What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Muffler does what

 

Finally got around to replacing all my burnt out gauge cluster lights.

 

Depends on what you end up with, some muffle, others well theyre worse than a straight pipe despite the name

 

Looks sharp

 

Didn't get to do much with the truck today... but I did get a chance to make a new brake proportioning valve relocation bracket.

 

I need to do this, got a burnt out one right behind the speedometer. Sorta putting it off until more burn out lol. Seems like kind of a pain having to pull the dash.

 

You don't have to pull the whole dash, just the black surround around the cluster and the keys, it's super quick

 

And here I am, too lazy to change a bulb behind the climate control panel

 

Ah ok that's not so bad. The video I watched showed the guy pulling everything (climate control portion too) but I believe he was replacing those bulbs as well

 

That’s pretty cool. Was it a pain to do? Mine work but I wanted them blue, a lil easier on the eyes.

 

Blue light actually puts a lot more strain on the eyes

 

I don't buy this.

 

If your ‘04 is like my ‘03 and I’m pretty sure it is, you do need to pull a lot of the dash. First the lower panel under the radio, then the radio/climate control area panels, then the lower dash under the steering wheel and finally the black surround around the gauge cluster. Then pull the cluster to access the bulb sockets. Took me about 2hrs all in but I’m a really slow worker and there were a few beers in that time too.

 

Blue makes you sleepy. Green or amber is the ideal color

 

Pretty basic science, they taught us this back in middle school when we did the whole color spectrum and wavelengths of light unit. Can look it up if you actually don't believe it. One of the reasons in night vision situations people often use dim red lights

 

I guess the later dash is more monolithic, the 95-97 dash come apart pretty compartmentalized

 

Its the same idea as the blue light emitted from screens and why it's not recommended to have the brightness turned way up especially if you're in a dark room. Blue light has a more profound effect on the retinas than warmer light. I'm not making it up lol there's a ton of info out there on this

Aesthetically speaking I do think blue looks better though than the red/orange leds in the gauges.

Plus we have the dimmer switch for them and I doubt they are going to do any real damage in the grand scheme of things. I think the time we spend on screens is likely far worse for us

 

Yep, science disagrees with @Uphillshunter

Yeah, it is several pieces on the 01-04 like you describe.

 

Also why Led lights on newer cars always appear brighter then they are. Way more blue light.