People with the LED DRL strip..
 

I bought this LED DRL kit from @F-T a few months ago and I'm finally having them installed this weekend.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36826

http://topsage.com.tw/images/product...1180034570.jpg

For those that bought this kit, or one similar, do you find it better to have them stay full brightness when the other lights come on, or do you think they look better dim? Where did you tap into? If you tapped into the back of the cigarette lighter, do you lose strength of power to the inside of the lighter? I use the one in the glove compartment to charge my phone and I don't want to have a loss of charging power if that's the wire I have them tap. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I want these to be a true DRL, so I want them to stay on the entire time the car is running, hence why I wanna tap the cigarette lighter wire.

@FR-Shadow @Captain_Awesome_Pants @enouf

I would tap into other wires instead of the cigarette lighter. Instructions are provided at the link below. I also bought the same kit you did but I decided to add a button to completely turn off when needed. It required additional wire length and I had to go buy a button from PepBoys but the end result is that I can go completely stealth if needed. Otherwise, I'm wired to have the LED's at full power when the ignition is on and when the dash lights come on they dim.

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/017...-79135.pdf?406

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24.../IMG_47671.jpg

Do you have to remember to turn the switch off every time before you get out of the car or do the lights turn off with the engine power? Kind of like you have to turn the stalk to off or else the lights will stay on after the car is parked.

No, i leave the switch "on" all the time (red led light is on). They come on when the key is turned to turn on the electricity (cigarette lighter). They turn off when I turn the key to off. I only flip the installed button when I park and am waiting in the car with the radio on and don't want any lights on (like in a parking lot of a grocery store).

Ok. Could you give me a link to the extra wiring and switch? Sorry for all the questions, I just want it done right. There is a Pep Boys near me so I hope they have everything. Also, you think I should make it dim when the headlights come on? One of the shops around me is doing the work and I wanna be detailed with him so he understands what I want. Are all the wires and plugs the same from this kit and the one in the Toyota install page you linked? Thanks a ton!

If you can't tell, I'm a noob when it comes to wiring stuff. I don't trust myself enough to do it correctly.

This was the switch I got from PepBoys but they had red led one's in the store. This one is blue:
http://www.pepboys.com/product/detai...79/?quantity=1

The extra wiring I just bought from Radio Shack that was around 10 gauge? I just bought a roll. The sole purpose was to extend the wiring to reach beyond the firewall and into/under the car dash. All the wiring and harnesses are located behind the console dimming switch and down by the hood release lever.

The Toyota link i posted before comes with the switch and all the wiring but they charge more. I bought the same kit you did and then DIY'd the rest. It's basically the same thing but with a switch and wired to the mirror dimming wire. I didn't take the time to take pictures during my install but I remember finding another link on this site that had some additional wiring diagrams from another type of install. I will post when I find them.

So I'm guessing you wired to the mirror dimming wire too? Like I said I just wanna have everything and make it easy for the guys installing this. Thanks again for your help.

I found this link/thread that has great instructions on getting to the wires and the diagrams.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39313

Looking at your car, and reading that comment made me think:

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...job39XBgjHsOKR

lol (Only funny if you saw that film)

Thanks for all your help. It's much appreciated. I know some people haven't been happy with the brightness of other kits they've bought but I've heard this one is the one to go with. It seems like you like yours.

I love these LED strip lights. They work well and are bright enough for my taste. Even if you wire it up like the kit suggests, it works like it's supposed to. Great alternative to the fog lights plus they are LED.

When I first installed the LED strips (love them btw, makes the car look way more upmarket) I tapped power from the cigarette lighter. Only problem with this is that if I turned the key to ACC to listen to the radio etc. the DRL would come on. This bugged me big time in terms of draining battery power. When I had to do some wiring for my flex fuel kit, I pulled out the wiring for the DRL as well and instead got a 15A fuse tap to tap into the fuse panel in the cabin. I chose a fuse that only got power when the key is turned to ignition & ON (can choose ones marked "DRL", ECU IG1" or "ECU IG2"), this way they only come on when I'm about to drive off and stay on until I turn the key back to ACC.

However if you're still going to tap the glove lighter, I don't see it affecting the charging capacity of that socket too much but it's probably easier for the installer to tap the fuse panel instead. It's really fiddly to tap the lighter socket, especially with big hands.

I chose to have the DRL's dim when the headlights are on. As they are really bright on 100%, I thought it would be overkill to keep them on full with my HID's on as well. To make them dim, the installer needs to tap the blue wire from the kit to the +ve (red) wire leading to a lowbeam headlight.

These were an installed option when I got my car, and I have to say that you definitely want them to dim at night, they are EXTREMELY bright.