HOW TO: Add a light over the back seat (02-04KJ)

[LibertyTC]

Rear Seat Lighting

Even though I used the blue water LED's in Amber, wired from the puddle light wires attached to the steering column, which is turned on when you open the doors or at the multifunction switch all on....
It would be real easy to run your own wiring and a separate switch for some rear seat lighting. The wires hide easy along the trim panels, which is what I did to install the amber LED's. Also running separate wires with switch and proper ground, eliminates the possibility of the led may remain slightly lit as the BCM controlled wiring (puddle lite set up) still provides a low voltage, until it is locked and really off.
I was originally going to use these 6 white Led's from West marine and mount them for the rear. Very attractive housing and bright.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=101400&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10109&subdeptNum=10571&classNum=10576
Here you can see where I mounted the 6 Led Amber.
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If you want bright for rear, something like these form West Marine would be perfect.
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I like the Clear plastic housing and .07 watt draw.
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They are soft white and could be left on while driving. Even one may do the job.
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I also added Rear floor lighting. 3 Led each side was used from under each front seat.
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AND the front Weather Tech's with 3 amber LED's.
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On the topic of lighting: Must have: Under the hood light! Has waterproof and fused switch.
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[hyde]

Basically you just tapped into the puddle lights and wired them back there for a loop on both sides or did two separate runs? I wonder what's the max it can take, or should I just hook them up to a 9V battery with a little switch in between? How much do these LEDs draw?

 

[LibertyTC]

The missing single puddle light (dealer light bulb & housing) is 7.5 watts.
Each LED housing was from .5 of a watt to .9 of a watt. (depending on product & how many LED in group)
In other words you will not overload circuit even with 6 LED connected from the single wire under the steering column.
Be sure to disconnect the battery while doing this work.
A small amount of energy remains in the circuit while a door is open, and you don't want a short.

 

[jeeptorino68]

finally did this mod. wow it is great
got my light out of a durango, looked the same as the original poster. clipped the wiring pigtail in the junkyard and ran wires to the cargo light. measured the headliner position twice, cut once. photocopy of the light trick worked great for a template

attached is the cut template i used the hole in the center is the center of the cutout, use a push pin to hold it up onto the headliner