Gen 4 Liberty - lighting in cabin

[AlpineRaven]

G'day guys,
I have Gen 4 Liberty wagon with sunroof, the dome light on the backseats is useless - as it brights on the area on rear seats at night time, but it doesn't shine at the front seats and its pretty dark, I had to pickup my grandmother on other night and she couldnt "see" her way around in the front seats.
So... what have you done to make it better/brighter.

I was also thinking about getting light source from the dome light and wire up in the footwall hidden away but bright enough to see the area.
What are your inputs?
Cheers
AP

[dmh87]

Check this out:

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=4596

[iisshhyy]

Change the map lights to LED globes. If that isn't enough, keep exploring the option of hooking up some footwell lights.

[mynameisdaniel]

I wired up my front map lights so they come on with my rear dome light. Then I put 2x24 LED lights in the dome light, and a 24 LED light in each of the two map lights. Believe it or not it's too bright up front now. If you drive around in the dark for a while then open the door you can't see too well for a few seconds while your eyes adjust...

[rooby]

I hav the 24 smd in th dome light ant it's pretty bright. But you can go bigger than that if you prefer.
I have 6 smd in each of the maps and I think they are fairly similar to stock brightness.

If you want bright in there go bigger than 6.

[rooby]

Posted same time

That's pretty hardcore lighting you have.
I think AP would be satisfied with that.

[mynameisdaniel]

Posted same time

That's pretty hardcore lighting you have.
I think AP would be satisfied with that.

Yeah you'll never get complaints about lack of lighting if you set it up like mine. Had friends in the back seat complain when it blinded them once, 96 LEDs right in your line of vision will do that though

Plus it looks awesome when you unlock the car and the light shines off the leather seats through the tinted windows

[jordankatsianis]

I wired up my front map lights so they come on with my rear dome light. Then I put 2x24 LED lights in the dome light, and a 24 LED light in each of the two map lights. Believe it or not it's too bright up front now. If you drive around in the dark for a while then open the door you can't see too well for a few seconds while your eyes adjust...

Hey man,

How did you connect up your map lights to the centre dome??

The dome is COMPLETELY useless in the wagons with a sunroof...

Thanks

[Kekotic]

Hey man,

How did you connect up your map lights to the centre dome??

The dome is COMPLETELY useless in the wagons with a sunroof...

Thanks

I would be wary of doing this. Quite a few people on LegacyGT forums fried their BIU by doing it.

[mynameisdaniel]

+1 Be very careful, it's not something you want to try if you don't understand what you're doing. If you overload the circuit, you'll fry it and it costs $1000+ to get it replaced... You can overload it by running too much through it, ie high power consumption lights or by crossing wires when you've got it all apart. Definitely one of those mods where you should actually disconnect the battery before you start

On another note I can confirm that if you follow this tutorial EXACTLY in a MY07 GT-B including swapping the wires it works perfectly, I didn't trust it so checked everything myself.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.p ... 23139.html

I also have a BIU (Body control module) from a MY05 2.5i lying around for testing, not sure if it's the same but if you do fry yours you can buy it from me, you'll have to get it reprogrammed though

[jordankatsianis]

Thanks for the tips,

I'm not particularly handy with auto electricals so I feel this may not be ideal for my first modding exercise lol..
but that said, in terms of not wanting to overload the circuit, would removing the halogen globes and replacing them with LED's help?? do LED's have less wattage than halogen?? Wanting to keep it looking completely stock so they will also have to be warm white LED's..

ahh so many little things i want to do, all so freakin complicated..

I used to muck around with my mates Toyota Supra and I swear that was an oxcart compared to this!!

although i expect compared to anything european its hardly complex, but then most european cars already have map lights connected to the doors!!
gahh its a vicious circle..

[mynameisdaniel]

Yeah LEDs use far less, the halogens use about 5w each, whereas a panel of SMDs or even a single LED is closer to 1W. I've got four 24 x 5050 SMD panels on the circuit without a problem. It's overkill though and while the light isn't as 'luxurious' as a warmer light it doesn't look 'ricey' at all and looks a bit more modern if anything.