rear interior light

hi everyone,

i'm sure this has been done - has anyone put in a light which comes on in the back when the front doors are opened? I was thinking of putting in an extra interior light, same as in the front, and running a wire from the front one to the back (assuming it would work ok as there aren't many volts going to it)

if anyone's done this i'd be glad for a pointer in the right direction

As you suggest sounds fine. If you get a LED one designed for cars (12v) the current draw would be negligible. Avoid cheap and nasty ones. I recently installed two I bought of ebay and they have not proven very reliable. I think it's probably to do with the amount of miosture they are exposed to, so I'm going to be replacing them with some watertight ones when I get around to it.

is there a decent place they can be secured into? i remember my dad's work van used to have holes in the rear where interior lights could be installed if needed..

If you take the courtesy light apart and solder two wires to the board next to the bulb contacts (one to each side) then pass these two wires out you can connect them to an unswitched interior light such as :12V 12 P4-LED WHITE LED SURFACE MOUNT TUBE LIGHT - Marine/Boat/Caravan/Cabin/4x4 | eBay then both lights will work off the same switch i.e. the one at the front and both will work the same way i.e. via the door switch/on/off. (NOTE: If you are using an LED 2nd light then you need to make sure that the +12v wire goes to the side of bulb that is at 12v and the other goes to the ground side but don't worry if you get it wrong it will just not work so just swap them round - the best way is to just solder the two wires on and then touch the two bared wires to the black and red of the 2nd light.... If it works then make the connections permanent, otherwise swap them round then make them permanent.)



As for voltage.... they are both 12v, it isn't the volts that is the problem when attaching more equipment to the same circuit it is the current but you needn't worry it will handle both. You could change the interior light bulb for an LED one at the same time which would reduce the current even more. You can get LED versions of the standard interior light build for £1 inc postage for TWO from ebay. These have the advantage that you will not flatten the battery if you leave it on over night..... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400433197540?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649