Who has done aftermarket dash and cluster lights?

iphone makes them look purple but they are blue as you can tell by the pics above haha also if you have a kenwood head unit you ca compare just how well the contrast is between dim and BRIGHT. Even dimmed all the way down I can accurately read my mileage from normal driving positions at night.

 

And just FYI

A standard incandescent 74 bulb is approx 9 lumens.
A standard incandescent 194 bulb is approx 25 lumens.

From there I dim them down to the point where they are just lit enough to see the instrumentation.

 

Until you see it in person its kinda hard to explain but I feel you'll be happy with these! Im not a fan of a lot of light either

 

What's a gowned heading?

Do you feel as though they are too bright (when dimmed) at night?

 

Cool.

I'll give it a shot.

 

No when they're dimmed they are just how I like them haha DIM! sorry i meant "kenwood heading" not gowned heading autocorrect. I drive a lot at night and never have any problems with my eyes or the LEDs being too bright. Unless I turn them all the way up.

Edit: You can compare the check engine and oil lights kind of to see just how dim the LEDs get

 

One last question. According to the FSM you need to remove the steering wheel in order to remove the gauge cluster and get to the bulbs in back.

Is that really necessary? Or can I get away with just removing the steering column covers?

 

Deff not lol Just lower it if you have any problems, rather easy annoying part is the radio has to come out haha

 

I all ready change every bulb on my 04 tacoma, only the clock i'm working in that. 5 days and i fine the solution.

 

This is what I used for 194:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...led-bulb-5-led-wide-angle-wedge-base/199/873/

they are NOT flashlights in the eyes. fully bright they are about the same as stock.

HVAC used these (01-04 so maybe different for you) NEO4's

https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...s/neox-led-bulb-instrument-panel-led/220/985/

and these 74 for shifter light and I bought a few extra to use the key ring when I get it done and a few courtesy lights

https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...-bulbs/74-led-bulb-1-led-wedge-base/226/1058/

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/empty-bases-sockets/t1-34-base-wired-socket/1151/2738/

 

I was looking at those 194s you bought because they are 30 lumen. However they are 220* beam pattern.

From all the threads I read people said to get 360* or else the light distribution on the gauges won't be even. You'll have brighter spots lit up than others.

Do you have this issue with those 220* beams?

 

pics (they are over-exposed and not as bright as the pics show)

 

you can tell a "little" bit but not enough that I care. can still see everything just fine.

the fact they are cheap bulbs you can always buy again and use these anywhere 194s are

the NEO4 are definitely more noticeable and I may replace them, one is out anyway and I think the contact is bent

 

Placed an order.

Go the 360* 194s and the 100* 74s. Hopefully the latter light up the climate controls evenly.

 

So the latter (100* beam pattern 74s) definitely do not have an even enough lumination for my liking. Just ordered the 360* ones.

However the low lumen output (5 lumens) is perfect IMO. Not pysched to have to bump it up to 30 lumens for the 360*

On a side note... has anyone changed the color of the "A/C" on the push button switch? It's green.

 

The LED is behind the button but directly on the circuit board. not easily changed unless you have skillz.

 

Yeah I was real tempted to disassemble the switch to see what's what back there.

 

I had white just like that, looked awesome but I found it hard on the head during long trips. I swapped to red the other day. It looks better in person because I am a terrible photographer and thats the lowest dim setting. haha

 

...and yet they do.

I thought about it. On mine, it's a flush twist lock type. You use a tiny screwdriver to turn it half a turn and then it comes out. Dinky little SOB and no idea what to replace it with. I was going to try and figure it out, but then decided that the whole dash is red now with the exception of the A/C and ECT buttons. They're green, and that's ok because it makes them different from the rest of the dash. At least, that's what I'm telling myself THIS week.

 

Alright, so I have the 360* bulbs in behind the climate controls. The 25 lumens shouldn't scare anyone... very dim if need be.

My question (now) is... the blue range of the temperature dial doesn't light up. I'm assuming it's because the paint is less translucent than the white and red. A little bothersome (okay... lots, I'm OCD).

Any solutions to this? I know I've seen a 4runner "clear" face plate used for the 01-04 guys. Is that a solution for 98-00s? Obviously it's a different face entirely from the 01-04s.

Don't mind the pic. The light is a nice deep red with very even distribution.