Ideas for dome light?

[ThisOldK10]

My truck did not come with a dome light from the factory. So I'm weighing my options of cutting the hole for one and putting one in or just wiring an LED strip up there. If I can install a headliner I might be able to hide the wires and use a different dome light. Just looking for suggestions.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

The usual spot for the dome light I've seen is right above the rear window on the curve of the back of the cab and the wires run from the drivers side under the dash to the rear corner of the cab and there's a space in between the layers of metal that you have to fish the wires through. I used mechanics wire and fed it through the space first and hooked it up to the wiring connector for the dome light and fished it through. It's a little tricky

 

[ThisOldK10]

The usual spot for the dome light I've seen is right above the rear window on the curve of the back of the cab and the wires run from the drivers side under the dash to the rear corner of the cab and there's a space in between the layers of metal that you have to fish the wires through. I used mechanics wire and fed it through the space first and hooked it up to the wiring connector for the dome light and fished it through. It's a little tricky

How about putting those switches in that turn the light on when the door is open. Shouldn't be too hard right?

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Nope they just go through the kick panel area and contact the door

 

[ThisOldK10]

Anyone tried putting the overhead console from other vehicles, maybe the GMT400 in there?

 

[firebane]

Anyone tried putting the overhead console from other vehicles, maybe the GMT400 in there?

Those have different lines and look weird in a square.

 

[Hoodbj]

I cut and installed an overhead console from a 91 burb that I think looks good. I went ahead and swapped the bulbs out for LEDs and it is like a supernova in the cab at night.

 

[Hoodbj]

Found the pic on an old thread. This is before I hooked up the lights. It also has the map lights you can use which are nice.

 

[SHILOW]

I used superbrightleds.com LED tape light strips.
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-strips-and-bars/led-product/2162/3202/

I taped up the diods to color match them to the interior.

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I mounted them on the driver and passenger side in front of the sun visor.

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You can choose the brightness by cutting the strip.

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[chengny]

I cut and installed an overhead console from a 91 burb that I think looks good. I went ahead and swapped the bulbs out for LEDs and it is like a supernova in the cab at night.

Hey Billy,

Could you do a little write up on this modification. I have the same overhead console from the same year Suburban and have been planning to install it in my 86 K30. I have not done much yet - it's way down on the priority list.

So far, I have trimmed off the last (most rearward) section. Now I can at least hold it up against the headliner - and try to figure out how to contour the upper surface so that it will conform to the curves of a regular cab roof.

But, other than that (and imaging how nice it will be when finished) I have not made much progress.

The wiring is not an obstacle. But mounting it is.

I am considering two options:

1. Just mount it over the headliner shell and carefully shape the upper edges to match the HL contour.

2. Make a neat opening in the headliner/shell that would allow the console to be mounted directly against the steel of the inner ceiling. The console would go up first and then the HL installed over/around the console.


The problem with option 2 is that - if the final result looks like crap (e.g. gaps and sagging around the console/HL seams), I will have wasted a real nice headliner.


How did you do this mod? If you have any ideas/advice on this - and you have a few minutes - could you point me in the right direction?

 

[89Suburban]

Hey Billy,

Could you do a little write up on this modification. I have the same overhead console from the same year Suburban and have been planning to install it in my 86 K30. I have not done much yet - it's way down on the priority list.

So far, I have trimmed off the last (most rearward) section. Now I can at least hold it up against the headliner - and try to figure out how to contour the upper surface so that it will conform to the curves of a regular cab roof.

But, other than that (and imaging how nice it will be when finished) I have not made much progress.

The wiring is not an obstacle. But mounting it is.

I am considering two options:

1. Just mount it over the headliner shell and carefully shape the upper edges to match the HL contour.

2. Make a neat opening in the headliner/shell that would allow the console to be mounted directly against the steel of the inner ceiling. The console would go up first and then the HL installed over/around the console.


The problem with option 2 is that - if the final result looks like crap (e.g. gaps and sagging around the console/HL seams), I will have wasted a real nice headliner.


How did you do this mod? If you have any ideas/advice on this - and you have a few minutes - could you point me in the right direction?

Do you have the original mounting bracket for it?

 

[Hoodbj]

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9713

Here is the old thread where I put it in. As far as contouring it to the cab it fit tight with no gaps. I did option 1 jerry, that may have helped with having no gap also being it squished the headliner between the console and cab roof. And paw paw I didn't use the mounting bracket, I just screwed it directly to the cab roof making sure my screws were just long enough to go through the first layer of metal and not through the top of the cab. If you separate the two pieces you can screw through the top plastic piece, wire it up and then mount the bottom plastic piece and the screws are hidden. Jerry you are like a wiring guru so I know you got that but I just connected it to my existing dome light and since I believe the ground is what's broken I ran a new ground for the map lights so I can still use them when the doors shut.

 

[Hoodbj]

Here's the best pic I could get, has tons of glare but these suckers are bright. They are obviously blue. The map lights I purchased not realizing they were multi-color lol. They change about every 10 seconds and there are seven different colors. My kids think it's cool though, looks like a disco. The map lights aren't as bright as the dome LEDs but still work good when you just need to look at something with the door closed. The back light is the original done and the one closer to the front is the console, I think there's two dome lights in the overhead console if I remember right.

 

[chengny]

Thanks for the link - and the description of how you did this.

Also; from looking at your images, it quickly became apparent why I was having trouble with getting the console to match up with the roof line - I was trying to fit it backwards.

I have never seen the inside of a Suburban and for some reason I got it in my head that the thick end (with the double dome light) was supposed to be in the front. I haven't tried it for fit the correct way yet - but when I do, I'm sure it will make a lot more sense your way.

 

[Hoodbj]

No problem jerry, I did it the easy (lazy) way by screwing it up like that but it holds up well. Doing it like this also helps hold up the headliner too which is a plus. If you decide to put it up like this it doesn't take much time at all.