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Trunk LEDs illumination MOD

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Here I am again with a new saturday morning project :D
Found this cool idea in DIY section: replace the poor trunk light with a set of led strips!
You won't see the strips from outside since they are recessed in trunk roof but you'll gain great visibility.

As always, I get the idea and try to do something better\simplier with less stuff\work. So I made a new thread to not clutter the other one with too much pics of my setup.

Our mate used a specific connector, but after having bought it I realized that it's not needed. Simply cover the wire tips with solder tin and then push them in trunk light connector.

I also used more led strips (about 110 cm) since I have some spare laying around. Yes I know that I used a non waterproof strip, but the waterproof one I bought it's not bright enough and don't want to buy again..

This is a really easy job, but you will get great results :thumbsup:

You will need:
- led strips (about 110-120 cm) - a brighter one! I bought 5050 led strips but wasn't too excited with the brightness, So I have some spare 5630 led strips way brighter and I used this. Better if you use a waterproof one, but IMO it's not mandatory. This is the exact led strips I used (5630 leds natural white) http://www.ebay.it/itm/12V-5M-300LE...-Light-2015-/261915966505?hash=item3cfb687c29, it's only 6 USD for 5m and free shipping :)
- some spare wires
- solder iron and tin


Starting setup (I forgot to take a pic of the illuminated trunk with stock bulb)



First of all, remove the trunk light housing. Simply push it out with a flat head screwdriver on the left side (the one opposite the subwoofer) and disconnect the connector (there is a lip to be pushed)



I took all measurements and finished with a 20-50-20-20 cm setup. The wider side is divided in two to allows soldering wires from power source. If you want to put the sun in your trunk, put another 70-80 cm strip on the other side of this 'rectangle' (you can see my schematics in the paper on the workbench)
Then with you solder ability ;) you need to solder some spare wires between the strips to allow them to be angled. You can also buy the specific angled connector, but I don't want to buy other unneeded stuff.
I also covered the soldered joints with heat shrink tube, though it's not needed.



Ready to be installed!



Peel over the back protection and place the strip on the trunk roof - you can curve it a bit where needed.



(this 20 cm chunk could be 30 cm)



Then put the tinned tips..



..inside the connector




and voilĂ , your trunk is now a concert stage!







Don't forget to put some electrical tape onto the connector to avoid the wires to fall off.

Even if the improvment is clear, I wanted to have the concrete evidences of it and took some measurements:

Stock light



LED strips



Now... I don't know how much a LUX is, but I know that 311 lux are WAY MORE than 5,9 lux :headbonk: :clap2:

:cheers:
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pinero61

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I was planing on doing something like this with a rigid a-series. Good work!
 
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Thanks guys, it's a really easy mod.

[MENTION=12448]pinero61[/MENTION]: a flexible strip is easier to pose because the trunk roof is curved, but you can still use a rigid one if you cut atr some point and make flexible joints with wires.

You convinced me, I'll also do it :cheers:
:lol: :lol: :clap2:
 

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gojensen

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wait... we have trunk lights?!
 
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Very nice! Do you have a part number or insight to what specifically I should look for for the strip itself? There is no reason to look specifically for waterproof lights in my opinion as rain would never reach the strips anyway.

Thank you,

Jaime
 

pinero61

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Thanks guys, it's a really easy mod.

[MENTION=12448]pinero61[/MENTION]: a flexible strip is easier to pose because the trunk roof is curved, but you can still use a rigid one if you cut atr some point and make flexible joints with wires.



:lol: :lol: :clap2:

I'm going to through bolt it. I just covered that panel with sound dampening material a few weeks ago, and was looking at what I would need to do it then.
 

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Very nice! Do you have a part number or insight to what specifically I should look for for the strip itself? There is no reason to look specifically for waterproof lights in my opinion as rain would never reach the strips anyway.

Thank you,

Jaime
This is the exact led strip I used (5630 leds natural white):

http://www.ebay.it/itm/12V-5M-300LE...-Light-2015-/261915966505?hash=item3cfb687c29

it's brighter than the one I bought specifically for the trunk with 5050 leds - and it's only 6 USD for 5m! You only have to wait some time for delivery from China (at least here I had to wait a month).
The adhesive backing is really strong so it should last forever :)
 

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beware that 3528 are very small leds - don't trust the indicated lumen specs for chinese stuff :)
A 3528 led is about half a 5630 one!
 

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