jcaspar
Member
Cutout is done with a razor knife. The area is covered with a thin fabric that is framed in hard plastic so it is almost impossible to cut too much unless you are really aggressive. I cut an X and then cut along the edges. Does not have to be perfect as a little extra will be covered by the light. Pry out the red light at the back of the door and you will see the wire loop for the puddle light taped to it. I carefully cut the tape with the knife. The end of the puddle light wire will be taped to a connector inside the door and for this you need to partially pop off the lower rear of the door panel. My right panel came off easy, left was a bit more difficult. I took a thin screw driver low on the door and carefully pried up to get the spluger under it. I had to pry with the spluger quite hard to pop the panel off, loosening 3 of the white connector pins. This gives just enough room to get your hand in. Disconnect the connector on the red light to give you room to work. The puddle light connector will be wrapped in tape. free it by gently cutting the tape. Connect up the two lights, the new one should pop right in. Be careful to route the puddle light wire inside the white panel pins so it is not pinched by the panel. If you had one of the white door panel connectors break free from the panel you will need to pry it out and put it back in the door panel. Align the white connector pins with the door and push panel back in place.
Definitely harder than the trunk lights but much easer than upgrading the windage tray on a Dodge Viper...
P.S. The only light I have NOT liked so far is the one in the rear hatch. It seemed to blind me when the hatch was opened as it was right in my face. I went back to an original light for this one.
Definitely harder than the trunk lights but much easer than upgrading the windage tray on a Dodge Viper...
P.S. The only light I have NOT liked so far is the one in the rear hatch. It seemed to blind me when the hatch was opened as it was right in my face. I went back to an original light for this one.
This is awesome, I've ordered the 3-pack set (12 bulbs + 1 for glove box) for mine. My 85D does not have the premium lighting package either -- the rear door puddle lights were my concern. I was wondering if it would be as simple as cutting out the recessed areas on the bottom of the rear doors and finding the lighting cable -- looks like you did it and it worked well.
Can you elaborate a bit on any issues you ran into? What did you use to cut out the recessed area? How far up inside the door was the lighting cable, and was it taped or otherwise secured inside? Did you need to remove any door trim?