nabtastic

Hi all
I'm looking to replace my dome light with an LED rope light. Its 12v cut to fit. Theres a ton of wires headed to the dome light, circuit board and hoop-la.
Im assuming I can't wire the lights directly in and be done with it? I'm planning to run the lights around the roof bc I want to cut a sunroof in that will be almost full length..

Cheers,

investinwaffles

I wired in some "tactical" red LED lighting in the factory dome, I can't remember what color wires there are but IIRC there are 3 or so in there.

There is 1 constant 12v source which also runs the map lights (they have their own switches), and one switched 12v source which runs the dome light when the doors are open or headlight switch turned up. And a constant ground as well.


You could either wire it straight to the dome light for standard operation when you open the door/turn on the interior lights, or to the constant 12v and hide a switch somewhere.

The 12v constant actually switches OFF when the dome light turns on, at least in my 98'

nabtastic

I think I'd prefer the lights to come on with the doors but also when I manually turn the light on.
Should I worry about the wires going to the chipboard?
It's a DD so I don't want to fry anything!

Thanks,

investinwaffles

I just tapped into the wires themselves, that way the dome and map lights worked as normal, but I

The security board is a separate wiring harness, so no real worry of frying anything on that. Maybe hot-glue it to prevent any shorting if you are planning on relocating it

Jimbo Slice

I'm more concerned with this "full length" sunroof.

How large is it going to be exactly?

nabtastic

Im going to google this, but I have no idea what the security board does. It'll be easy enough to relocate though since I've removed basically all of my trim pieces.

-as to the ragtop.. Pretty much full length. I'll probably wrap the frame with padding to prevent injury though. Like this
https://goo.gl/images/UCL8I1

Jimbo Slice

You're... talking about cutting the roof off an XJ?

Will you be reinforcing it with a cage of some type?

LACK

Its most likely the sensor for the keyless entry remote.

MWMahoneyJr

That open top looks awesome! And you can see a structural support in the photo. Very cool.

nabtastic

The power supply to the dome light is +, -, ground (red, white, black). The LED didn't come with writing instructions since it's supposed to be plugged into the wall...
do I connect the red and white wires and ignore the ground? I can't imagine the LED needing a ground wire but I'm far better with physical mechanical stuff than magical electric (still think it's voodoo...)

nabtastic

Those sliding ragtop kits are like $350-600 depending on size and features btw. Thought about a truE DIY top but for that price I'll happily get the guaranteed reason free kit lol

Batman33165

let us know how it comes out, pics would be awesome!!!

nabtastic

Wiring the light was really easy - no ground needed and just a quick solder. Struggling with mounting though so it's still in a real above my passenger visor. I'll get the light finished this weekend while I do some other repairs (tranny flush, water pump, and power steering)

bad_idea

Need some in progress pictures of the rag top. More details! I like it.

nabtastic

Apologies for the delay. Had a few parts that jumped in front of the ragtop like (battery dying, water pump dying, front and rear brake rebuild, etc..) now I'm trying to decide between AC getting fixed and a ragtop. Hoping to get both done this January as funds are little tight preparing for the holidays. It's expensive living in HI..

Side note: the LED ballast got fried when the battery died. No clue how to replace the ballast so I'm searching for a new dome light solution.

I'll update with pictures when I get something serious happening.