I wanted to do this on my 2010 but could never find a good way. So when I got my 2014, I knew immediately what I was going to do with the foglight panels since this is the first car I don't actually have foglights on, nor do I need them with my HIDs. The beam on this car is awesome. So I made my own DRLs using 10mm LEDs from Sparkfun.com They are great and inexpensive. I installed the bulbs in the top slot because they are almost invisible when turned off if you walk up to the car.
Here we go:
Started with my 10mm White LEDs and 150 ohm, 1/2 watt resistors and soldered then heatshrunk them together and made pigtails. The online calculator I used suggested 2 watt LEDs...I don't know if that will really matter, but we'll find out. I ran them on one of my store displays for about 30 minutes and they did get warm at the resister, but never hot.
I popped my foglight panels out when I installed my HIDs last week. I drilled 4 evenly spaced holes with a 3/8" drillbit which holds the LEDs perfectly. But when you drill, you also have to turn the bit to the inside so you can aim the LEDs forward instead of off to the side. Be careful here. I measured and made a template to set the panel on to get my aim right. I didn't get any pictures of that, but I'm sure you can figure it out.
Using CA glue, I glued the bulbs in place when I got them where I thought they were straight. I also painted the back side black to keep some of the light from washing out the back end. That worked pretty well. Then I made some wire extensions and they are ready to go.
I went to O'Reilly's Auto Parts and bought a couple of 2-pin trailer plugs for quick disconnects. I soldered them in, then wrapped the wire extensions in tech flex loom to protect it (I didn't have any loom at home)
Here, I cheated a little and when I made my relay to run these (I don't install anything without a relay), I tapped my constant power from my HID relay. This way, one fuse covers both, but i did install my own fuse on the LEDs as well.
This part upset me a little. I bought this fuse tap for $16 from the parts store. I figured I could pull my DRL fuse out, install this and just not re-install the DRL fuse. I was hoping that the LEDs would then function just like the factory ones...no dice. That fuse has constant power all the time. So I used the audio fuse (7.5 Amp) This way they do cut on and off with the car, though I was hoping they would cut on and off with the parking brake and putting in and out of gear. This fuse, btw, is just for the trigger side of the relay...so no current to worry about. I put a 5 Amp fuse in it and it works like a champ. They are also not blinding at night, so I am going to let them run all the time unless I see a problem. Then I will rig another relay to cut them off with the Headlights.
This is the first attempted location
Here is where it ended up.
And here is what we have.
Different amounts of zoom from the end of my driveway. The lights are actually brighter than they seem.
Crappy night pic.
After detailing the cars today
Here we go:
Started with my 10mm White LEDs and 150 ohm, 1/2 watt resistors and soldered then heatshrunk them together and made pigtails. The online calculator I used suggested 2 watt LEDs...I don't know if that will really matter, but we'll find out. I ran them on one of my store displays for about 30 minutes and they did get warm at the resister, but never hot.
I popped my foglight panels out when I installed my HIDs last week. I drilled 4 evenly spaced holes with a 3/8" drillbit which holds the LEDs perfectly. But when you drill, you also have to turn the bit to the inside so you can aim the LEDs forward instead of off to the side. Be careful here. I measured and made a template to set the panel on to get my aim right. I didn't get any pictures of that, but I'm sure you can figure it out.
Using CA glue, I glued the bulbs in place when I got them where I thought they were straight. I also painted the back side black to keep some of the light from washing out the back end. That worked pretty well. Then I made some wire extensions and they are ready to go.
I went to O'Reilly's Auto Parts and bought a couple of 2-pin trailer plugs for quick disconnects. I soldered them in, then wrapped the wire extensions in tech flex loom to protect it (I didn't have any loom at home)
Here, I cheated a little and when I made my relay to run these (I don't install anything without a relay), I tapped my constant power from my HID relay. This way, one fuse covers both, but i did install my own fuse on the LEDs as well.
This part upset me a little. I bought this fuse tap for $16 from the parts store. I figured I could pull my DRL fuse out, install this and just not re-install the DRL fuse. I was hoping that the LEDs would then function just like the factory ones...no dice. That fuse has constant power all the time. So I used the audio fuse (7.5 Amp) This way they do cut on and off with the car, though I was hoping they would cut on and off with the parking brake and putting in and out of gear. This fuse, btw, is just for the trigger side of the relay...so no current to worry about. I put a 5 Amp fuse in it and it works like a champ. They are also not blinding at night, so I am going to let them run all the time unless I see a problem. Then I will rig another relay to cut them off with the Headlights.
This is the first attempted location
Here is where it ended up.
And here is what we have.
Different amounts of zoom from the end of my driveway. The lights are actually brighter than they seem.
Crappy night pic.
After detailing the cars today
