Do-it-yourself wheel illumination for a car. Methods of illuminating car rims LED illumination of car rims

After additional lighting is installed, the car takes on a completely different, individual and unique appearance. Ultimately, the backlight gives a stunning effect, expressively highlighting individual parts and details of the machine.

This new type of tuning allows you to designate not only the bottom, radiator, headlights and other body elements, but also perform such work as neon lighting of the wheels. As a rule, the standard lighting of any car does not allow you to achieve the desired level, but light tuning can add the desired qualities and improve the attractiveness of your car.

Kinds

Neon, various lamps or light-conducting cables can be used for illumination. Neon lighting is used most often, since it is quite simple to install and has many proven installation technologies. In addition, there are many colors here, allowing you to choose the most convenient color scheme. The best option would be a combination of green with yellow, blue with black, white with silver, etc. In order to install neon lighting yourself, you need to have a fairly good understanding of the issues of installing lighting devices. If in any doubt, refer to this work.

All this fully applies to the wheel rim illumination device. Due to the fact that the prices for such work in a car service center are quite high, solving such an issue as illuminating the discs with your own hands is becoming very relevant. Thus, many car enthusiasts solve the problem of wheel tuning, and quite successfully.

Tools

Before starting work, you will need certain materials and tools. First of all, these are four LED tubes. Instead, ready-made kits specially designed for light tuning of wheel rims can be used. Typically, this kit also includes current stabilizers. All this can be purchased at almost any auto store. In addition, to make all connections, wires, corrugated tubes for them, as well as fastening ties, wire,. The tool you will need is a jack and sockets to unscrew the bolts.

All work must be carried out in an equipped garage. Before you begin installing the equipment, you should brush up on your basic knowledge of electrical engineering. If you purchase a ready-made kit, you need to carefully study its connection diagram.

Subsequence

The lighting installation itself will be considered using the example of one wheel. All work must be carried out step by step, in a certain sequence. After the car has taken its place in the garage, it is removed and then the wheel is dismantled. The brake disc housing must be well cleaned and degreased.

The LED strip is measured after the fact, by winding it around the entire circumference of the casing. The number of light bulbs in the strip should be a multiple of three, and all excess ones should be removed by cutting. The edges of the cut must be sealed with a small amount of polymer glue. In some cases, you can use a special resin. After fixing the LED strip, a wire is attached to it, and the connection point is insulated. The prepared wiring is placed in a corrugated tube before connection. This operation fully applies to the remaining wheels. After connecting the wires, each of them is connected to its own stabilizer, each of which is connected to power supply from. In other options, the wiring can be connected to headlights, cigarette lighter and other devices.

Peculiarities

When installing wheel rim lighting, it is necessary to follow the general installation rules that apply to all types of lighting tuning. First of all, it should be remembered that many parts are quite fragile and require careful and careful handling. Otherwise, damage may occur that could affect the further operation of the lighting system.

Another major problem is the location of the wires, which must be determined in advance. In addition, it is necessary to think through and determine the lighting style in advance. Some car enthusiasts prefer to contact designers on this issue. When using LEDs, you can always replace them with brighter ones.

I would like to dwell separately on the latest technical achievement - the new Smart Wheels, which is a completely new technology for multi-color illumination of light-alloy wheel rims. In essence, this is an intelligent remote-controlled system that allows you to adjust color, brightness and other modes depending on the operating conditions of the car.

Thus, light tuning of a car allows you to decorate it and stand out from the bulk of similar models. After all the tuning activities, the car acquires unique, inimitable and beautiful features. Unlike conventional tuning, lighting design allows you to create truly exclusive options. Illuminating wheel rims is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to prove your uniqueness and originality. Currently, this type of tuning is still gaining momentum, therefore, you can often find cars with poor-quality and incorrect lighting.

However, if the wheel rim lighting is installed according to all the rules, it can clearly highlight not only the wheels, but also the overall style of the entire car. In different cases, lighting will also highlight the appearance of the wheels differently. This became possible thanks to a wide range of lighting fixtures suitable for all occasions, and their high-quality installation will allow you to please yourself and others with a successful design for a long time.

Video: instructions for installing disk backlight

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Almost any car owner can independently illuminate the rims of a car. This easy-to-perform and affordable operation will give your car a unique look of sparkling, swift beauty; both in motion and when parked.

Wheel backlighting as a tuning method

Craftsmen can highlight a lot in a car - from the rear panoramic glass to curved moldings and external mirrors. Light tuning is completely doable on your own, with minimal familiarity with the basics of electrical work. It allows the car to sparkle with new colors in the most unique form - of course, with the proper selection of parts, the proper quality of their installation and the optimal technical condition of the car.

It should be remembered that no illumination will help deformed rims or fender rims with traces of rust. On the contrary, it will only highlight existing defects with all the multi-watt brightness. In the basic configuration of cars, the design of wheels with additional light sources is not provided. Do-it-yourself illumination of car rims can be done using three different methods:

• Using standard automotive lamps. Which is quite difficult due to the need to place mounting sockets in non-standard places;
• Using compact neon lamps. Optimal for disks with a small number of “slots”, each lamp can be placed individually;
• Through LED strips. Some of the luminous elements may be barely noticeable from the outside, but installation of such strips is the simplest, and reliability and durability are higher than other lighting methods.

Do-it-yourself illumination of car rims - instructions

The choice of LED strips according to the emitted spectrum is very diverse, and here it is important to choose your own version of bright flashes and calm radiance, taking into account the color of the body and the design of the wheels. Usually, two-color disk backlight options with LED elements similar in spectrum look advantageous. These are white and silver colors, blue-black or yellow-green fill.

You can also put red lights on a golden field in the wheel well, diluted with blue flashes, but then a universal vehicle for all emergency services will appear on the road, and not an elegant car with unique lighting.

LED strips can be attached to the front (that is, driven) disks of a car in various ways:

• To the stationary part of the protective casing (along its outer edge). First, double-sided mounting tape is glued to the edge - it is better to choose the highest quality (that is, sticky) and the optimal width that matches the thickness of the edge of the casing. An LED strip is glued to the tape and secured with plastic clamps every 8-10 cm. It is necessary to drill holes with a diameter of 3-5 cm for the clamps, the total number of mounting holes is from 8 to 12. The twist of the supply wire with the LED strip must be carefully insulated;
• If the car chassis is not equipped with a protective casing, its equivalent is made of thin aluminum plates held together with rivets. In the absence of rivets, bolted fastenings are acceptable. The further installation sequence is described above. Care should be taken when washing this design - water from devices like Karcher at close range it will sweep away all our illumination.
• Illumination of discs using a special stand. It is made of steel strips and equipped with three “legs” for attaching to the drum from the inside. This is the most expensive, but also the most reliable design.

Connecting the backlight to the battery

Connecting the drive backlight to is done using standard wiring and soldering. The contact point should be insulated with corrugation; tight detachable connections are acceptable (their likelihood of oxidation and contamination is higher). Four wire pairs from each wheel are led inside the cabin and connected to the battery through a switch. The switch itself is located in a convenient place so that with one click your wheels will burst into flames with attractive sparkles of unique illumination.

Illuminating the wheels immediately makes the car stylish, recognizable and attracts attention. In this regard, young people especially like to make such modifications. In this article, using the VAZ 2110 as an example, we will look at options on how you can make your own illumination of the car's rims.
Of course, to install the backlight you need to have beautiful alloy wheels, since factory stamped ones will not look very impressive.

Materials and tools for car tuning:
The amount and type of materials greatly depends on the type of tuning chosen. For example, you can buy a ready-made kit for illuminating disks and all you have to do is connect it. One of the well-known and popular such kits today is “LED WHEELS”. Such a kit will cost at least 1000 rubles. In the photo you can see how the installed kit works.

You can also use LED strips for illumination; this is a cheaper option. In any case, you will need a soldering iron, wires, electrical tape and other elements.

We make car rim illumination:

When installing the lighting yourself, it is important to remember one rule - everything must be carefully insulated and protected from water and dirt. Otherwise, a short circuit may occur or the contact may be lost.

Method one. Installing the backlight on the protective casing
This method can be considered the simplest, and also the most popular at the moment. For these purposes, you will need four LED strips 30 cm long. You will also need plastic clamps and electrical tape. How the work happens can be seen in the photo. In total, the process takes about 3-6 hours.

Method two. Installing backlighting on metal strips
This method will be relevant for those who do not have a protective casing on the disk. But this is not a problem, because the frame can be made independently. For these purposes, light metal tapes are used, which are attached as seen in the photo.
Well, then all that remains is to attach the LED strip to this rim.

Method three. Installing LED strip on spacers
The design is unique in that the light will come from the center of the disk, rather than directly from behind the spokes. It is necessary to make fastenings from metal strips; they are screwed onto the outer part of the brake disc. This design also uses spacers that are placed on the brake disc. These spacers protrude from behind the rim on which the LED strip will be attached. As a result, the light will be refracted, and the illumination of the disks will be uniform.

Rear wheel illumination method
Tapes can also be attached to the rear disks in three ways, which were described above. It all depends on the type of brakes used. If disc brakes are used, the band is attached to the guard. If you use drum brakes, it is easier to install the backlight on metal bands. Well, you can also use the third option for uniform illumination of the disks.

How to properly connect the disk backlight
When installing the backlight, it is very important to connect it correctly. For such work you will need autochemical glue, wire and electrical tape. After connecting the wire to the tape, it needs to be wrapped with electrical tape. The wire itself must be placed in a corrugation, and the entry point must also be wrapped with electrical tape.

The wiring must be laid along the bottom of the car in such a way that it does not break while driving; it must be well fixed in several places. The corrugation is attached to autochemical glue and tightened with clamps. In order to bring the wiring into the cabin, you need to use the holes in the bottom of the car. There will be 4 corrugations in total and they all need to be brought into one place, and power also needs to be supplied here.

It is recommended to first attach all the wires to the stabilizers, this will extend the life of the LED strips. Stabilizers must be insulated from each other. Well, then the stabilizers are connected to one radiator and you can turn on the system. How exactly to control the backlight is up to everyone to decide for themselves. You can connect it to the headlights, or you can output it to a separate switch.

There are many more ways to make car lighting. But when doing such tuning, it is important to remember that car owners can receive a considerable fine for such modifications.

Installing the LED strip on the disk casing

When purchasing an LED strip, pay attention to its width; it should match the width of the edge of the casing as much as possible. The approximate consumption per wheel is about thirty centimeters, but it is better to take it with a reserve.

The LED strip is glued along the contour of the casing and is additionally secured with clamps for reliability - approximately every ten centimeters. To do this, you will need to drill approximately 10 holes per rim. The junction of the LED strip and the power wire must be carefully insulated to avoid moisture and dirt, which can lead to oxidation of the metal and short circuiting of the wiring.

Installing lighting elements using thin plates

If the vehicle's disks are not equipped with casings, then it is necessary to construct a similar structure from thin metal plates. It can be secured using rivets or small bolts. Further work is carried out similarly to the previous option.

Illumination of discs using a special stand

Lighting devices on wheels using a special stand are the most expensive and most reliable. Initially, you need to make a steel stand with three legs, with the help of which it will then be attached to the rim from the inside. The uniqueness of this method is the internal glow of the diodes, which is not characteristic of the first two options. A tape is attached to the round element of the stand in the same way as the previous methods.

Connecting the backlight

To connect lighting fixtures, it is necessary to stretch wires from all four wheels of the vehicle to the front of the car. It is important to securely fasten the wires by first insulating all joints and placing them in corrugation. This will maximally protect the electrical wires from moisture and mechanical damage, which guarantees the safe operation of lighting materials. Four corrugated tubes with electrical wires from the wheels of the car must be brought to the battery and secured near it. The wires enter the cabin through a hole in the bottom of the car and are connected first to the vehicle stabilizers, and then to the radiator.

The power can be output to a separate toggle switch or connected to the headlights at your discretion.

1. Installation of lighting devices on car rims must be carried out on a well secured vehicle. Before installing the LEDs, remove the wheel using a jack. Carry out this procedure in the same way with the remaining wheels.
2. When installing LEDs on the rear discs, pay attention to the type of brake system. If the brakes are drum type, then it is easier to use the last two options for installing LED strips.
3. Note. If the rims of your vehicle have obvious damage and rust, then the backlight will only highlight the flaws and will not decorate your car.

conclusions

It’s up to you to decide which backlight to install and which method to use. The main thing is not the process itself, but the result. Think carefully about how to make it stand out from the crowd of vehicles. High-quality lighting for the wheels of a vehicle will give it an unsurpassed exotic look while driving through the city at night.

For a very long time, light tuning has become fashionable among car enthusiasts, but over time it has only gained popularity. The most widely used lighting is car wheel illumination. A car rushing in the night with wheels illuminated in green, red, blue and other bright colors is a very impressive sight that attracts the attention of most road users, and the variety of types and colors of illumination offered for tuning the wheels of your iron horse will allow you not to only to be in trend, but also to express yourself.

Today, there are various ways to illuminate car wheels. You can vary the brightness of the light and take advantage of the widest choice among lighting devices.

Examples of a creative approach to wheel tuning can be seen in the video:

Based on the type of technology used, backlighting is distinguished:

• LED;
• neon.

Let's look at them in more detail.

LED strips

Currently, manufacturers offer a wide selection of LED strips of various colors. The wheel lighting market offers light cords with lengths of 72 and 48 cm to cover the entire diameter of the wheel or to partially illuminate it. For ease of installation, they are equipped with an adhesive edge. The tapes owe their popularity to their moisture- and dust-proof properties, high service life (up to 100,000 hours) and simple fastening.

The LED elements used can be of two types in size:

• SMD 3028;
• SMD 5050.

In addition, they differ in the density of the LEDs, namely the number of elements per meter. Their number determines the power of the glow.

Also, diode strips can have varying degrees of moisture resistance:

• IP 20 is an open LED strip, not moisture resistant. Not used for wheel illumination;
• IP 65 - moisture resistant;
• IP 68 - with an increased degree of moisture resistance. The ways it can be used are not limited.

According to the degree of dispersion, LED rims can be:

• with a wide angle of light dispersion. Often used to illuminate narrow disks in order to add volume with light;
• with a narrow light dispersion angle. Large hollow disks use LEDs with a dispersion angle of 60%.

Based on the connection method, the following types of LED backlights are distinguished:

• automatic. The backlight installed on the disk works constantly after the car's ignition is turned on and before it is turned off. LEDs are attached directly to the disk;
• constant. The connection is made to the battery. It is worth noting that the backlight consumes very little electricity, having almost no effect on the battery charge. Energy consumption is less than that of a radio in a car.

Additional information about LED strips can be obtained by watching the video:

Installing LED lighting

Installing an LED strip is very simple in practice. Subsequent replacement of elements can be performed without removing the wheel. When attaching the tape inside the wheel, the LED elements are not visible.

To make flashlights, the LED strip is cut into 3 LEDs per 1 resistor.

Important! The arrangement of diodes must be correct, and not chaotic, in order to highlight the shape of the disks and highlight the style of the car!

Let's look at 3 ways to install LED backlighting with your own hands:

• On the protective casing.

We will need:

• 4 LED strips (for each wheel) 30 cm;
• Plastic clamps;
• Insulating tape.

The tape is applied around the perimeter of the wheel and secured with plastic clamps, after preliminary fixation with electrical tape:

After installing the LED strip, it should be powered.

We will need: autochemical glue, plastic clamps, electrical tape, wire:

• attach the wire to the LED strip;
• isolate the attachment site;
• we pass the wire through the corrugation and secure the entry point with electrical tape or glue;
• we run the wire along the bottom of the car (in its protected part);
• we run the wiring inside the cabin through the hole in the bottom of the car;
• we attach the corrugation with glue and clamps;
• We attach the corrugations in the place where the wires from the battery are;
• We first connect the wires to the stabilizers to increase the life of the LEDs;
• stabilizers are mutually isolated and connected to the radiator;
• The backlight can be turned on by turning on the ignition, headlights or using a button.

You can watch the tape installation process in detail in the video:

Neon leg lights

The lighting principle is based on the use of neon mini lamps. These small devices have vibration sensors built into them. When the car moves, the lights begin to flash with neon light, outlining a circle of the wheel. After the vehicle stops, the glow stops.

Due to their tightness, neon lamps can be used in all weather conditions. Neon caps are powered by three button batteries, which last for 150 hours of continuous use.

The operating principle of these lighting devices can be seen in the video:

A little more about neon lamps:

View of the wheels while the car is moving - video:

Neon lighting installation

Installing LED wheel caps yourself is the easiest way to illuminate your car's wheels. It does not require a special power supply connection. It is necessary to twist the standard caps from the nipple and install neon ones instead. The lamps are placed separately from one another. Neon light looks ideal on alloy wheels with a small number of holes. Reacting to the movement of the wheels, the lights begin to glow automatically.

Important! The car's wheel rims, as well as the fender lines, must not be deformed! Rust damage is also unacceptable!

Comparative characteristics

Name	Advantages	Flaws
Neon caps	Simple installation that does not require a separate power supply or additional equipment	Explosive and fragile
	Sealed	Service life - a couple of seasons, fades over time
		Can only be used in excellent road conditions
	Moisture resistant	High power consumption
		More expensive to maintain
LED strips	Moisture resistant	Requires basic knowledge of electrical engineering to connect to power
	Not afraid of temperature changes
	Shockproof	Installation time is required more than when installing neon caps
	Use little energy

As a result of the comparison, we can conclude that LED strips are more reliable than neon bulbs. It’s up to you to decide which lighting to choose for the wheels of your car.