How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation
Useful tips for motorists

How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation

Personalizing a car can be treated in different ways, but it's hard to argue that most of the external tuning elements decorate the car. There can be no consensus here, the choice is only for the owner. This is especially true for not quite legal methods regarding highlights.

How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation

Illumination in the area of ​​the wheels is unlikely to cause an accident, but it looks very impressive.

What type of backlight to choose

As in all other areas of car tuning, the question is more about price. The technical solutions have already been worked out, the corresponding accessories are commercially available.

There is no doubt that the effect will be proportional to the funds spent. Technical complexity does not come without a cost.

Illumination on the nipple

The simplest and cheapest solution is to replace the standard caps with wheel valves with luminous tuning ones. They are equipped with autonomous power sources and LED emitters.

How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation

Mounted easily, just unscrew the existing ones and screw the highlighted ones onto the same standard thread. The options are different, ranging from constantly glowing monochrome LEDs to multi-color ones with a variable spectrum and brightness.

When the wheel rotates, an image of a colored rotating composition is created, merging into a solid disk illumination. Do not forget that the ease of installation implies the simplicity of criminal dismantling.

LED Strip Light

It is more difficult, but also more effective, to illuminate the rims from the inside with a multitude of LEDs located around the circumference of the brake discs.

How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation

They are attached, of course, not to the elements of the brakes that are hot during operation, but to an annular bracket mounted on the brake shield. If it is absent, then installation options are possible with fasteners for the elements of the caliper using additional brackets.

The tape is a set of monochrome or multi-colored LEDs fixed on a common flexible substrate. The element of the required length is measured and mounted.

How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation

It is possible, as a constant glow, and program control by an electronic unit with various color effects. An analogue of a Christmas tree garland, but when applied to a designer cast or forged disk, the illumination from the inside looks decent.

video projection

The most complex, expensive and advanced type of lighting design for discs. It is based on a sector scanning illumination of a rotating wheel with a synchronization sensor and control of the annular scan of the image programmed in the electronic unit.

How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation

The projector includes an emitter mounted along the radius of the disk. It has a set of LEDs that turn on electronically synchronously with each revolution of the wheel. The rotation sensor is fixed from the inside of the disk.

The human eye has inertia, due to which a rapidly spinning line of emitters forms an image. Its content can be changed by uploading the appropriate program to the electronic unit via a standard USB interface.

How to make your own wheel lighting

The ease of installation of luminous caps has already been mentioned. All other design methods will require some work.

Not very difficult, but it will require care, since there are rapidly rotating and heating parts nearby, everything must be securely fixed, including with regard to electrics.

Materials and Tools

It is better to purchase a ready-made kit, which has everything you need and is designed for a specific range of rim sizes. A complex tool is not needed, but a computer and software are needed to design projection devices.

LED strips are mounted on ready-made or homemade brackets. Accordingly, in addition to the standard set of automotive tools, you may have to use a cutting power tool.

How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation

It is also necessary to have sealants, including high-temperature ones, to protect fasteners and electrical components from corrosion and moisture.

The wiring is fixed with plastic and metal clamps. It is unacceptable to clamp the wires directly between the metals, vibration will cause a short circuit.

The LED strip must be of a class that allows operation in open space and at high temperatures. Power is supplied from a stabilized current source. Circuits are protected by fuses.

Mounting methods

Brackets are mounted as far as possible from the hot parts of brake discs and calipers with pads. The tape should not hang in the air, but is fixed on a metal rim fixed with brackets.

How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation

Stabilizers are placed on the air-cooled radiator near the body, away from the brake elements. From them to the LEDs there are wires in corrugated casings, fixed with clamps.

Installation of projection devices is described in the instructions. The projector is mounted through the central hole of the disk or wheel bolts. Power supply is autonomous, from a set of batteries.

Connecting the backlight

Part of the wiring is located in the cabin, including fuses, switches and mounting to the relay box. Further, the power passes through a technological or specially made hole in the body, protected by a rubber ring insert. From the stabilizer, the cable is pulled to the tape of emitters.

How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation

Power supply caps, projector or other rotating devices autonomous, from built-in sources. A switch is provided, otherwise the elements will quickly be discharged. Some kits are equipped with a solar battery for recharging.

How to make wheel lighting with your own hands: selection and installation

Will there be problems with traffic police officers

Installation of any non-standard external lighting devices is not allowed by law.

Accordingly, if an inspector notices such illumination or even disconnected devices, the driver will be fined, and the operation of the vehicle is prohibited until the violation is eliminated.

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