Reverse/Curb Light Install

[MountainBikeMike]

UPDATED OP 10/2/14:

So tonight I finished a couple of quick little 'convenience' mods that I've had in mind since forever. I cannot believe I waited for this long and how quick they were to do, with these little lights sitting in the draw for months...

So the first one is something I've wanted to do for about two years - since half way through owning my previous car... I finally did it tonight after fighting the mental block, and it took me an hour.... See I've always found it, 'not difficult' but not timely to reverse park in the dark at night. My crewman had a very tall rear and even after 50mm lowering the tail lights were still so high so no light made it to the curb. My Octy has the problem that the windows are so tinted I can hardly see through the mirror to the curb :p .

So the solution was these $2 screw type lights from AliExpress! These are round and have a thread behind them with a locking collar so you can mount them inside a panel. I ran them from the rear bumper near the wheel, up through the one way exit-air vent, up the the rear light panel, and ta-da! Heaps easier to see that curb, take less time parking, less 'guessing', and less gutter rash!


Ocky straps everywhere!!! Handy to hold stuff out of the way instead of removing them :p


Where I soldered on to the reverse light so it only comes on when in reverse


See where I ran the wire through the circuit board and the air vent?


Neat little inconspicuous circle. I could have gone lower with it, but I wanted it clear of mud


Decent output! This is with the car jacked up and wheels off the ground... And the curb non-existant. It will seem brighter ones those two factors are opposite

I will also get a nicer picture tomorrow night with the dslr of how it looks like through the tint and mirror inside the car.

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ORIGINAL OP:

So since I've started driving I've always found it impossible to see the curb using the reverse lights. They just dont spread the light down enough. It was better when I lowered my crewman, so I put it off fixing. Now with the Octy and a heavy tint, its painful. And my new rims which I spent hours sanding a painting are poking out further than the tires.

So my mission now is to install one of those bright fog lights, or a few simple leds or similar under the left skirts, before and after the rear wheel. The plan is to run parallel on the reverse lamp circuit.

I cant really be bothered, but if its easy I might want to do it so that its on when Im in parking 'mode'. That is, when you go in to reverse, the sensors are activated and music volume is dimmed UNTIL you go forward over roughly 15kmh. I cbf really, as normally I only look at the curb out of the mirror when reversing so I dont hit anything while going forward!

Anyhow, below is a pic of the wiring attachment, I need to figure out which wire, but the back of the light plate confuses me! Im not 100% sure whats going where as it looks like a big loop. You have an indicator light, park light, brake light, and reverse light.

Can someone tell me which one to hook in to, what voltage it is and if I need to bother with resistors (and CEL warnings for that matter ), and what type of light? I have some cheapo fog lights sitting around...

Sorry for the long post

[Mysticality]

The brown one, judging by the pics.

I'd have a look at something like a cheap set of LED numberplate lights, hidden behind the skirts or something! (read: SCA/Repco)

[MountainBikeMike]

If its that one, I wonder do I need to hook the negative up to the negative on this switch or ground it on the body. I already have a convenient little ground point in the area

[Mysticality]

Just ground to body, although you'd wanna set up a circuit with a relay.

[MountainBikeMike]

Relay and wha? But I'm ****

[MountainBikeMike]

Just updated the original post with the finished result of this mod! very happy!