LEDs on the disks of the car. Do-it-yourself car disc illumination as a stylish type of tuning

20.07.2020

One of the most spectacular directions will help you stand out from the gray mass of road users - the illumination of the car wheels!

High technologies, first of all, never bypass the auto industry and are willingly introduced into all parts of cars. Light is one of the main components of every car - above all, interior lighting. But no one forbids you to also install the illumination of other parts of the car.

Nothing will make your "steel horse" stand out as brightly and beautifully as well-chosen illumination of various parts of its body and interior. You can "light up" anything your heart desires and your pocket. The trunk, engine compartment, side skirts, radiator grilles, interior parts, exhaust pipes, air intakes, and even wheels will sparkle with any colors of the light spectrum in the skilled hands of a motorist! The main thing is that the color of the car is in harmony with the colors of the backlight. For example, car wheel illumination looks very good with chrome rims.

Which type of backlight is best

In most cases, neon lamps were used to illuminate various parts of the car. But as you know, technologies do not stand still and more economical, durable and reliable LED lighting devices have come to the market to replace the voracious and less reliable neon lamps. The advantage of diodes over is obvious.

LED lights are safer than neon tubes. Neon lights are very fragile, explosive and can ignite your vehicle. Also, neon lights contain mercury, which is extremely dangerous for human health. The service life of a neon lamp is several times shorter than that of LEDs. After about five years, neon inexorably begins to fade and lose its attractiveness.

Neon is much more expensive to maintain than diodes. If the neon fails, it is extremely difficult to replace it. It will be necessary to change the entire tube and it is not recommended to change it yourself (it contains mercury and is extremely fragile), it is better to contact specialized tuning stations. Replacing a broken diode is several times cheaper, easier and faster.

The gluttony of neon, in general, leaves much to be desired. The pipes literally "drink" electricity. Diodes in this regard have left neon far behind - they require from nine to fifteen volts of voltage to work. LEDs can easily withstand environmental influences and are more resistant to temperature extremes. The brightness of the diodes can be adjusted independently, neon will not allow us such liberties.

But there are nuances that cannot be ignored. For example, an open neon tube distributes light evenly along its entire length, providing a wide angle of light. Diodes have a narrower angle of light, and most LED lamps are focused to a point. Therefore, the illumination of the wheels of the car will look better when using LED light sources. Neon is more suitable for illuminating the underside of a car.

Let there be light

If you are wondering how to make wheel illumination, then our instruction will answer you. Let's do this job with LEDs, as they are best suited for this purpose. We will not describe the installation on all four wheels. Let's consider the whole process using one wheel as an example, and the rest are performed in the same way:

To get started, we need several LED strips, four current stabilizers, corrugated tubes, wires, sealant, glue and wire.
Then we lift one side of the car and. If desired, the car can be put on safety stands, since working with a machine installed on a jack is extremely dangerous due to poor stability.
After removing the wheel, it is necessary to thoroughly wash the brake disc casing with gasoline and dry thoroughly.
After everything is dry, you need to measure the length of the LED strip. This is easy enough - just wrap the tape around the casing and cut off the excess. Remember to cut the tape only in the specially marked places. Every three diodes, a white mark is applied, cut it off exactly along it (cutting off in the wrong place, you will simply ruin the tape, since it will no longer work).
We coat the finished diode tape with glue on the side that will adjoin the casing.
Gently glue the tape to the casing and let the glue take hold. After the glue is dry enough, we additionally fasten the tape with wire to the brake disc casing.
The tape is secured fairly tightly. Carefully seal the cut off end of the tape with a sealant. This is necessary so that moisture does not get into the silicone tape with lamps and does not destroy all our beauty.
From the untouched end of our ribbon, wires (plus and minus) are released. We solder the wires to them, which will be connected to the stabilizer.
We carefully insulate the soldered wires and place them in a corrugated tube, after which we put them into the salon.
Further, the wires are connected to the stabilizer and from it are led out to the headlight wires. If you connect not with the headlights, but directly with, then you will have to install an additional switch in the cabin for our lighting. In our case, the illumination of the car wheels will work only when the headlights are on.

Do-it-yourself wheel illumination requires good care and accuracy from you. The main components of the backlight are very fragile and can easily fail if mishandled. Do not forget that when connecting LED strips, it is very important to observe the polarity (plus and minus), since if the poles are connected incorrectly, the diodes will not work.

If you omit financial priorities, then you can purchase a ready-made kit. Ready-made vehicle wheel illumination has many unique features. For example, sound sensors that respond to musical compositions. As a result, "light music" is produced on wheels. If the lighting kit is multi-colored, then the wheels will play with different colors of the light spectrum. The kits, as a rule, always contain detailed instructions for the installation and operation of a particular device.

Keep up with the car and let your "steel friend" be the most beautiful, vivid and memorable!

Car rim illumination is a spectacular element of car exterior tuning, which is gaining more and more popularity in recent years. Car enthusiasts install various backlighting options, which at night strongly highlight the car in city traffic. About the installation methods and how to do everything correctly further in the article.

1

It is much easier to make the discs of a car glow both while driving and while parked than it seems at first glance. This requires high-quality light tuning parts and some installation skills. The installation can be done by hand with minimal costs for parts and work. The backlighting of the disks will go well with, which can be very useful at night or in dense fog.

Car rim illumination - an effective solution

Today, car enthusiasts use several methods to illuminate the disks of their car. Of the simplest and most affordable options, the following can be distinguished:

illumination of disks with the help of neon lamps (as an addition to the main illumination of the underbody of a car);
use of universal wireless sets such as RGB, Equalizer, etc .;
installation and connection of LED strip (the most inexpensive way).

I must say that neon lighting has ceased to be popular in recent years due to the laboriousness of the installation process. In addition, in practice, neon lamps installed in a car's suspension require more careful maintenance, unlike well-insulated and sealed LED strips. Wireless kits are no less effective, but really high-quality options cost a lot of money, which means that this option is not suitable for everyone.

Before installing any type of lighting, you should clarify the type of suspension on the car, check the condition of the rims, provide for the possibility of connecting contacts to the passenger compartment so that the outputs and inputs can be carefully sealed and isolated.

And, of course, you should understand that the "cooler" the rims on the car, the more spectacular the backlight will look. It is possible to install neon or LED lighting on stamped factory discs, but the result may be something like the opposite effect, since all existing defects will be emphasized.

2

The most effective and profitable option for illuminating car rims is the installation of LED strips. The choice of color, power and type of LED strip should be based on the characteristics and color of the car. It is recommended to maintain a balance between bright and dull colors. The most advantageous is the combination of colors with similar spectral characteristics, for example, white and silver, black and blue, etc.

Backlit neon ribbon

Do-it-yourself car discs using LED strip are carried out directly on the car brake discs. This requires:

jack up the car and remove the wheel;
determine the type and features of the brake disc;

For the standard MacPherson strut, found in most passenger cars with disc brakes, it is most convenient to attach the LED strip to the brake disc guard. Thus, the tape is attached to the edge of the casing on an adhesive base and secured with plastic clips. To do this, using a drill, it is necessary to make uniform holes in the casing in increments of 4–7 centimeters.

If the protective cover of the brake disc is not provided for by the design (for example, on some VAZ models), you should make it yourself from a small metal profile or aluminum mounting tape. The length of the homemade rim should be made such that there is a gap between it and the brake disc. Drill a hole in the upper part of the brake disc holder for the screw and nut, in which the new casing should be fixed.

A more challenging option would be to initially fabricate the outer rim and spacers and attach the tape to it. With this method, the light will come from the center of the disc and will be more intense due to the reflection from the elements of the brake disc. To manufacture the structure and spacers, you need to remove the exact dimensions of the disc and caliper. The resulting structure is fixed on the protective casing and goes to the outer part of the brake disc, along which the LED strip is fixed. This method is used much less often and is suitable for regions with good roads, since the spacers change the wheel offset, which affects the suspension characteristics.

If there are disc brakes on the rear axle, then the tape is installed in the same way on the protective casing. In the case of drum brakes, you need to make the casing yourself using a metal tape that is drilled and screwed onto the drum. When using spacers, the work scheme is the same as with the front axle, only the frame is attached in front of the drum.

3

The wire should be fixed to the entry point of the LED strip, and the entry point should be carefully insulated. You can also use the special protective tubes that are purchased with the tapes. The wiring from each wheel must be brought into the passenger compartment in the most convenient way. It all depends on the brand of the car, namely on the contact scheme and the load on the on-board network. It is best to insulate them and attach them to the brake lines with plastic clamps.

Mounting the disc backlight

Before starting work on the connection, remove the negative terminal from the battery. Next, you need to decide on how to activate the backlight. The most common and convenient option is activation when the headlights are turned on. To do this, the contacts from the tape, after wiring to the passenger compartment, are connected to the contacts for switching on the dimensions or dipped headlights, when connecting, the polarity is strictly observed.

The standard vehicle electrical system is 12 volts. However, during operation and under various loads, the real indicator can be equal to both 13 and 14 volts. In order not to solder the contacts, when connecting the diode tape, it is recommended to use a pulse voltage regulator, which is needed to prevent unexpected short circuits and unpleasant consequences. All contact inputs from the body to the passenger compartment should be carefully insulated, and the wires should be placed in the corrugation.

Recently, most car enthusiasts have been installing universal rim lighting kits with RGB LEDs. In this case, the LEDs are powered from the solar battery, which is built into the device body. Installation is made in the center of the disc instead of the proprietary cap, which can be easily removed with a simple screwdriver. Next, the diameter and height of the cap are measured. The backlight module is set to the same length and diameter, and the module is inserted until it clicks. If the diameter and height do not match, use double-sided tape to secure the module more securely. The undoubted advantage of this method is its versatility and ease of installation.

1 Illumination of car rims - a simple but striking element of tuning

It is much easier to make the discs of a car glow both while driving and while parked than it seems at first glance. This requires high-quality light tuning parts and some installation skills. The installation can be done by hand with minimal costs for parts and work. The illumination of the disks will go well with the illumination of the door handles, which can be very useful at night or in dense fog.

Car rim illumination - an effective solution We recommend that you familiarize yourself

- ease of installation and operation
- we make a powerful tractor
- how to understand the adjustments and adapt?
- high quality and cheap
Felt -

Today, car enthusiasts use several methods to illuminate the disks of their car. Of the simplest and most affordable options, the following can be distinguished:

illumination of disks with the help of neon lamps (as an addition to the main illumination of the underbody of a car);
use of universal wireless sets such as RGB, Equalizer, etc .;
installation and connection of LED strip (the most inexpensive way).

Before installing any type of lighting, you should clarify the type of suspension on the car, check the condition of the rims, provide for the possibility of connecting contacts to the passenger compartment so that the outputs and inputs can be carefully sealed and isolated.

And, of course, you should understand that the “cooler” the wheel rims on the car, the more spectacular the backlight will look. It is possible to install neon or LED lighting on stamped factory discs, but the result may be something like the opposite effect, since all existing defects will be emphasized.

2 The choice of lighting elements and the installation of lighting with your own hands

Backlit neon ribbon Do-it-yourself installation of the illumination of car disks using LED strip is carried out directly on the brake discs of a car. This requires:

jack up the car and remove the wheel;
determine the type and features of the brake disc;

For the standard MacPherson strut, which most passenger cars with disc brakes are equipped with, the LED strip is most conveniently attached to the brake disc guard. Thus, the tape is attached to the edge of the casing on an adhesive base and secured with plastic clips. To do this, using a drill, it is necessary to make uniform holes in the casing in increments of 4–7 centimeters.

3 Connecting LED backlighting and using universal modules

Mounting the disc backlight Before starting work on the connection, remove the negative terminal from the battery. Next, you need to decide on how to activate the backlight. The most common and convenient option is activation when the headlights are turned on. To do this, the contacts from the tape, after wiring to the passenger compartment, are connected to the contacts for switching on the dimensions or dipped headlights, when connecting, the polarity is strictly observed.

Light tuning looks most impressive on the car. So today on our roads we can see cars with extraordinary illumination of the underbody, wheel disks, radiator grilles, etc. The backlight looks especially impressive and contrasting at night, and if it is also capable of changing color, then this is just a bewitching sight at the level of already light magic. Night city and you are in your car, with enchanting illumination on the disks of your car.

But if we put aside the irony and expound on the merits, then in this article I wanted to talk about the illumination of car wheel rims, how best to mount the LED strip, what options for mounting this strip are possible based on your desires and design features of cars.
The first thing I would like to say is that this article will give an example of a mechanical mounting of the backlight for disks. The electrical part and the choice of LED strip for illumination are discussed in another related article "Connecting an LED strip in a car".

Illumination of disks for the front axles of the car

1. Consider the simplest option for mounting an LED strip for illuminating disks. This is a classic case - MacPherson strut front suspension, with the brake disc guard installed.
In this version, the LED backlight strip is attached to the edge of the protective casing. Holes are drilled around the perimeter of the casing with a step of 5 - 7 cm. If the tape has a self-adhesive backing, the protective film is removed and the tape is glued to a clean, grease-free surface of the protective cover. If there is no such base, then the tape is attached only by means of plastic clamps threaded into the drilled holes on the casing and holding the tape at the edge along the perimeter of the casing.

2. In the second case, the situation of installing a tape for illuminating discs is similar, except that on some cars there is no protective mud cover for the brake disc. In this case, you cannot do without additional structures.
The most effective option would be to make a frame that mimics the missing casing. So for its manufacture, it is possible to use light metal elements, for example, a mounting tape, or a thin rolled bar.
Initially, we mount the beams from the center of the wheel, to which the rim for mounting the backlight will be attached.

In order to make it easier to assemble the structure, you can dismantle the brake disc and brake caliper. When calculating the size of the lengths outgoing from the center of the beams of the structure, do not forget to try on the brake disc ensuring a guaranteed gap between the disc and the outer rim.

We are installing the outer rim, which will be the retaining structure for our LED strip for backlighting the disk.

We mount the backlight with clamps, by analogy with the option above.

3. This version of the disc illumination is interesting in that the illumination does not come directly from the spokes, but comes from the center of the disc. Such light is reflected several times from the surfaces of the structure and is obtained more evenly. It should be noted that the design is not so simple to implement.
The first thing you need to design such a disc backlight is a metal tape and precisely measured geometric dimensions of your suspension parts. As a result, a kind of spider is made, which is attached to the protective casing, and the rim for fastening the tape goes to the outer part of the brake disc.

Also, for this design, it will be necessary to use spacers installed on the brake disc. Such spacers should protrude from the rim on which the backlight tape will be attached.

Please note that when using spacers, you will change the wheel offset by affecting the properties of your suspension. The design must be made neatly and rigidly to prevent possible bends from minor impacts and to avoid twisting the metal bar into the spokes of the wheel.

Illumination of disks for the rear axles of the car

4. If you have brake discs with a protective cover on the rear axle. Then the variant of mounting the tape for the illumination of the disks will correspond to case 1 (see above)

If you do not have a protective cover, then this is option number 2.5. A more interesting situation is with the use of brake drums, which are often installed on the rear axle, especially in domestic cars. The first option for attaching the backlight is to remove the drum, drill holes in it and secure the tape with clamps. In principle, the option is simple, similar to options 1 and 4, but has one drawback. In this case, the light will not go reflected, but directly from the LEDs. A more uniform glow can be obtained by slightly drowning the shank behind the rear drum. The rim for attaching the backlight can be grabbed for welding or secured with fasteners.

6 The option of installing the rim illumination is also applicable for vehicles with drums on the rear axle. The variant is similar to case 3, when the rim is based in front of the brake drum, and a spacer is used for the possibility of installing the disc.

For all of the above methods of mounting the drive backlight, that is, attaching the LED strip, the following rules apply:
- The rim illumination tape is positioned in such a way that the light predominantly spreads from the inside out, through the spokes of the rim.
- Wiring must be routed to the body in protected areas. It is necessary to choose the most optimal location for the backlight wiring directly on the machine. When passing the wiring from the wheel to the power point, you can also use clamps and a protective plastic tube (visible in version 5).
A convenient solution that provides flexibility for wiring and secure attachment are flexible brake hoses, to which you can attach using all the same clamps.

One of the easiest and most fun ways to give your car an unusual look is with light tuning. This is a fairly common art that allows you to give any car a zest and make the underbody, radiator grilles and even wheels shine with neon colors. The illumination of the disks, as a method of light tuning, always looks very extraordinary and attracts the eye, the contrasting luminous wheels of the car fascinate.

Led backlight

In fact, this effect can be obtained from the primitive installation of led light equipment into the wheels of a car. For this, an LED strip is used, which must be installed and connected. We will look at these processes in more detail below.

Connecting backlight to the front wheels

Using the example of a classic example of the car industry - LED illumination of wheels on the front suspension with a protective cover mounted to prevent dirt from entering the brake disc, tuning can be done in this way:

The LED strip is mounted on the edge of the casing using the holes made - they need to be drilled at a distance of 5-7 centimeters from each other. Fastening is carried out with special plastic clamps;
The luminous stripes can have a self-adhesive coating on the back. In this case, you need to degrease the surface of the casing and carefully stick the tape on it.

Mounting Led lights on the casing

If there is no protective cover on the disc of the car, then the illumination of the discs of the car with your own hands should be done as follows:

It is best to make a special frame that will simulate a protective casing. It can be made from light metal - a mounting strip or even a tire, and when taking measurements, do not forget to try on the brake disc itself and leave a margin for the distance between it and the tire rim;
Next, set the rays coming from the center of the wheel, where the created rim will be mounted under the illumination. To do this, you need to remove the disc and the caliper itself;
Then we install the outer rim, where we fix the led backlight with special clamps.

If you want the light to flow not from behind the spokes and go straight from the disk, then you will need to work a little harder, this technology is more complex:

You need to stock up on a metal strip and accurate measurements of your car's suspension parts;
You need to make a small spider, which will need to be fixed to the protective casing. As a result, the rim for the tape will be exposed to the outside of the brake disc of the vehicle.

LED illumination of car rims

Please note that you will also need additional spacers, which will have to protrude from the rim to secure the tape.

You should understand that using this method, you change the wheel offset of the car, which will be displayed on the properties of the car's suspension. The design must be carried out carefully and the installation must be made rigid enough. This will help prevent potential kinks from mechanical stress and protect the tires from twisting into the spokes of the wheel itself.

Rear wheel lighting

If on the rear wheels you have the same situation as on the front wheels (there is a protective cover or not), then the LED lighting is connected in a similar way to the front wheels. Another question is if you have brake drums on your rear wheels. There are several ways to implement highlighting here:

Fix the tape by drilling holes in the brake drums after removing them. The tape is secured with clamps. But the method has one significant drawback - the light, therefore, will not have a uniform reflected form, but a point line. This can be avoided if the tape is slightly drowned behind the brake drum.
You can place the tape in front of the drum, for which you can use the spacer described above.

In any case, it is very important for you to also adhere to these rules while performing light tuning:

Place the tape so that the light goes from the middle of the disc to the street, through the spokes of the disc.
It is only necessary to place the wiring for powering the diodes in protected areas; for this, use clamps and thin plastic tubes.

It is good to use flexible brake hoses to secure the wiring, to which the wires can be attached with the same plastic clamps.

It is worth cutting and connecting the led strip in accordance with these recommendations:

Since this tape is simple sections with LEDs, it can only be cut between sections that include three LEDs. Calculate exactly the allowed space, it is most often already marked on the tape, and do not cut the section, otherwise it will not glow.
To connect the tape to the wiring of the machine, you need to use a soldering iron; twists are not allowed. You can also use a specialized connector for this, it will allow you to abandon the soldering iron, but may not provide a sufficient contact density.
The tape is very sensitive to kinks, the minimum bending radius is 8 centimeters.
When connecting to power, make sure that the negative terminal on the battery is removed.
It is also advisable to use a voltage stabilizer for LEDs; 12 volts are enough to power the backlight.

Soldering LED strip

Wheel lighting also implies a basic knowledge of the correct handling of lighting and electricity, so if you are not confident in your skills, you better leave it to professionals who can guarantee you the best result. In addition, you can be sure that the wiring is routed correctly and will not short-circuit in bad weather.