I'm considering moving this fused circuit:
F42 20A 15 X11007 2 1.5 RT/SW/GE Cigar ligher, rear charging socket

from 15 which is CAS to 30 which is continuous.

My two reasons are:
1) Alpha Rally Computer that I'd prefer to plug into the cigar lighter but not lose power if I shut off motor during an event or while doing rally setup. It's very low draw.

2) I'm installing LED undercar lighting (yellow will be my normal color to match MY car color) and I may try to trigger the kit with the rear fog switch. That way if I'm driving with LEDs on, I've got visual reminder on the dash, and if Johnny Law gets pissy about it (not his perogotive according to CA law, but once in a while Johnny's been known to ticket first and learn Cal Vehicle Code later) I can quickly disable the LED's without having to look out the window to check that it's off. I've got rear fogs factory installed, so my plan is to tap that lighting circuit at the back to a relay that will start the LED power head. I'd like that power head to be tapped into the rear accessory 12V circuit. Have to find out the draw for the LED system, but I'm hoping to install that whole control module in driver's side compartment in the back, directly under the rear accessory 12V. The LED system comes with a remote to control the LED module including power and mode.

The system I purchased is EuroEffects EFX 7 color kit:
http://www.euroeffects.net/LED_Produ..._Kit-p-12.html

Thanks for not flaming about undercar lighting. It's a personal preference, and I'm exploring the exhibitionist in me.

 

Very interesting project, keep us up to date .

 

I had the euro effects kit on a previous vehicle ...Lost two tubes for no apparent reason they show no signs of damage ect just don't work ...

Your plan will work well you can probably mount the main control box in the rear storage area and attach the leads to the lighter then run the wires out the bottom

 

Thanks for the interest.
Bad Venge, one concern I have is dealer or tire shops throwing the arms of their two post lifts under my tubes and crushing them before they realize they're there. Was that a problem for you on you previous car? Generally I do my own work in on our cars, and with most of our cars I take loose wheels in for tire mounting (cause I'm ****) but I do anticipate a few more dealer visits at least. I'm guessing I need to position tube higher than the 4 rubber lift points on the side.

 

My car is about 2" off the ground so no one has a lift to get "under" it ... Buit yes careful positioning away from the lift points will help , I've even welded plates to prevent damage from the bad lift positions ... My buddy got three sets of LED's free as every time he took it in they broke them ...

 

I finally got the lamp tubes installed last night. Kinda scary taking a welder to a car that's only 1 year old. I did notice that my fuse diagram/numbering is different than that described in the sticky hot/not hot. Be careful to check your own against that before assuming it's identical. I also decided to have dealer install the hidden dash compartment (cd changer hatch) which my early build was missing, and I plan to install the control unit for the lights there. I'll be at AMVIV next week. Look for the lights on the Strip Cruise if you're there.

Anyone know Nevada/Las Vegas' dmv policy on undercar lighting?

 

http://public.findlaw.com/traffic-ti...affic-law.html

 

I'm interested to see this! See you at AMVIV.

 

I ended up installing the control box in the dash. Lights work great. I use the purple color at night when driving to reduce the chance of hassle from the law. Very pleased with how this came out. The back worked out particularly well because they shine down on the exhaust.

 

Looks good ....

 

Very cool!

 

i like the under car lights too, as of last night after seeing a friends car with blue accent lights under the seats i liked it alot but i want to be able to change the color of the lights in the car too, street glow doesnt have a multi color interoir kit but the euroeffects company does so im happy about that. how did you connect the power to the lights?

 

hey do you have a pic of the control box in the dash?

 

Check here for lights too :
http://www.oznium.com/

I've had bad luck with euroeffects lights

 

http://www.urban-neon-car-lights.com...4&cat=5&page=1

This is pretty nice, it's offered in Blacklight!

 

i think i found a mod i wana look into :D did you take any pics during the process?

 

how so? what was wrong/ went wrong why not, i cant seem to find a other kit that has multiple colors that is put together nicely user interface wise.

 

I'll have to go back and snap some shots of the install. Here are some more details.
For the electrical, I ran all wires up through a big ol grommet in the center firewall and into the secret compartment. I tore open the dash right after the dealer installed the compartment, so I could pull it out and drill out the back. Those tube wires all feed into the secret compartment and into a supplied junction box that sits in the compartment with the control box. The control box has a power lead that goes back down to the passenger side fuse box, where I tapped into the CD-Changer fuse (powers off after 30 min). This also means I can unlock the car by remote, and then trigger the lights with the LED remote, before I get in the car at night.

The control box is cheesy and I had to disassemble it to apply some grease to all the switches to try to keep them from sticking. Frankly the whole kit feels extremely low budget because it is. But if I were to install on for a customer, I'd insist on going better quality, because this doesn't feel like all components will last. Time will tell. I really didn't want to invest $500+ on the seemlingly better built UFO system, but I have no experience with it to judge if it's any better. Also may be helpful to note that during different nights of the install I ran the system on a spare motorcycle battery. Sometime the system acted irradically, and that's when I realized I was below 9V on the battery. Once I piggy backed a battery charger on the whole shooting match my lights were MUCH brighter, they reacted consistenty to music and responded reliably to the control input. I thought that the music feature would require me to wire it to my stereo somehow, but they simply mic'ed the control box and give you two buttons to adjust the sensitivity (doesn't adjust too well on mine, but the feater works pretty well and without any effort). Though mine are advertised as 7 color LED, they use a red, blue, green triad pattern and do a very poor job at simulating yellow. The best colors are the primarys and the blue-green. While red looks great on the music mode, it is significanty weaker than the blue or the green. I'm careful not to drive in the red or blue mode, though my understanding is that when it's indirect you can use them. Green worries me that it simulates a traffic signal color, which is vaguely mentioned in the Cal vehicle code. Purple seems to be a safe color to me, not normally seen at night on the road, but also not easily confused for some official light. It blinks the lights rapidly to mix the strength of the different colors when it's in the 2 million color fade mode. This tends to show some blinkiness, and the feature works better when it's in music mode or flashing out one of its many patterns.

To install the lamps:
Side lamps I mounted with the supplied plastic spring clamps and zip ties, sheet metal screwed into the floorpan. I had to select places where I knew the screws wouldn't push straight into the interior. I also stopped using their cheesy sheet metal screws when one sheared a head. Instead I bought stainless ones at the hardware store and installed using lots of silicone sealer to try to prevent rust in the future.

Front lamp is sort of a stuff fit with zip ties to keep it in place. I had to pull one splash guard and make cutouts in it to allow the light to pass eveny as if it wasn't there.

Rear lamp was my most ambitious effort. I mounted it above the exhaust and used the plastic spring clamps, but when I went to drill out holes (very small holes needed for the sheet metal screws) in the bumper support bars I found them to be extremely heavy duty. I believe Fireball Tim's crew found this to be true on the R56 front metal too when doing a mod. It's like spring steel and the drill just refuses to bite and cut. So rather than blow through a batch of carbide tipped tiny drill bits with my handheld drill, I decided to take a different approach. I welded screws onto that bar and used nuts to hold the plastic spring mounts. I probably don't have to tell you it felt weird welding on a 2007 car.

My install is not particulary weather suitable for the rust belt or NorthEast, but it works well enough here in SoCal. The LED tubes are a light plastic, and scratch easily. I'm fairly confident they will become a lot less clear over time. The good news is, unlike neon, they could be split open and still operate, as they are only a weather guard for the LED electronics that float inside the tubes.

Finally while I don't want to mislead anyone into getting in trouble, I've been driving at night (when I do drive at night) with them set on purple non-flashing and knock on wood, have not been hassled at all. Important to note they are strictly indirect lighting on my install.