03+ footwell lights or 00+ LED footwell upgrades...

[Physh1]

So this will be dual purpose. In 03 GM seems to have removed the footwell harness & lighting from MOST of it's trucks & suv's BUT they left the brackets there for the 194 sockets...kinda goofy but okeee....

This thread will...
a) show you where the brackets are...
b) show you where to tap into courtesy power...
c) how to upgrade to LED strips without hacking anything up...

Stuff you need...
1) 2 194 light sockets w/ pigtails...get the ones with a beige base...they fit best....
2a) 2 194 bulbs or LED's...OR...
2b) if you want to run LED strips you want to use these 194 socket adapters from v-led
3) assorted wire...probably 22ga & 18ga...
4) scotch locks, assorted wire connections, or a soldering setup...
5) electrical tape & wire loom if you want it to blend in...

Cost...
...if you only want to run the sockets & standard/led bulbs you'll be under $20 if you have the wire & connectors...
...if you want to run the led strips you're probably looking at $40-$50 but it will do the front & rear seats...

LED strips...
...eBay...bought mine here...

Driver side bracket location...right behind OBDII port...it's a lil tight here but you can get to it easy enough...


Passenger side...to right of glove box...easy to get to...


194 light sockets w/ pigtails...$6 each is what I paid...


What you want to do is run power & ground wires from the passenger side 194 socket over to the driver side socket. You can connect the two power wires together & run a 10" wire off that connection for the tap wire...the ground we'll deal with in a few minutes...

This is the junction box we'll need to open & tap for courtesy power...driver side under dash between parking brake & brake pedals...


Junction box with cover off...


Look for the orange plug...we want to tap into the gray wire with a black stripe...next to a larger red wire...


Here is our orange plug. Ideally, remove the blue clip, than use a flathead screwdriver or awl to remove the pin from the plug. Again were tapping into the wire just to the left of the big red one. If you use a scotch-lock than just clip it in BUT I'm soldering this connection so I'll remove the pin to do the work...


Here I've made my tap into the courtesy power wire...


At this point, if you only want the front footwell lights your job is almost done...just connect the ground to one of the bolts on the driver side 194 bracket & install 2 bulbs...good to go.

If you want to run LED strips...we'll continue...

Here is a 194 socket adapter from v-led that has 2 separate sets of leads...they simply plug into the 194 sockets you installed earlier...

I ran 2 strips off of each adapter. The driver side adapter runs the LED strip under driver dash & LED strip under the back of the driver seat.
The pass adapter runs the LED strip under pass dash & LED strip under the back off pass seat. You could run this a million different ways...just what I chose to do...


Here is my passenger side setup...
-the red line is the power & ground to the 194 socket from courtesy...
-the green lines are the 194 socket adapter leads...one runs simply to the pass side strip & the other runs along the dash, down the passenger side of the center console & will run to the back of the pass seat...


Wires run under the dash...color codes are the same...arrow is pointed to LED strip...


Driver side setup...
-color codes are the same...arrow is pointing to where I grounded the sockets...


LED strip under the back of the driver seat...not powered...


Powered...


LED strip under driver dash...


Footwell LED's front...


Footwell LED's rear...


Cameron

 

[MASS-HOE'Z71]

Came out real nice Cameron, good work! Glad there is some one else who would rather solder than just use quick connects.
Does make me feel a bit lazy though, all I did was tap into the courtesy lights in the door panels since I get nervous screwing with THAT fusebox since it's a pain to access. The led strip might be on my upgrade list soon though, the regular 194 LEDs seem a little plain now

 

[Physh1]

It's kinda a pita but once you pull the orange clip out it's pretty reasonable to deal with. I was going to tap the door but I really hate having extra wiring look like extra wiring...wanted it to look as factory as possible. It's really bright...the pics are realistic.

Cameron

 

[Travieso]

looks real good looks oem. wanna come do mine?

 

[Physh1]

I could make ya a harness...

 

[01HDtahoeNJN]

I love this mod I want to do mine in blue.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

 

[Tahoewhat]

1st. Love that you post up write ups for us.
2nd. I was just wondering if you did one for this mod. Like dan said, the 194 bulbs look plain now and my are bright led ones. But looking at those pictures, not nearly enough.

Now i have a question.
so if i understand right, basically the 194 sockets adapters get power from the courtesy, then the other wires go to the led strips right? Now im lost on how would i add these strips if i have the 194 socket w/ bulb already wired up. They are factory ones out of older tahoe that i tapped for courtesy already so i could have footwell lights.

 

[Physh1]

Thanks...I don't mind doing them...

The 194 sockets are wired to courtesy power which I tapped from that junction box under the dash. The adapters that plug into the 194 sockets simply allow you to run LED's strips off that available power without chopping up the good factory wires.

All trucks & SUV's pre 03 should have the footwells lights wired stock...03+ will be hit & miss depending on brand & model...

So, if I really decided to ditch the LED strips I simply need to unplug the adapter & pop a 194 bulb into the socket.

Cameron

 

[01HDtahoeNJN]

i guess i do have them then..? ill have to stick my ass up in the foot wells then...how about in the second row??

 

[Physh1]

The 194 socket adapters have 2 sets of leads. One set of leads I used to power the front LED & the other lead I used to power the rear LED...I ran the rear lead over to the center console, down the length of the console, than to the back of the seat to hook-up to the LED strip.

Cameron