I want to add lights to my door panel... I think they are called step lights... The lights will illuminate the ground when the door is opened... I haven't taken the door panels off but i was wondering if there is anything in the door that is powered only when the door is opened or when the dome light is on... Basically i am wondering how to wire the lights to light up with the interior lights...

 

I made these door lights for my 83 Buick regal ,They are from a stainless steel BBQ grill side panels. I got LED light strips from Princess Auto and glued them in the fined openings. The wire is then runed back through the flexible door conduit and attached to the door light switch. You can rough wire them and tape them to the door panel first to see where you want them before you cut a hole in the door and you can also wire them up with a 9 volt type battery for testing ,also you can polish then with a wire cup brush to get a brushed look finish. If you can do the testing in a garage ,able to turn off lights, you can real get the effect on how they will work when permanently mounted.

 

I'm planning on 2 more sets of these and just stick them to the bottom... Drill a hole in the door panel to run the wire... I was just wondering in there were anything in the door wired to come on with the door switch...

 

I have been thinking about this, too.

They do have cheapy kits on eBay...they are powered by batteries and the off/on is triggered via a magnet. The magnet is attached to the bottom of the door frame, and when the magnetic bond between the magnet and light is broken (like when opening your door) they turn on.

I don't want to go that route.

From what I've seen inside the door...I don't believe there is a power source that turns on when the door opens.

Like frank1 said, best to run the wires through the flexible poly conduit tube.

 

I agree... I'm wondering how I'm going to get behind the dash especially the passengers side...

 

On my rig I can easly remove the glove box door and access the door switch. Don't know what year your rig is but mine is a 2000.

 

Yeah, the glove box should just swing down after pushing up the little wire thing up. It's in the top left corner once you open the glove box up.