Correct^^^^^ But you still want IGN power so if you leave the switch on it wont drain your battery

check out my NOTE: that I added at the end before the last pics

 

yeah true, I doubt those LEDs draw a lot of power though. But yes it is smart to hook it to ign power. The way it sounded to me is that you hooked it to ignition power so it was on no matter what day of night.

 

Your killing me bud. I'm into a Light frenzy here.
First I did my HID retro-fit. Then I added HID's to my fogs. Now I'm in the middle of adding twin 55w reverse lights to come on Only when the lights are on(requires 2 relays). Also, I'm in the middle of adding LED's to under the hood since I have no underhood light.
Now i must add some cupholder LED's because i like to see and that is one spot that I cannot when driving. I usually have to hit the overhead light to see anything.

My questions. WHat is the intensity. Usually measured in MCD. Also what size did you use 3mm or 5mm??? Just trying to get a light that will be not terribly bright. I actually want to do a single one.

Also, I see you have 3. Did you install a resistor inline? If not you will eventually burn up those LEDs as there is too much power given to just 3. If you used 4, then you could get away with no resistor as long as they were 3.0-3.2v leds.3.2x4=12.8v so you may have a slight dim in the LEDs when the truck is not running, but it would be neglegible.
3 LEDS lets say draw 20mA each would require a 210ohm resistor. 25mA=160ohm 30mA=130ohm

If you didn't use a resistor, the LEDS may have only half their life left which is still like 20-30,000hours...lol
It's just that any voltage kickback when you turn the keys off will jump into the LEDS and it creates corrosion and arching at the cathode terminal on the leds which significantly reduces life. You may get a few months outta them or they might last 10years???

As far as powerring them up, I would tie them into the dimmer line for the radio. This way the only light up when you have the lights on and they will dim along with the rest of the dash lights.

 

I like the thought of that. But I would also want to see if I could take it 1 step further and add a switch so that when the cup holder is up (closed) the leds are off and when it is down they are on when the dash lights are on.

I have a bunch of blue leds and resistors left over from when I did a computer mod years ago. They have a good MCD rating and a pretty tight viewing angle. But I could sand them to get some better diffusion. hmmm....

 

Ohh. My cupholder stays open all the time. It never gets tucked away. i use it all the time. Since i lost my little storage pocket after I installed my Navi radio, i use my cupholder to hold my wallet/phone.

You could use a hood switch like they use for car audio to detect the hood opening. Or you could use a mercury tilt switch...lol

Either one of those would tie into the power from the dimmer switch. This way you would have to have the lights on for the switch to even transmit power to the lights when the cupholder is opened.

 

dont all the trucks have the wire harness for the lighths even though dodge couldn't afford the lights them selves. just tie into that

 

Where? There are no lights for the cupholders at all.

Do some models have lights and not others? I didn't think any of these trucks had them.

 

here are the pics of mine in my 04. my 05 and 08 had the harness no light. i think it is a 20.00 plug and play from the stealership. i would use leds or a 6" neon strip.

harness in question. my 04 has a blk/pink and or/gray

the light itself

place where the light goes

light in place

 

Hey thanks for the pics. I'll just tap into those wires that are already there. Just didn't even know they existed

 

no problem. i have no qualms about tearing my dash apart. takes all of 5 seconds. those are the wires i tied into for the leds for the rest of my truck. so they only come on when i turn my parking lights on