Help! Hardwire Interior Led Strip Lights

[chicagotacoOR]

Hey everyone new member here. Went back n forth for quite a while determining where to post this so I don't piss everyone off with my first post lol the mods page didn't have a "prefix" that matched electrical stuff so I went with this spot.

I just picked up a set of Govee Interior LED Strip lights for under the footwells. They were a fraction of the price compared to the lights made for the truck with a plug n' play design. Love them for the customization factor and would recommend to anyone seeking extra interior lighting. However, the downside-and reason for this post, they plug into the 12 cigarette outlet.

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• What would be the best recommended way to tie the circuit in with the overhead map lights so when the door opens the lights turn on?
• More importantly, given that they are 18W lights, will doing so have too much power draw on the battery while the truck is off?

In doing some research before dropping the questions here I found that most kits splice into the map lights through the driver side A pillar.
No issue in buying a female 12v plug and the required fuse jump, but before doing so I just want to hear from someone smarter than myself if this is even worth my time or should I return the lights and go with a set designed for the tacoma.

 

[RevN3]

so I don't piss everyone off

It's cool man, we're not that other place. No one is gonna get mad if you post in the wrong place. I don't have any answers for you though.

 

[drizzoh]

I don't see anywhere on that link that says they require 18v. They're made for automotive use though so they should work just fine. LED's are very efficient so I would not worry about them drawing too much power at all. Personally, I don't like hacking into factory wiring, but I don't know what circuit to tap into to pull power from the dome lights. I like having footwell lighting but I've never ran them off the dome circuit - I always set them up off a switch so I can turn them on/off whenever I want. If you can figure out which circuit activates when powering the dome lights, my recommendation would be to grab an add-a-fuse and pull power off that circuit to power them, rather than cutting into OEM wiring. In that scenario, you would cut the cigarette lighter end off the wiring harness the LED kit comes with, run the positive wire to the add-a-fuse wire and the other to ground. I would imagine for something like that, that a 3-5A fuse would be more than sufficient to allow them to reach full power, but I would reach out to the seller to try to find the exact amp draw that circuit would require.

Electrical work can be very dangerous and expensive if you do things wrong, so take your time and make sure you understand what you're doing before you just go cutting into stuff. Fuses are your friend.

 

[bonifacio]

I also don't like touching the factory wiring. In case something goes wrong you can revert to stock and warranty it.
But even some factory installed modifications tap into wiring.

Bed lights being a prime example.
The original pod bed lights used T-Taps. This might actually be tapped into console lighting. Does the bed light turn on with the rear and overhead light? I think it does. It's just controlled by the switch if it's on or off.
You can see the entire install here: http://toyotaparts.sparkstoyota.com/install/00016-35087inst.pdf
There's also Meso Customs Puddle Lights, he made a plug-in harness to wire the puddle lights.
If you want something to retain all factory wiring, you can find the guy that made the DIR harness for the license plate lights and see if he'll make you a PnP harness for it. It would go right inline in your A-Pillar, under the side air bags.