LED White Alarm Light (Custom)
TOTAL: 667
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So here it is, short write-up.....Removed the front overhead dome light, sunroof, etc console. Also removed the rear passenger dome light fixture and of course the rear cargo dome light fixture. Figured out the size of the boards and drew it up, test fitted with card board. After that was done, traced it onto some blank circuit board from Radio Shack and just mirrored it for the other side. Cut them out and then test fitted it all again, sanded till I was happy and then took it to the back yard to spray paint the fronts with "chrome" paint... Yeah, not really chrome but makes it hard to see if someone was to tilt their neck specifically to look inside.
After a couple of hours drying in the sun, took them back inside and determined how I was going to lay the LEDs out on each part. Easiest thing to do is to fit as many as possible which isn't a big deal until you wire them so I kept it nice and simple. 48 per light on the fronts, 45 per light on the rear passengers, and 48 on the rear cargo light. For the 48 LED boards, just used wired 3 LEDs in series with 4 of them in parallel with a 48 ohm resistor per set. Then came the 45 LED boards, 3 LEDs in series with 5 of them in parallel with 45 ohm resistor per set. Ironically I had EXACTLY enough resistors of those sizes to finish without a trip to Radio Shack.
Once wired, I used some blank 194 sockets to make the front and rear plug & play. Everything I did is 100% reversible back to stock too... No cutting or anything crazy. I used a little liquid nails on all of them to make sure they stayed in place and if I did ever remove them it'd be no worries cause that stuff comes off pretty easily.
All the LEDs are white 55,000mcd LEDs and run at 20mA on a 13.7v circuit. So when SS is running they're even brighter than when the truck is off. Played it safe. I've done the same several years ago with the Firehawk and never had an issue and don't expect any with these.
All in all, took me a good 5-6 hours of my time start to finish to get these done. Nothing easy to just make, but in the end it's all about keeping the ability to go back to stock when I want and knowing that there is no one out there with a similar setup... Gotta stay different for sure!
So brightness you ask? Well, the night time pictures won't do them justice... We all know that the stock bulbs VS the SMT LEDs are WAY WAY brighter. With this setup, it doesn't even compare to the SMTs. I believe NASA can see my SS when I open the door now.
I thought about sanding the heads of the LEDs flat to disperse the light, but wanted to try them out before I did that. If I like how it is, I'll leave it.... If not, I'll pull the console and fixtures back down to use a Dremel to sand the heads flat and disperse a little more light. I like how it is now, but it's new... After a week I'll see how I think about them and if I want to disperse the light a little more.LED COUNT:
234 LED Interior Lights (Custom)
60 LED License Plate Lights (Custom)
60 LED Mirror Lights (Custom)
8 LED Dash SS Plug (Custom)
8 LED Front Bowtie Light (Custom)
96 LED Switchback LED Front Signals (Bought)
96 LED Reverse Lights (Bought)
104 LED Bermuda Black LED Taillights (Bought)
1 LED White Alarm Light (Custom)
TOTAL: 667
