Upgrade dome light(s) to LEDs

First of all, I have no idea where this howto should go, mods, please feel free to move it where it belongs...

Okay, so recently I replaced my old dome light with some new LED replacements - not just to make it a little brighter in the old jeep, but also to give it a little style. I love blue lighting (don't know why, just do) so I set up blue LED lighting in my jeep's dome.

Now, this wasn't a simple drop n' swap (Honestly, I'm kinda glad it wasn't, this was a lot more fun!) because the LED pieces I picked up wouldn't fit in my dome. Okay, so before I get too far ahead of myself, let me break it down:

1993 Jeep Cherokee Sport with stock dome light:
http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?al...pictureid=3909

So first, we gotta take the dome cover off, which can come off fairly easily by giving a little squeeze on the sides (as in passenger and driver) and pulling downward. This will reveal our killer light bulb, which is also the reason our lighting sucks so bad:
http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?al...pictureid=3908

As you can see, there's enough room for two bulbs in this sucker, but alas, we only have one...well, I pulled the bulb and found some LED lights that were "supposed" to fit my jeep:
http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?al...pictureid=3904
http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?al...pictureid=3910
Hmmm....they don't really...look...right...do they? Well, good eye - they're not even remotely similar. Basically, the old bulb has a pair of wire loops on the ends that hook onto the brass clips inside the dome...well, crap. Now what?

Necessity is the mother of invention and paperclips are our friends. In this case, I needed two of them and I needed to make sure the LEDs worked! First, a quick DC power pack and some bare wires made for a great tester of both whether or not they work - but their polarity! (Yes, it matters which way the juice flows on these puppies - if you have it wrong, you're not getting any light!):
http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?al...pictureid=3906

So now that I knew which end was which, I had figured that just one of these wasn't going to be enough light - they were closer to what the stock bulb puts out. Which, well...it's okay, but it's not what I wanted. So, if one is bright, two must be brighter! MORE POWER PLEASE!!!

But how to set them up and make them work and install them and and and...okay, one thing at a time...first, had to make sure they were both set up properly for polarity...that means my positives are both on the same end, because I was going to join them with - a pair of paperclips!
http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?al...pictureid=3905
http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?al...pictureid=3901

Okay, so a quick and simple solder job later and those paperclips became permanent fixtures. Next, we have to pop them into the dome and in order to do that, I had to adjust the brass clips until they held the clips securely with no slippage. Now, if I had planned things a little better, no bending would have been necessary, but I erred on the side of caution and made the clip bends a little bigger than necessary:
http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?al...pictureid=3907

They're in! They work!! They FIT!!! Wooohoooo!!!! Now to put that pesky plastic back in:
http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?al...pictureid=3903

and of course, enjoy the really cool effects!!!
http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?al...pictureid=3902

If anyone is curious, the product I used is sold on Amazon.com by a company called Cutequeen (Seriously, I'm not making this up) and they come in a 4 pack for only about $6.00 which in my book, is a hell of a deal! I'm still trying to figure out a way to pop the other two into the back area for rear dome lighting. Any ideas will be welcomed!

If it's okay, the link to the product is [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2YE4LY/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i04?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]Cutequeen 4pcs Blue 42mm(1.72") 16-SMD 12V Festoon Dome Light LED Bulbs 211-2 212-2 569 578 - Blue (pack of 4) : Amazon.com : Automotive@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515XRFluclL.@@AMEPARAM@@515XRFluclL[/ame] and they have (At posting) Blue, Yellow, Pink, Green, Red and of course, White. So you can customize your interior lighting to WHATEVER you want.

Hope this helps, keep your jeep on the trail - or at least be careful when makin' your own!

Cheers,