DIY another trunk led lighting set up

nat3d

Wait, I don't drive a civic anymore....
3,335
1,566
Adams MA
Vehicle Model
Ford Focus ST
Body Style
Hatch
ok so i know theres a bunch out there but i have yet to see it done like this. if you have done it like this please pm me and ill give you credit :). also as with any diy you do this at your own risk neither 9thcivic or myself are responsible if you break anything or hurt yourself.

so as a little intro i like using oem parts in my projects so that if i ever want to revert to stock i can just buy a new oem part and swap it out. this little project took me all of 20 minutes TOPS but i do know my way around a soldering iron and if i had to rate this on a scale of 1-10 for difficulty 10 being the hardest id say this is a 2 (assuming you know how to solder if not then maybe a 4 but regardless its easy). this diy is also really cheap parts wise its all of a whopping $12 for the led strip.


ok so here is what you need for tools:
soldering iron
upload_2014-2-21_13-15-13.jpeg
wire strippers
images


and depending on your style a drill (i'll touch on this later in the diy)
images


and i used dynatape to keep the wire in place
upload_2014-2-21_14-20-7.jpeg

so for parts you will need:
led strip in the color of your choice. this is what i bought and its bright but buy whatever you want.

and the light and assembly from your trunk. now keep in mind i drive a coupe i dont know how this will translate to a sedan. also i did not order a new light and assembly before i did this i just used the one out of my car. the following picture is of the assembly im talking about.WP_20140221_12_13_37_Pro.jpg
to get it out theres a tab on the right that you push in to pop it out and just unclip it from the harness. i didn't take pictures of that unfortunately but its pretty simple.

so step 1
after you have that light out of your trunk pull the bulb out and take the little plastic clip off as shown here
WP_20140221_12_14_02_Pro.jpg

step 2
this is where you may or may not need the drill. i drilled a hole in the plastic of the light as shown here.
WP_20140221_12_14_21_Pro.jpg
the reason i did this is because i wanted to run the wire down and out so that i can tape the wire down as not to rattle and make ANY noise with my audio set up. now if you wanted to you can skip this step for a slightly cleaner install. rather than route the wire down and out like i did continue with the diy without drilling the hole and at the end when you go to put everything in the trunk thread the led strip and wire up through the hole in which the light sits and out a another hole as shown here. (i took this picture after i did the diy because i couldnt figure out how to explain it in words lol)WP_20140221_12_40_43_Pro.jpg
you can thread it over those holes and then around rather under and around like i did.

but back to the diy

step 3
next strip the wires at about a quarter of an inch and depending on your choice of how you are running the wire either get them ready to solder. use the next picture for reference on wire routing
WP_20140221_12_21_32_Pro.jpg

step 4
solder the wires right to the plates like this
WP_20140221_12_27_50_Pro.jpg

step 4
install everything in your trunk i mounted the led strip on the angled back of the area that the light is housed in and tape all the wires down as needed. then just click the light assembly in to the harnes and right back in the hole it came out of.
WP_20140221_12_40_57_Pro.jpg

your done!
WP_20140221_12_46_06_Pro.jpg

hope this helps. this was my first real diy so please let me know if i need to change anything :)
 
I am totally gonna try this with my 14 sedan! very smart. I'm going to use blue lights for sure though because my car is blue.

LED's ordered, 19.5 inches! Anybody have any tips for a non soldering way to affix the wires? I have leased the car, and although I could just clip the wires or de-solder them without the people knowing (worst comes to worst I order a new part) it would be a bit easier not to solder.
 
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I am totally gonna try this with my 14 sedan! very smart. I'm going to use blue lights for sure though because my car is blue.

LED's ordered, 19.5 inches! Anybody have any tips for a non soldering way to affix the wires? I have leased the car, and although I could just clip the wires or de-solder them without the people knowing (worst comes to worst I order a new part) it would be a bit easier not to solder.
the way i did it i set it up so if you buy a new light holder (find it on chh for like $10) you can swap the new one in and no one will ever know you did it.
 
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