Illuminated cup holders Tahoe (How-to)

[ScottyBoy]

That looks sweet! I may have to do mine now. I did my door switches in blue LED's already. Now I need the cupholder to match.

 

[Tahoewhat]

Bumping old thread, b/c i just did this and have some questions.
first here is pic


2nd. Right now they are on a switch. I would like them to come on w/ the headlights. (what could i tap into to achieve this) tried a orange wire in radio, but didnt come on, only flickered then stopped. So made a switch for it. But dont like it.

3. they are way to bright for me. I only have 4 in the top compartments, and 3 in the cupholders. I would like the subtle glow. I read wrong and see you have to basically shave the top, dome, off and then sand the whole led down to opaque. RIght? This will give it more of a glow. I read someone tapped into a 5v source. Where could i find one at, i dont have a volt meter. The 12v seems to be too bright.

4. Thanks for any help on this.

 

[bsims3996]

this is the wire i tapped into behind the a/c controls

 

[Rivieraracing]

Yeah Mike, you can tap into anything that lights up in your interior when the lights are on just gotta find the wire on it that power up with the headlights!! Also, for your LED's, could also tint them with some spray tint, I wouldn't think the LED's would get hot enough to burn the tint off but haven't tried it to find out!! Someone should be able to chime in about the LED shaving to tell you if that works or not, haven't done that either! Plus you need to buy yourself a cheap voltmeter and also a test light, solves alot of problem having one!

---------- Post added at 09:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 AM ----------

Just thought about this, if you have a light in your center console that only lights up when the headlights are on, you could tap into the power side of the switch for your LED's, it's gotta be the power side or else they would only turn on when the center console was opened up with the headlights being on!

 

[Tahoewhat]

this is the wire i tapped into behind the a/c controls

Is that a gray wire? I'll look at mine and see. Sure i can figure it out.

Thanks very much for posting that.

Yeah Mike, you can tap into anything that lights up in your interior when the lights are on just gotta find the wire on it that power up with the headlights!! Also, for your LED's, could also tint them with some spray tint, I wouldn't think the LED's would get hot enough to burn the tint off but haven't tried it to find out!! Someone should be able to chime in about the LED shaving to tell you if that works or not, haven't done that either! Plus you need to buy yourself a cheap voltmeter and also a test light, solves alot of problem having one!

---------- Post added at 09:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 AM ----------

Just thought about this, if you have a light in your center console that only lights up when the headlights are on, you could tap into the power side of the switch for your LED's, it's gotta be the power side or else they would only turn on when the center console was opened up with the headlights being on!

Chris,
Yeah i figured i could tap into anything, just dont know what really. Need to get a volt meter. Dont really want to go and check around w/ a hot wire. Could end badly for me. lol Tinting them, ive been reading again and think i just need to sand the whole thing and the top a little.

I dont have a light in the console at all. Wish i did, that way would be very easy, just tap into it and be done. No wires running all over.

Thanks guys for all your help. I'll be looking into this again today and see what i can do. thanks again..

mike

 

[Rivieraracing]

Chris,
Yeah i figured i could tap into anything, just dont know what really. Need to get a volt meter. Dont really want to go and check around w/ a hot wire. Could end badly for me. lol Tinting them, ive been reading again and think i just need to sand the whole thing and the top a little.

I dont have a light in the console at all. Wish i did, that way would be very easy, just tap into it and be done. No wires running all over.


mike

At least get yourself a test light, they are dirt cheap and makes it pretty easy to find a wire with voltage to it!! As for the console light, must be another denali thing!! How about the back of the console, don't you have rear audio controls on there? If so they should light up with the headlights, that would be another option to tap into!

---------- Post added at 10:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 AM ----------

Sounds like you gotta just get in your truck tonight when it's dark, turn your headlights on and see what lights up in your truck and choose the closest thing you can to your cupholders that lights up and tap into it!!

 

[Tahoewhat]

At least get yourself a test light, they are dirt cheap and makes it pretty easy to find a wire with voltage to it!! As for the console light, must be another denali thing!! How about the back of the console, don't you have rear audio controls on there? If so they should light up with the headlights, that would be another option to tap into!

---------- Post added at 10:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 AM ----------

Sounds like you gotta just get in your truck tonight when it's dark, turn your headlights on and see what lights up in your truck and choose the closest thing you can to your cupholders that lights up and tap into it!!

LOL. yes you and your denali has everything. ha ha.. Crazy, the newer ones dont have half of what you do.

I actually found a test light looking for something else. So thats a plus. Better than nothing. You know, i never thought of the rear audio controls. I dont ever go back there. But i could tap into that somehow. How do you take that out if you know? Now that i have a test light, guess i can find out which one lights up those. SHould only be one wire right? Id rather go to that, then the a/c. Just messing w/ a/c wires frightens me. About to go check this all out.

I tried that last nite, got in and turned lights on and looked around, only thing i could see what dash lights, a/c and such, didnt think about rear audio controls, they light up.. Thanks chris, im going to look into this now.

 

[Rivieraracing]

Yeah, it will only be one wire you will look for, just gotta take the test light, hook the one end of the light to a good ground (make sure the ground is good by checking the wires and make sure the light lights up with one of the wires at least) and start by checking all the wires with the headlights off noting which ones have power and which ones don't, then turn the headlights on (with the truck off, should only light up your interior lights and nothing else) and check the wires that didn't have power before and you should be able to find only one wire, that's the one you want to use!!

---------- Post added at 01:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:06 PM ----------

As for taking out the rear controls, I haven't done that before!! Shouldn't be too hard to figure out!

 

[ScottyBoy]

Mike, the brown wire with a white stripe is the illumination wire in the AC harness with the light blue plug. The white stripe may look off white or even a really light yellowish color. I know that's the illumination wire. Ask me how I know, lol!!

 

[Tahoewhat]

Thanks. Chris and Scott. Ill look into it more in a minute. So brown and white are illuminations. Thanks. You have to sand quite a bit of the led for a more glow effect. The a/c is still kind of bright.