Dome Light LED install: Pilot brand

I just replaced the stock dome light bulb with a Pilot brand LED #587 in blue. It was $7.99 at Autozone here in town. Before install, I made sure the switch was set to the off position and I then removed the fuse (under hood in my 2014- not in the cabin panel). I'd read other posts about people shorting/blowing fuses when sticking in new LED bulbs, so I just did it as a precaution. I gently popped the cover off the light- took a little patience so as not to crack it. There is one lock tab on each end of the cover toward one of the corners, not in the middle. Popped out the old bulb (pry out one end at a time with a small screwdriver), stuck in the new one. Reinstalled the fuse, switched to ON. And it worked. The dimming feature works just like with the stock bulb- very slight "stair stepping" but I noticed that with stock incandescent, too.

This link appears to be the same bulb, but mine is a 4 LED version (not 6 or 8 as shown). Maybe they've phased out the 4 LED version and mine was a leftover- who knows. It was nice because the bulb comes packaged with a disposable battery pack so you can actually push a little button on the package and see the light turned on before you buy it. This allows you to see the color/intensity. Not necessary but kinda cool. I'll post pics when it gets dark. Very happy with it. I left the map lights stock for reading when necessary.

http://www.pilotautomotive.com/domelight/ILT-578W-6_Universal_1.html

 

I'm gonna try one of jumper's red ones, too, and see which I like better. Also thinking about his reverse lights.

 

These look cool! I do amateur telescope viewing and it is a "no-no" to use white light at the viewing sight. White light screws up your night vision. Red light is best to maintain night vision. I'd love to see pictures of the red light version in use if someone has them.

 

Nice. For shits and giggles I used my store credit and walked out of the store paying nothing for the blue 578 4 LED replacement bulb from Pilot at Autozone. I'll post a pic of mine later after the sun goes down. I'm on the west coast so that'll be 8 pm pacific, 11 pm eastern. And leaving my map/reading lights white to read or fiddle fart easier. But agree on the night vision aspects of red. I was in the military, and we used red at night for everything. And black ink or china marker/grease pencil only, so it could be seen with red light.

 

Yeah I'm in agreement with you guys about red being better in general for night viz. Im not really using mine for any extended period of time. Pretty much just getting in and out of my truck or loading/unloading the back seat.

The advantage to red light lies in the reduced amount of time it takes your eyes to adjust back to darkness after being exposed to light. That time is shorter if the light you were exposed to is red, as opposed to white (~blue). For example- in telescope viewing, you can read/write on your notepad using a red headlamp and when you go back to the telescope, your eyes don't need to re-adjust. Using a white light, it would take several seconds to adjust back to the dark for viewing. Same goes for turning on your white dome light on a dark highway.

After some weeks of use- I like the blue dome because it's actually really subdued from a distance. once you get a few feet away from the truck you can't even tell the light is on. But in the truck it's actually pretty bright. Ha what got me on this in the first place- I was sick of getting bombarded by bugs when I arrive at the cabin at night and have to unload the truck. Those bugs move in quick! I thought the blue would be a good balance. Dim for the bugs but bright enough to still see in the cab when loading/unloading.

I thought about putting one red bulb in the passenger side map light. That way, if I (or a passenger) do need to turn a light on while driving in the dark, i can just use the red one- and it shouldn't affect the eye's ability to adjust back to dark or see the road. The other map light (drivers side) would be incandescent (or white LED) for when I really do want to see something well. And the blue dome- I already covered that one above.

Or perhaps I have Tacoma induced OCD (this is the most likely scenario).

 

I like the ism for utilizing the blue with regard to the bugs. My thoughts too, as I traverse from California to see my old Army buddy near New Orleans (actually north across Lake Ponchatrain @ Abita Springs) where the mosquitos carry off dogs and children at certain times of the year.... mostly every time I've ever been there including winter, I was hoping the blue light would unattractive. But maybe not now that I think bug zappers are blue... And they attract bugs. Ugh. Oh well.

Here's a couple of shots of it on @ dusk.

 

And a couple just before the sun is completely gone. Mind you, there's a street light flooding the front windshield, so there's other light in play here. But the point is, the light is a great option. I like the blue, it's different, it's bright enough at night, it fades in and out almost like the original bulb - some stepping up or down, but who cares at that price.

 

Lookin good! Ha I hadn't thought about the blue being the same as a zapper. I think it'll help, simply due to the fact that it really can't be seen from a distance. So, maybe we'll get bugs from a 20 foot radius instead of a 150 foot radius. If not, well it still looks pretty neat! And other people really can't see you in the truck when the light is on. You know, in case you're doing something you don't want anyone else to see...

 

Yeah right.

 

Looks nice! I choose to go with the white from Jumper, lights are hardly ever on at night anyway so not worried about it being bothersome...

 

Very nice. Looks pretty bright. I'm going with white LEDs in the map lights / reading lights. I suppose when you use those, you really need to see, so why not super brights there.

 

Smart. I just did white in map and dome, and wired my maps to come on with the dome when the door is open. It's pretty damn bright

 

Lmao. Yours makes mine look like "mood lights".

 

Haha no argument there. But you never know when your going to need "mood lights"

 

When I go see my girlfriend this weekend I'll use the mood light theory at the drive in. She'll dig it I'm sure.

 

Well best of luck with that! My boss lady would just tell me it's dumb and her jeep is better... seems to be the same argument with every new mod I do

 

I picked up a bright white LED to throw in the glove box in case I'm somewhere and i really need to have a decent light in the cab. Something to note- the first white bulb I got a few weeks back (pilot brand- same as my blue one) was extremely dim. I removed it for that reason- too dim. And then I noticed that the 4 actual LED elements were a different type than the blue ones. The blue ones have what looks like some kind of metal running on the surface- the white ones did not. Same brand- exact same packaging. Two weeks later they had the bright white on the shelf that DID have the metal looking stuff running on the surface. I bought one and it's as bright as the blue one.

Long story short- there appears to be two versions of the Pilot brand bright white LED in the EXACT SAME PACKAGING- one bright, one dim. Maybe if you read the small print they're different voltages/amps or something, but the difference wasn't apparent to me on the shelf. The dim one was smooth (and kinda yellowish on the LED surface) and the bright one has the metal running on the surface. If you look closely you'll see what I'm talking about.

Who knows- maybe the first one I got was an old style or something. Maybe they've updated the bulb but kept the same packaging. From the looks of the photos above, all you guys got the bright ones.

 

Im.sure there are many more than two versions. Sounds like they didn't specify well when you got them. Ateast you tracked down the bright ones.

I need to put some lights in my glove box... my rig doesn't have any stock lights there, so going to mod some in myself