Who has done aftermarket dash and cluster lights?

This is what I was after thanks! Is Gunny the parts guy for Camelback? Wondering if it's best to contact him here or just call?

 

Yeah that’s him. I always just contacted him through his thread on here.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/camelback-toyota-discount-for-tw-members.207298/page-193

Maybe he can verify if that’s actually the white bezel or not too...

 

Sounds good, I appreciate your help.

 

Here's mine, still haven't found the time to swap it out.

 

Wanna sell it to me? Also would you mind if I used your pictures in a WTB post if you dont want to sell?

 

Besides that, I have an extra one with the orange, anyone have any ideas how to remove the orange and maybe repaint?

 

Not interested in selling at this time. Feel free to use the photos in your search.
Good luck.
Keep looking at Ebay. That's where I found mine.

 

Figured it couldn't hurt to ask! thanks its hard to find good quality pictures to reference what I am talking about as a potential suitor to a buyer. Did you end up getting the whole HVAC unit and then selling the unit with the old faceplate? Might go that route, but I know when I needed the unit it was like 80 bucks.

 

I bought my 02 4Runner HVAC Unit at LKQ for $40. Glad I bought the whole unit too. Since when mine went out in my Tacoma, I replaced it with the 4Runner unit.

 

Managed to snag a white backed one on eBay cheap !!!!! Now I need the LEDS, for the HVAC. Where can I find the purple LEDS that fits the HVAC unit?

 

You need 3 - Neo wedge 4mm LED’s. I got mine from superbrightleds.com but they don’t offer purple.
https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...led-bulb-high-power-instrument-panel-led/221/
Maybe EBay or Amazon has them.

 

i replaced the lights in my cluster, but they flicker like crazy.

 

Probably you have wrong type of bulbs. I mean not the size but internal design. The cheapest bulbs don't have fancy LED driver but just diode and resistor. They are dimable and this is the type you want.

Bulbs with LED driver (usually in high power bulbs or more expensive bulbs) are not dimable and they keep the same light output regardless of the power voltage. But when voltage drops below certain limit the LED driver goes nuts and LED start to flicker. These type of bulbs are not good for cluster or dome lights. They are good for markers or license plate illumination. High power color bulbs are good for stop, position lights or blinkers.

Example of LED Driver bulb: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...d-led-tower-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/206/

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

By the way, in the last bulb the first thing I would do is remove that stupid CANBUS resistor (between contacts) - not needed and heats the bulb for no reason.

The clue for that type of driver is inside the bulb is the operating voltage spec. If something like 10-30V it is almost 100% LED driver bulb. If it is 12V only it is most likely diode/resistor type bulb.

 

Maybe my google fu isn't working, I cannot seem to find one, any idea where else I can look?

 

http://www.autolumination.com/autom...t-panel/neowedge_japanese_oem_2x_led_bulb.htm seems to be purple, I got 3x of the t4 to try. Also my 20 dollar white hvac face plate came

 

So.. if I want to upgrade my 03 Tacoma's instrument cluster lights...I need the $4-5 ones with the capability to dim them.. and not the 95 cent ones... yes? Also... to confirm: Instrument gauge cluster 4 - #194's, HVAC area - Neo wedge 4mm, Glove box, gear shifter and ashtray lights are all #74's? Thx.

 

I have done my cluster with cheapo ebay/Amazon bulbs available. There are basically three designs of any LED bulbs.

1. Cheapest - dumb design with only three elements in series: Diode - LED chip - resistor. The example are most f NEO bulbs - there is no space for anything else in there anyway:



The the contact wires at the base are actually the leads: one from resistor, other from diode. The other leads are soldered to the SMT LED chip. This is dimmable, god for panel. Clue: they don't work when polarity is reversed. Other example, where you can see the resistor and diode is this 74 BED bulb from superbrightleds.com for about 2 dollars.
The key feature to look for are: Voltage: 12V, Dimmable=Yes, Polarity Sensitive=Yes.




2. A bit more fancy, but still cheap design (about 3 dollars or less on superbrightleds.com). They use Rectifier bridge instead of diode, so they are not polarity sensitive (reversible). Here is an example of 194 bulb from superbrightleds.com





The key feature to look for are: Voltage: 12V, Dimmable=Yes, Polarity Sensitive=No.

3. The best (for the bulb) design use buck type driver instead of current limiting resistor. The buck driver makes the bulb delivering the same full power in a wide range of supplied voltage and in most cases can be powered from alternating current without blinking. The example of that LED bulb is little more expensive (5 dollars) 194 bulb from superbrightleds.com:



You can see guts inside the clear base. This is are the components of the buck type driver. The key features are: Voltage: 10-30V, Dimmable=Yes, Polarity Sensitive=No.


I know it is difficult to know what bulb design someone is selling - sellers usually don't know that (for them it is just a bulb). But price, parameters and outside look might be a clue. For instrument cluster you need the simplest (cheapest) bulbs you see (probably type 1 or 2). And avoid "CANBUS" bulbs. You really don't need that resistor in a bulb. Just looking at the first bulb on Amazon this looks like will work:

$10 Yorkim 194 LED Bulbs White 6000k Super Bright 5th Generation, T10 168 LED Bulb for Car Interior Dome Map Door Courtesy License Plate Lights W5W 2825, Pack of 10

https://www.amazon.com/Yorkim-Generation-Universal-10-Interior-x/dp/B00JRE38EA
It is described as Voltage 12V, no mention of Canbus, and note "make sure the polarity is correct, if they don't work turn them 180 degrees." makes me believe it is type 1 bulb. The best combination for cluster lights.

One more thing: I found these LED bulbs are quite bright even when powered by very low voltage. With electronic cluster dimmer they are still more bright then incandescent bulbs at the lowest setting (just before turning off).


There is a different story for dome light in 2000+ models (with auto dimming when doors are closed). The dimming circuit in Body ECU goes nuts when does not see a high current bulb (equivalent to incandescent bulb). That dimmer makes dome LED bulbs flicker. Maybe few CANBUS -type bulbs will work, I don't know. My truck is 1995 with no fancy dimming dome lights.

 

Hey guys. Do you have to remove the black plastic trim around the ac controls to remove the fan control unit? This would be to gain access to the three bulbs located behind it.
It's been a while since I've had this off, and can't remember.

 

You do not. Only the knobs. Those bulbs are a bitch to get out. I gave up on them.

 

Don't forget to do the ring around the ignition. It's super easy and looks really cool.