Interior lighting upgrade

[Weissenheimer]

The factory lighting has bugged me for a while now. Someone stated perfectly that “it is good for brain surgery, but not for hanging out”. Also, my factory lights were losing LEDs steadily for some reason, plus one had a bad connection I couldn’t seem to fix. I will note that it was surprisingly elusive to find factory replacements. Something was odd about the difficulty in finding info on them. I can’t remember the price but when I did find the , they were way too expensive IMO, so I found a better solution. Now, my interior feels warm, and cozy. It especially helps with the silver spur interior, which seems nice and modern at first but starts to feel a little cold and industrial. If I’m going to spend time in such a confined place I want it to feel cozy.

Notes about the lights: I went the “natural” option on Amazon which I believe is 3k temperature. It also has a red light feature which is really nice for early morning or late night wake up calls. They still dim like the factory lights however the button is a real button which I prefer to the capacitive touch buttons. Lots of improvement over factory.

Notes about the install: I had to drill one new hole for each light since they are different dimensions, I utilized one existing hole to minimize drilling into the roof, not a great feeling! But I will say the screws supplied work perfectly and are not too much longer than factory. I bought the adapters linked below and soldered the female plug to the new lights so I didn’t have to modify the factory plugs coming out of the roof. Overall it was a very easy upgrade that I recommend to everyone.

Here is what I went with:

acegoo RV Under Cabinet LED Lighting 12V Light Bar with Integral On Off Dimming Switch & Red Night Light, Screw Mount Hard-Wired CRI90+ (20 Inches Warm White) https://a.co/d/6g1Nbc5

3.5mm*1.35mm DC Power Wire DC... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WYY1Z55?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Before

After

And the bonus Red light

 

[Vic Harder]

Nice upgrade! I like the warm color as well, and the Red is a real bonus too. I used eShine lights in my PUMA build. We like the dimmable feature. I kept the OLD factory lights to use over the bed area.

Amazon.com : eshine led dimmable under cabinet lighting

I used the short 12" ones inside the cabinets, which is super handy when rummaging about in the dark.

Note: the ceiling looks like sh!!t in this pic, we redid it sometime after this pic was taken.

 

[Sagebrusher]

Very nice. I like the factory lights ok since they dim, but they are losing leds so I think I'll do this. We like to stargaze and watch meteor showers and the red light will really get our eyes adjusted before we head outside.

 

[FAW3]

Helpful write up. Thanks.

 

[Gumbus]

I am of the same opinion, those OEM lights are not pleasant on any level, too blue. I spent a lot of money on this camper and want the lighting to be as relaxing as available. I also require a red option for evening lighting and thus far have resorted to taping red film over the LED strips, cumbersome. Your write up is very helpful and appreciate the link to the products.

 

[outinthewoods]

The factory lighting has bugged me for a while now. Someone stated perfectly that “it is good for brain surgery, but not for hanging out”. Also, my factory lights were losing LEDs steadily for some reason, plus one had a bad connection I couldn’t seem to fix. I will note that it was surprisingly elusive to find factory replacements. Something was odd about the difficulty in finding info on them. I can’t remember the price but when I did find the , they were way too expensive IMO, so I found a better solution. Now, my interior feels warm, and cozy. It especially helps with the silver spur interior, which seems nice and modern at first but starts to feel a little cold and industrial. If I’m going to spend time in such a confined place I want it to feel cozy.

Notes about the lights: I went the “natural” option on Amazon which I believe is 3k temperature. It also has a red light feature which is really nice for early morning or late night wake up calls. They still dim like the factory lights however the button is a real button which I prefer to the capacitive touch buttons. Lots of improvement over factory.

Notes about the install: I had to drill one new hole for each light since they are different dimensions, I utilized one existing hole to minimize drilling into the roof, not a great feeling! But I will say the screws supplied work perfectly and are not too much longer than factory. I bought the adapters linked below and soldered the female plug to the new lights so I didn’t have to modify the factory plugs coming out of the roof. Overall it was a very easy upgrade that I recommend to everyone.

Here is what I went with:

acegoo RV Under Cabinet LED Lighting 12V Light Bar with Integral On Off Dimming Switch & Red Night Light, Screw Mount Hard-Wired CRI90+ (20 Inches Warm White) https://a.co/d/6g1Nbc5

3.5mm*1.35mm DC Power Wire DC... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WYY1Z55?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Before

After

And the bonus Red light

Looks like a nice change!

I'm thinking about doing the same upgrade to my lighting in my 2005 Hawk.

Can you clarify something? So the reason you purchased the adapter is because your camper's stock lighting also utlized the same kind of plugs? And so you bought the adapters so that you could just plug in your new ones? I haven't unscrewed my own lights yet to see if they too have the same kinds of plugs. We'll see.

I also see that the link you've provided, the lights are not currently available, though a quick AMAZ search came up with almost identical alternatives.

thanks for your writup.

 

[Vic Harder]

Looks like the lights come with bare wire ends. If you are comfy with wiring, you don't need an adapter.