Who has done aftermarket dash and cluster lights?

5.99 each for the dash light from SuperbrightLEDs. They are dim-able so that's what I need.

 

Ya that's what I was trying to get down a little in price because I need so many of them. The ones I posted in the link ^^^I think are the same one superbrightleds.com sells for about a dollar a piece. Just trying to figure out if they are the same bulb or not?

 

These are the ones (4) you want for the instrument panel if you are going pure white. They are still like $5 tho.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...-led-tower-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/1127/


Edit @FirstGen Jer : you need 4 of the stubby 360 bulbs. I wouldn't get more than about 80 lumens I think. Not too bright. Not too dim. Dimmable as much as any other LED.

 

Ok thanks ya I will look on Amazon too. I pretty much know all the model numbers of the bulbs I want I am just trying to figure out if the other guys bulbs sold on ebay and amazon are the same quality bulbs or if I am getting them at a cheaper price from those sites because they are a lower quality than something I would get from susuperbrightleds.com

 

Ebay is definitely the best price if you know exactly what you want or if you don't mind a bit of trial and error. I buy a lot on ebay. Just pick a highly rated seller.

 

I painted the rings around my cluster and just pulling that out was rather easy. Just take out the top 2 screws, then pull gently pretty much, I have not taken the cluster out though. It did look easy.

 

You're welcome. I will post a pic of the painted items when I get off work. one thing to remember when you take it out and plan on taking the rings off to paint be careful cause you can easily break the clips that hold the rings to the dash. I broke 2 of mine on the center ring. It still holds good but it bothers me knowing they are broken.

 

If anyone wants their rings around the cluster painted, I do that. I do all custom painting for interior, exterior, and badging. I have a little booth behind my house that I use. If you are near North Alabama I can come pick it up or meet you. If you are out of state or more than 4 hours away I can arrange shipping. Pm for prices.

 

Are you sure? Those are CANBUS. I just installed these today: WLED-[x]HP5 Look great.

 

I agree with ole keakar, i too use autolumination. That also have great customer service and very speedy replys even via email. I had a slight issue with a #74 bulb here a couple weeks ago and it was a pleasant experience dealing with the issue.



On another note, regarding a post a couple pages back referring to dimming leds. I just wanted to say that i have the simple two wire dimmer switch/knob and didnt have a problem with my led switches not dimming correctly. Now with that said i didnt replace any incandescent dash lights with leds. So that could be a whole different deal with the way the circuit works (electrical circuitry understanding novice here) I just tapped into the illumination circuit and hooked up 9 led rocker switches and they dimm nicely along with the standard incandescents. A little different dimming characteristics but they work and im glad i wired them that way cause sometimes those leds at night can be pretty friggin bright...

 

My pix are mostly blown-out and blurry, so the color representation isn't right.

Tough crowd here ... OK, be-otch, here's the pix from my '04.

Cluster with the four WLED-[x]HP5: brighter and more even than before / doesn't "seem" 3 times as bright (25 vs 75 lumens) but now better matches the OEM idiot lights for brightness. Also, these are cool white and the ones I posted a page or so ago are natural white (somewhat warmer). Seen here at maybe 80% of max?




HVAC: on the left is an OEM incandescent, the middle is a KT928 incandescent from candlepower.com and on the right is a NEO4 LED from superbrightleds.com Those lights are all referenced and linked to a couple pages back.

Notes:
1) The OEM is the only one that's super easy to replace since it has the tab you can use with finger tips. The others require a screwdriver unless you've got the circuit board out and come at 'em from the front when doing the twist.

2) The KT928 is a brighter-than-stock incandescent. Not a real replacement IMO but does look nice if you're willing to heat-soak your HVAC controls even more (I wasn't.) To candlepower.com's credit they do have other inexpensive incandescents that are probably a direct OEM match but I stopped my research there when I decided to do LEDs instead.

3) The NEO4's from superwhatevah.com are keepers. I chose the "cool white" color temp. Notice also the "engagement curve" that locks them in is a bit more "lazy" with these. (Gotta make sure you twist them completely when installing.)




Seen here in relation to the cluster: I bought keakar's über unattainable 4Runner HVAC faceplate and A/C, defrost buttons. (That's what they aren't orange, however when engaged, the A/C and defrost's status lights will be orange for reasons discussed 10 or 50 pages ago.) The only flaw here is that the "C" in the A/C button isn't lit up well but that's more a result of me not using incandescents with their superior coverage, even when compared to "360-degree" LEDs. My knobs still appear orangey in real life but not in the blown-out picture.




Closer look at HVAC with Blaupunkt New Jersey radio (light colors can't be changed on that radio). It's a match!



And the type 74 light replacement for the PRNDL, also in cool white: This picture does this NO justice. It's just basically perfect here IMO.



The reds (especially the PRNDL's "R") look better in person than in my pictures.

 

Just a side note about "dimable" feature. Most of high output bulbs like for example WLED-WHP10-TL or WLED-WHP10 use "buck type" drive inside the LED bulb. In most cases these LEDs are not polarity sensitive and they are not dimable. Cheap 12V LED bulbs are polarity sensitive and dimable. The driver is just diode (reverse polarity protection) resistor (current limiting) and 2 or 3 LEDs all connected in series. This is the kind you need for dash lights. The good thing is that this simple design is bulletproof (there is nothing to burn), unless of course these are very poor quality assembled in China.

High power bulbs with "buck" type driver are more sensitive to heat and they break if they are very poor design or assembly (many Ebay items shipped from China are very poor quality). I would avoid buying high power LED (for example for exterior lighting) from Ebay, unless they are sold by well known names who stay behind the product. In most cases you will be OK with cheap, low output LED bulbs from ebay.

Speaking of high intensity bulbs I trust JMD ASTAR (from Amazon). I have their 1156 white for backup lights and an 1157 red for Stop/Rear marker. The white one is brighter than stock bulb, the red is the same as stock or better. Just if you are going to get 1157 be aware that they have small "current leak" from stop light circuit to marker light circuit. It is visible when you put LED for front markers, but you will be OK if you keep original incandescent front marker bulbs.

 

Wow man nice write up be-otch ...looks really good. I was set on blue led's but now you have me thinking maybe I should go with your set-up.

 

Thanks. Since these trucks aren't designed for LEDs the light spread will never be as perfect as with the intended incandescents. That's why you see too much glow behind needles or especially in the fuel and water temp gauges. But I think the real issue there is due to the white face of the cluster.

So for me I was aiming for legibility and with white whites and red reds. I had a VW with the s0-called "aircraft style" (i.e. blue color) dash lights. It was fine, but it was designed that way.

 

Well I was excited to see my 4Runner A/C controls work but the damn lights won't turn on.
As you can see the bottom bulb and radio is lit up but not the control.

 

do the switch LEDs come on? check the plugs are all the way on.

I suppose one or two of the bulbs could be burnt out but I wouldnt think all 3 would be, cover it with a towel so its dark in case they are just very dim and hard to see.

also if the dimmer switch is unplugged then the lights for the dash cluster and heater control wont work

 

check the fuse box and under hood fuses

 

I'm sure the bulbs are dead. So I put the green condoms on my stock A/C control bulbs and 2 of them work. After spending over 30 mins messing with the bulbs, 2 out of the 3 work. I was tired of messing with it so I just assembled it back together. I checked after everything was put together and all 3 work. Checked again one wasn't working again but after a few seconds it finally came on.

Edit: does anyone know what size the cigarette bulb takes? Going to change that out as well.