[Undertaker]

Today I wired my LED's into my dimmer switches. The nice thing about this is when you turn on your lights your switches will turn on when you turn on your headlights. Also you will be able to dim your lights as well.

What you will need:

- Red and Black 18 ga wire.
- Quick Disconnects. I used a lot (like 28 total - 14 male, 14 female).
- Solder Gun.
- Electrucal Tape.
- Phillips Screw Driver
- 7mm Socket (To take switches off door panel).
- LED's (I used these)

I bought them at Advanced Auto Parts. They are 4 for $8.88 or if you would rather have the exact amount (which you will need 5), you can buy these off autolumination.com. I got the 2 - 4 packs because I might use the other 3 in other places.
- Wire Cutters
- Wire Crimpers
- Pliers
- Dremel Drill with a sanding bit and a small drill bit.
- Hole Punch (To widen a hole).

******** Running the Wires ********

You will have to start out by running wires from an interior spot where the lights turn on and dim. I was going to go from the switch by the steering wheel, but I decided on the rear defroster switch. It is easier from this point because it is in the middle of the car and I ran the wires underneath the carpet. Plus there is more room to work with.

First start off by taking off the HVAC Bezel (take off upper vents, take out the 2 screws, pop off the 4 HVAC knobs, and pull off the bezel). Also take out the Cigarette Lighter and Rear Defroster Panel. Disconnect the Wire Harnesses. Pull out the panel where the CD Changer would go under the Cigarette/Rear Defroster Panel. Also I took out the radio and center console (where your shifter is) so I would have more room and make it easier for myself. If you want to take out the center console, there are 4 screws in the pocket, 2 screws in the cup holders, and just the knob. Then just pull it out.

Next, solder in the positive wire from the rear defroster. I ran 2 sets of wires, 1 to the drivers side and one to the passengers side. Solder your positive wires (I used red in this case) from the orange wire (which is the dimmer light wire). I connected my negatives to a bolt below where the CD Changer would go. Wrap electrical tape around where you soldered the red (+) wire to the orange wire. I wrap the black (-) and red (+) wires together every 6" so they are together and look clean.

Next, I ran each sets of the wires uder the carpet to the kick panel. After the wires are ran, you can reinstall your HVAC's, Radio, and center console. Put the center console back in. 2 screws in the cup holder, 4 in the pocket. Put back in the pocket where the CD changer would go. It just pops into place. Install the Cigarette/Rear Defroster panel. 2 phillips screws hold it in place. Reinstall the radio. 4 screws are used for this. Now reinstall the HVAC Panel. It just snaps in. 2 screws go in the top where the vents go. Snap the vents back in. Put the 4 knobs back on. And you are all set.

Next, I took off each lower kick panel and ran the wires up to where the door wire harness is.

Then I removed the wire harness in between the doors. You start off by removing the rubber surround around the harness. Then you press in the 4 clips holding it in and pull it out (there is 1 clip in each corner). I then unplugged the harness so that you seperate the wires (so you will be left with a gray female and a black male harness). I pushed the gray harness back through the door so all you are left with is the hole into the car.

I then took the red + black wires that were run for the LED's through the big hole where the wire harness was, left a little slack and trimmed them (so about 3" of extra wires after they are through the hole). I put on male quick disconnects on this set of wires.

Next, I took the male end of the wire harness (black) and on one side there is a small hole. It is in the middle on the opposite side of where the gray harness plugs into. This hole is pretty small so I widened this a little with a hole punch. I then ran red + black wires through the holes and put the female end of the quick disconnects on (The quick disconnects should be on so they face the interior of the car. You want them to be able to plug into the wires run from the Rear Defroster.). The reason I did this is because if you ever have to remove the door, I didn't want to cut the wires. Make sure the hole you are using doesn't interfere with the gray female wire harness. I did mine wrong the first time. If that is the case, you used the wrong hole.

I then removed the door panel. Take out 3 screws (One behind the silver door handle, one in the arm rest, one up front in line with the side mirror). There are about 10 white clips holding the panel on. Pull these off very carefully. I didn't have a puller tool, so I just a piece of plastic to get a little space between the panel and the door and used my hands to pull them out. Remove the door handle and door lock rods. There is 2 plastic pieces that hold these in place. Unsnap the plastic and the rod comes out. Unplug all of the harnesses (4 on the drivers side, 2 on the passenger's side) and move the panel out of the way.

Next I removed the speaker to have a little more room. Take out the 4 screws holding in the speaker and mounting plate, not just the 3 screws holing in the speakers. Remove the harness from the speaker.

I ran the wires for the LED's along the stock wires taping every 4 - 6 inches. When I got to the point where the window and power lock harnesses split off, I spliced in another set of wires and soldered it at this point. Now you will have wires running to your window switches and power door lock (You will need one extra wire for the passenger and 2 extra on the driver). Tape up the solder joint very good so you don't get any shorts. I left about 2 inches of wire past each harness so that it has a little slack.

Then on each set of wires I installed male quick disconnects. This way if you ever remove a switch in the future, you can just unplug it. Now that you have the wires ran, I tested them with a LED to make sure they work.

Now that the wires are ran, reinstall the speaker.

We can move onto the switch itself.

*** FYI, the power door lock switch is attached to the door panel. I started with these first so I could put the door panel back on. The window switches you can work on anytime since the window switches can be removed without the door panel off.

 

[Undertaker]

******** Power Door Locks ********

Remove the power door lock using a Phillips Screw Driver. Before removing all the way, mark off with a piece of tape which side faces towards the front of the car. This is the side where you will want to drill a hole for the wires to run through (I will explain later on).

Use a small screwdriver or knife to seperate the base and the switch. Be careful because there are 2 metal pins that fall out which push the switch down for your power door locks. Don't lose these or your switch won't work.

This is the window switch but pretty much the same.

Moving on to the top of the switch:

The other part of the switch where the actual lever is, I took off the rocker switch and removed the plastic in the center (If you were using the stock bulb, this would fit in the hole). The bulb and resistors have more room when this is removed.

I bent the LED after the resistor 90 degrees. The bulb will actually sit between the 2 copper switches.

The top piece where you removed the plastic will hold the bulb straight. Drill a hole out the side where you marked off with tape (Make sure it is not too low so you can get the wires through the hole when reassembled). Thread the wires through the hole. Before putting it back together, remember to put the pins back in for the window switch. Reassemble but leave the rocker switch off so it looks like this.

This is just to make sure the bulb is sitting ok and the rest of the LED is resting between the copper switches.

Once everything is ok, you can snap the rocker switch back into place.

Leave about 2 - 3 inches of extra wire sticking out of the switch. Install female quick disconnects on the positive and negative wires. Connect them to the male quick disconnects and check to make sure the LED works. Also connect the wire harness to the switch and make sure the power locks work as well.

If that is all good, unplug the switch. You can now reassemble the door panel. Screw the power door lock onto the door panel. Connect the rods for the door lock and handle. This will support the door panel somewhat when you plug in your wire harness and LED. Now align the door panel and start snapping the panel back onto the door. Install the 3 screws. You are done with the hard part. Now you can work on the rest of the window switches anytime since you don't have to remove the door panel anymore.

******** Power Window Switch ********

Remove the door handle by pulling up on it. It is pretty easy to just remove by hand. Unplug the 3 wiring harnesses from the switches. If you already have this removed from the door panel removal, you can skip onto the next part.

Remove the switches from the door handle using the 7mm socket. There are 4 screws total.

The switch is 2 pieces that can be taken apart. Use a small screwdriver or knife to seperate the base and the switch. Be careful because there are 2 metal pins that fall out which push the switch down for your power windows. Don't lose these or your switch won't work. Use the soldering gun to heat up and remove the old green bulb (Driver's Switch Only).

With the drivers switch, there are 2 wires that stick up for the old bulb that was removed. I just broke these off. You have a little more room and you won't be using these again (Only the Driver's Switch has this wire, the rest are missing this, hence why they don't light up).

I drilled a hole between the 2 copper switches. I made it where the bulb will be centered in the hole but far enough back that you wont hit any of the wires on the back side that plug into the stock wire harness. Then I drilled a hole through the side of the switch for the wires to come through so I can connect them to my quick disconnects. I use the sanding bit to just clean up the areas a little better. The LED's have the nice plastic wrapping. If you make the hole just big enough, you can push it tight in the hole and it won't come loose.

Moving on to the top of the switch:

The other part of the switch where the actual lever is, I took off the rocker switch and removed the plastic in the center. Only the driver switch has a bulb and the bulb would fit in this plastic. I removed it so the bulb and resistors have more room.

Run the wires through the first hole in the switch and then out the side through the second hole. Push the LED bulb into the first hole so it is tight.

Now reassemble. Put the pins for the switch back in the top piece. Snap the bottom of the switch into the top. I left the rocker switch off while reassembling so I could make sure the bulb went in straight.

After that, I put the rocker switch back on and here is the finished product.

I left about 2 inches of wire on the end. I put on female quick disconnects and connected them to the male in the door panel.

Test the LED by plugging the male and female connectors together. If it works, you can now move onto reassembling the switch onto the arm rest. Use the 7mm socket to reinstall the 4 screws. Plug in the LED and wire harness. Reinstall the arm rest and snap into place.

Thats it!!!!

 

[ViperRacer]

That looks bad a$$ man. :thumbsup:
*subscribed*
Seems pretty awsome, and fairly simple. Tagin' for for updates!!

 

[Undertaker]

I updated this with pictures. If something is hard to understand, please let me know.

 

[haknslash]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[wootSRT]

I havn't done this mod yet.. But I ordered 100 super white leds with resistors.. Seeing how I only need a few of them, if you want white colored LED's.. PM me with how many you need.. Also, if you could send a buck or two for shipping, that would be cool!

 

[wootSRT]

Just got done doing the drivers side switches.. Looks sweet with the white LED's, esp. since I have a silver car. I wired mine directly into the stock LED lines, so no dimmer, but I also didn't remove any of the plastic from inside of the switch so the are visable.. Not over powering though.

Thanks for the MOD! I remeber asking myself why Dodge only made one light.. Problem solved!

 

[BLUE SRT]

Just did mine, blue switches are teh shit!!!

 

[red2k2rt]

yea so i did this myself and like a dumbass broke one of the switches. anyone know how much it''ll cost for a new drivers side window switch? other than that it looks awesome.

 

[Undertaker]

The switch is $25 from Dodge. Don't worry I kinda did the same thing too. My lever fell off like 3 months after I wired them up. So I have to get a whole new switch for just the lever.

 

[red2k2rt]

The switch is $25 from Dodge. Don't worry I kinda did the same thing too. My lever fell off like 3 months after I wired them up. So I have to get a whole new switch for just the lever.

actually the switch was like 7 bucks. it would have been 5 but the dealership i called didnt' have it. i had to go to one in a different town. on mine the little metal tab that holds that metal "clicker" snapped off. but now its all good. i'll post pics once i get a digital camera. their bright at first but you get used to em quick. kind of a nice effect. next step is the gauges. does anyone know if the 2005 grand cherokee has the ability to switch out those little leds on their switches as well?

 

[RedlineSRT_4]

hey what sup with the pictures. I tried doing it right now but I could get it done cuz i didn't find any step-by-step pictures. And what kind bulb and size where you using. Thanks

 

[Undertaker]

Sorry, my server is not working. Haven't had time to look at it too much. I will try and get it back up. As far as bulbs, I bought some from Advanced autoparts. They are small LED's with 18" Wires. They cost $8.88 for 4. You will find them by all of the Import stuff.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Undertaker]

Pics should be fine now (Until my son shuts off my PC again).

Thanks,
Steve

 

[beyondspexj]

this shoulda been a stickie!

 

[Undertaker]

Hak,
Could you sticky this please.

 

[red2k2rt]

hey undertaker did you have any problems with those advanced auto leds starting to flicker out and die? the only one that hasnt given me a problem is the sunroof switch one but the others all seemed to start flickering or just plain old died.

 

[Undertaker]

I actually think this is stickied under "LED Interior Mods"

I actually had one flicker out on me this week. So they lasted me a good year and 1/2. I think it is because the switch moves the light back and forth which probably loosens the connection between the resistor and LED. If I have time, I may look around for other ways to do this.

 

[Rymanrph]

If I want to do my sunroof switch too, where do I run the wire for it?

 

[Undertaker]

You could run it to the Rear Defroster Switch, HVAC's, etc... Anywhere that your dimmer is supplying power. You can go right from the fuse as well. But for my case....going to each door....selecting a center point like the Rear Defroster was easiest. My SRT doesn't have a sunroof so I am not sure where that switch is. So I am not sure the easiest place where to run the wires to would be.

Thanks,
Steve