DIY Puddle Lights Under Side View Mirrors

dangerranger16

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Felt cute this weekend so decided to poke around and see if I can tap into something to wire up some puddle lights on my XLT. Using my volt meter, couldn’t find anything in the side view mirrors so I went for the dome lights above the rear view mirror. Theres a ground and power wire accessible on the connector pictured below after you pull down the overhead console.

To wire, there’s a nice black ground wire there and the power wire is 3rd one from the right in the picture (but please check before wiring anything, just in case). When I go back I’ll note the color of the wire and update the thread. I mocked up the wiring without soldering or taking anything apart beforehand so I recommend doing the same. Turns on and off appropriately, lock/unlock, door opening/closing, etc. Got the led puddle lights from amazon, link below.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NYPLJ8C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I led the wiring to the A pillar, down to the rubber grommet where the door wiring goes and led it through there. I didn’t go through the center where all the other wires were, instead I went through the grommet and just taped it up along the outside before running it into the door. I ended up taking the door panel off. There’s a chance you can avoid that if you’re really good at running wires with a coat hanger but the door panels are pretty easy to take off anyways. Once you get the wire ran up to the side view mirror, the speaker and mirror need to come off. The speaker pops off with enough pull. Three torx bolts hold the mirror on. One is hidden behind a rubber plug.

With the side mirror off, I took my dremel and cut out the pre-marked hole. I went a little smaller than what the line shows because the lights I got from amazon looked a bit smaller than what the line would have allowed. Measure twice, cut once. Or twice if you need to. I just trimmed little by little until the light clicked in and held well. The lights I ordered had two notches that I incorporated into my trimming job on the mirror. Overall, the fit and finish was pretty solid, just take your time.

Back to the wiring, there’s an unused hole the wire can go through on the door frame where the mirror mounts. Punch a hole through the rubber seal and the grommet in the mirror, then up and around the back of the mirror to get to the bottom where it’s hooked up to the light. Be sure to leave a little extra slack for the folding action of the mirror.

Repeat for the passenger side...if you feel like it. The inside of my garage got to 100 degrees so I decided to stop. Or at least that’s what the little blue garden gnome told me...which prompted me to go inside and drink some water. Let me know if you have any questions.

28D854F7-AF60-4236-9BDA-15FA29B97B03.jpeg


BA5B493B-5C7F-400E-A9D3-3B34001A07B5.jpeg


14136C4D-2B7B-462F-94B2-F78C350D534D.jpeg
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t4thfavor

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Serious question, you can pickup ground on any metal surface of the truck, why did yo run all the way to the overhead console with it?
 
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dangerranger16

dangerranger16

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Serious question, you can pickup ground on any metal surface of the truck, why did yo run all the way to the overhead console with it?
The wire I used had positive and negative joined together (like most speaker wire) so I figured I’d just keep the wire the way it was instead of splitting it down the middle and finding a place to ground somewhere. The ground wire right at the harness for the overhead console seemed easy enough for me but to each their own.

I will say though, grounding to a metal surface of the truck is a viable option as well. Good point.

Also a question, is there any advantage of using the ground from that harness versus a metal surface on the truck body?
 

t4thfavor

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The wire I used had positive and negative joined together (like most speaker wire) so I figured I’d just keep the wire the way it was instead of splitting it down the middle and finding a place to ground somewhere. The ground wire right at the harness for the overhead console seemed easy enough for me but to each their own.

I will say though, grounding to a metal surface of the truck is a viable option as well. Good point.

Also a question, is there any advantage of using the ground from that harness versus a metal surface on the truck body?

I doubt there's any advantage. There's not usually a lot of spare current left in those wires, so in the future, I would recommend grounding at the first bolt you find. This is why most lighting kits come with a relay that signals the door open, and you feed it power direct from the fuse panel, or battery.

Example, if you piggy back off that wire, lets say it's 5A fuse, and your light draws 2A, the circuit probably already has 4A of draw for whatever it's powering because car manufacturers don't use larger wires than they absolutely need for any reason.


In your case, it seems fine, but don't be shocked if you blow a fuse one day.
 


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dangerranger16

dangerranger16

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I doubt there's any advantage. There's not usually a lot of spare current left in those wires, so in the future, I would recommend grounding at the first bolt you find. This is why most lighting kits come with a relay that signals the door open, and you feed it power direct from the fuse panel, or battery.

Example, if you piggy back off that wire, lets say it's 5A fuse, and your light draws 2A, the circuit probably already has 4A of draw for whatever it's powering because car manufacturers don't use larger wires than they absolutely need for any reason.


In your case, it seems fine, but don't be shocked if you blow a fuse one day.

Ah, makes sense. Thanks!
 

BassMaster21

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This thread is a bit old, but I wonder if its feasible to tap the cargo lamp for power instead of the dome lights?

I couldn't find any pics from when I originally did the install, so I went back in and took a couple. The cargo light wire is white with a green stripe, in the wire harness under the rear driver's side door sill. You'll want to test the wire with a multi meter because there are other white/green wires in the same harness. It will test as +12v with the cargo light on, and 0v when its off.

In order to get the wires into the interior of the Ranger, I used a rubber grommet that is in the floor. There are quite a few, but I used one that is just in front of the driver's side rear seat (my Ranger is a super crew)

IMG_8448.jpeg


IMG_8449.jpeg
 
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I'm also curious about the cargo lamp. I'd like to use it as an overide all around white for my flashing under mirror lights.
 

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one of you blokes give it a go and let me know :)
 

BassMaster21

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Gave it a shot today. They're nice and bright! Only issue I ran into was when I took a test drive on one of our wonderful pothole roads here in Buffalo NY and it fell out... :rolleyes: A few sparing spots of hot glue and its fixed. Should still come back out for a replacement quite easily.

To anyone attempting this it took me 3.5 hours for one side. Most of the time spent was wiring/fishing through the doors weather seal (which is a pain) and getting decent fit with the Dremel tool. The wire mentioned above is quite small so I recommend that you solder it properly (do not use cheap splices). There are two wires but only one is correct and it might be my eyes but the one white-green striped wire seemed a bit larger? Note that I did use a relay here to play it safe - they're cheap protection!

Here's a shot of the wire:
FindingWire.JPG


I ran the ground right one inside of my cab on the driver side to a proper ground:
Driver_Ground.jpg

I didn't get to the passenger side yet...
 
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DocE3Gun

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Has anyone tried replacing the factory puddle lights (yellow) on the lariats to one of these white puddle lights?

I bought these without thinking about it and haven't had a chance to look. Hoping it's going to be an easy swap.
 

Cape Cruiser

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Has anyone tried replacing the factory puddle lights (yellow) on the lariats to one of these white puddle lights?

I bought these without thinking about it and haven't had a chance to look. Hoping it's going to be an easy swap.
Easy swap,5 minutes per side. Bret
 

DocE3Gun

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Easy swap,5 minutes per side. Bret
I like bearers of good news......any chance you want to work at the NFA branch of the ATF and tell me about the status of a few forms? haha
 

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Felt cute this weekend so decided to poke around and see if I can tap into something to wire up some puddle lights on my XLT. Using my volt meter, couldn’t find anything in the side view mirrors so I went for the dome lights above the rear view mirror. Theres a ground and power wire accessible on the connector pictured below after you pull down the overhead console.

To wire, there’s a nice black ground wire there and the power wire is 3rd one from the right in the picture (but please check before wiring anything, just in case). When I go back I’ll note the color of the wire and update the thread. I mocked up the wiring without soldering or taking anything apart beforehand so I recommend doing the same. Turns on and off appropriately, lock/unlock, door opening/closing, etc. Got the led puddle lights from amazon, link below.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NYPLJ8C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I led the wiring to the A pillar, down to the rubber grommet where the door wiring goes and led it through there. I didn’t go through the center where all the other wires were, instead I went through the grommet and just taped it up along the outside before running it into the door. I ended up taking the door panel off. There’s a chance you can avoid that if you’re really good at running wires with a coat hanger but the door panels are pretty easy to take off anyways. Once you get the wire ran up to the side view mirror, the speaker and mirror need to come off. The speaker pops off with enough pull. Three torx bolts hold the mirror on. One is hidden behind a rubber plug.

With the side mirror off, I took my dremel and cut out the pre-marked hole. I went a little smaller than what the line shows because the lights I got from amazon looked a bit smaller than what the line would have allowed. Measure twice, cut once. Or twice if you need to. I just trimmed little by little until the light clicked in and held well. The lights I ordered had two notches that I incorporated into my trimming job on the mirror. Overall, the fit and finish was pretty solid, just take your time.

Back to the wiring, there’s an unused hole the wire can go through on the door frame where the mirror mounts. Punch a hole through the rubber seal and the grommet in the mirror, then up and around the back of the mirror to get to the bottom where it’s hooked up to the light. Be sure to leave a little extra slack for the folding action of the mirror.

Repeat for the passenger side...if you feel like it. The inside of my garage got to 100 degrees so I decided to stop. Or at least that’s what the little blue garden gnome told me...which prompted me to go inside and drink some water. Let me know if you have any questions.

28D854F7-AF60-4236-9BDA-15FA29B97B03.jpeg


BA5B493B-5C7F-400E-A9D3-3B34001A07B5.jpeg


14136C4D-2B7B-462F-94B2-F78C350D534D.jpeg
Great write up thanks for sharing
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