Dan Wheeler's IKEA LED Lights Install Thread

Here's a fun one - a nice break from the heavy axle/suspension stuff I've been bogged down with.

During a recent visit to IKEA, I came across these:



They come with 4 light bars that can be arranged in-line or in a star formation. The controller allows you to select one color in a large spectrum with a spinning wheel or you can let it cycle/fade through all the colors.

I was most pleased to see they came with a AC/DC converter that put out 12v. I have an idea!








A video would be better but you get the idea. The white lights do a great job of lighting up the cab.

The controller will resume in whichever mode you left it in. If you leave it set to a particular color, it will resume that color when you turn it on.

I wanted these lights to turn on when I disarmed the alarm so I wired them to the output of my alarm.

I also wanted to be able to turn them on with a switch on the dash. My parking lights are also tied in to the output of the alarm which means providing 12v to the LED lights would also energize the parking light circuit. I put a diode in the circuit to prevent this.

The only problem with this setup is that because its in front, its kinda blinding when turned on and driving at night but I have map lights on my rearview mirror for that.

how much did they cost? No IKEA around me, but could pick some up next time I'm near one or have someone buy/ship them to me. They look pretty slick compared to some LED color changing setups I've seen.

dang i like this. lights it up pretty good in the cab

$40!! Sweet!!

DIODER 4-piece light strip set, multicolor

76MaBronco said:

$40!! Sweet!!

DIODER 4-piece light strip set, multicolor

Click to expand...

yeah, and if you don't want to be made fun of for liking rainbows, you can get the white only LEDs for $29

I like it good idea

DanWheeler said:

yeah, and if you don't want to be made fun of for liking rainbows, you can get the white only LEDs for $29

Click to expand...

IDK...isn't red supposed to be easier on the peepers?? Can always be mounted under the dash or under the bedrails too...

Next thing on the list should be an 8 track with disco tapes.

Bookmarked for another idea.... damn me!

Wonder if they would work good as rock lights under the fender wells?

Where exactly is the LED bar mounted? Its hard to tell from the pics. Is that all 4 mounted or just 1?

Can you add more leds to the kit or run 2 kits at the same time?

That is all 4 bars (there are 4 bars in a kit) mounted in series under the front A-pillar.

You can connect all the bars together or they also come with short 1-2" cables so you could do a zig-zag or you can do a star formation. Lots of possibilities.

I'm not sure how many bars you could put inline before the voltage drop would be a problem. Certainly nothing would stop you from running multiple kits but I'm not sure how many LED bars you could run off one control unit.

I'll leave that up to someone else to experiment with I'm sure there are endless possibilities.

Its a shame you cant get longer led bars. Id like some where you have them and some in the bed. Just wonder if you run 2 kits if they will change colors the same.

Red use to be the standard for military aircraft because it reduced eye strain. With the advent of night vision they changed to green so it would be more compatable with the night vision gear. At least that is what I was told back in the 80's when I worked at a place that manufactured military aircraft instrument panels.