2004 coachmen freelander 30' cabin lighting

[altblank]

hi all. new member here; we picked up a used 2004 30' freelander a couple of weeks ago, and i've been slowly cleaning it and making sure it's safe for the family. this is on a ford e-450 super duty chassis.

something that's been bugging me is the lack of door-switched lighting in the front cabin. there's a tiny little square single bulb thing in the middle of the headliner, but that needs to be manually switched on and off.

i was wondering if this chassis comes with a door-switchable light circuit, and how easy it would be to add one if it doesn't. i'm thinking of a 12v led light strip that comes on when either front door is opened, and turns off when the doors are closed.

any thoughts? thanks!

[altblank]

specware2020 wrote:
Believe it or not, after all these years, things haven’t changed much in this regard – the interior lighting wiring of our 2020 model year Motor Home is essentially the same; The switch cluster/panel at the cabin entryway has a light switch for the exterior/awning light strip but none for the interior lights, not very considerate indeed.

hi. thanks for your reply, but the issue I face is with the driver+passenger cabin, not the house entryway. at the house door, i have two switches, one controls the porch light outdoors and the other controls two ceiling lamps (each of which can be lit one or both sides).

[specware2020]

Believe it or not, after all these years, things haven’t changed much in this regard – the interior lighting wiring of our 2020 model year Motor Home is essentially the same; The switch cluster/panel at the cabin entryway has a light switch for the exterior/awning light strip but none for the interior lights, not very considerate indeed.

Our fast and easy solution, which is readily available and satisfactory for me, is to install a battery powered, motion sensor LED light either at the base of the entry stairs (stairwell), or above the entrance door header. The motion sensor works only in darkness so it works opportunistically for us. The only drawback I feel is that when it senses motions in the middle of the night while everyone is resting, it lit up rather bright in contract and seemed for a long time before it shuts itself off again. Light sleepers may find it annoying…

[Beverley_Ken]

We have an 06 Winnebago c-class on an 06 E450 chassis as well. It does have the switched cab lights, actually reading lights over the front seats. The lights were installed by Winnebago and both come on when either front door is opened or when unlocked by the key fob. These are to replace the overhead lamp from Ford where the cut out is.
Check your door jambs between the hinges for the little switch pins that turn the courtesy lights on when a car door is opened. If the switches are there, and most likely they are, all you have to do is find the wiring. Hopefully someone else can provide a lead, probably in one of the windshield pillars. Look for a blunt cut Ford wire.

Ken