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ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: captchee on August 17, 2008, 06:27:34 PM

Title: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: captchee on August 17, 2008, 06:27:34 PM
   has anyone here replaced their dash  bulbs with  colored Led bulbs ?
 if so , how  do they work for you ?
  I had a couple bulbs that burnt out in my dash , and since my stereo  has blue lights , I thought I would match my  interior lighting .
 Have not been real impressed with the colored bulbs . Even with the dim switched turned all the way up , the lighting is pretty low  and was wondering how much brighter the LED bulbs are in compression 
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: ChileKick on August 18, 2008, 09:16:42 AM
I changed mi dash light to blue leds since my radio was blue , but they didn`t work well.
 I guess it depends on the year , mine is 1991 , but the dash panel itself seems to have some kind of tint that doesn`t allow the colored light bulbs to show in the right color. I changed to led bulbs and the problem is that the leds have a very narow angle of sight so even though the polycarbonate on the back of the dash trys to spread the light the leds shine too bright in some spots and some others look dim... >:(
Good luck
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: captchee on August 18, 2008, 03:01:44 PM
 thanks for the reply . my sidekick is a 89 so i bet i would have the very same issue
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: captchee on September 03, 2008, 08:37:06 PM
 ok , i went out on a limb here and bought off of eBay , all new Flat Top T10 194 Wedge  6-LED (Blue)
Wide angle sets for my main dash gages  and shifter .

 I also bought a Pair of Super Wide Angle T5 Wedge Style LED (Blue)
 For my heater controls

 Just came in today and  I must say  they are exactly what I was looking for . They
 The color is very even , no bright areas .
 In fact to give you some idea as to  the brightness , the LEDS  on the lowest setting for the lights  ar as bright as the colored bulbs were  on bright .
 The color also matches my stereo  , perfectly .

I would say 2 thumbs up . Im very happy with the change 
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: ChileKick on September 04, 2008, 12:21:29 AM
I'm glad it worked for you!!
I wish I could get stuff like that over here.. ::)
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: Drone637 on September 04, 2008, 10:45:22 AM
We can always mail it to you ChileKick.  :D

How dim can the LED dash lights go? 
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: captchee on September 04, 2008, 03:59:55 PM
I'm glad it worked for you!!
I wish I could get stuff like that over here.. ::)



The guy I got them from was in Australia
 You could get them im sure  sent to you . It to 10 days for  mine to come in   here in the US
Here is a link to the ones I bought .
 he has alot of other types to . .
 i didnt know what i wanted for sure , so i told him what i was doing and the problems  i had read  about . i ask what he thought would be the best for my application .
again , im totaly happy

http://cgi.ebay.com/Blue-6-LED-Dash-Cluster-Kit-For-Nissan-300ZX-Z32-5p_W0QQitemZ160276828361QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160276828361&_trkparms=72%3A552%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Blue-6-LED-Dash-Cluster-Kit-For-Nissan-300ZX-Z32-5p_W0QQitemZ160276828361QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160276828361&_trkparms=72%3A552%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14)

 they dim down to just a haze  not completely out .
 on high they look just like the  dash  board exsample in his link . though my pointers did not stay read . but the dash is old so  i figure that may have something to do with it
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: Drone637 on September 04, 2008, 05:37:07 PM
Sounds like a fun mod.  They do similar deals on KRL-650's in order to drop the amp usage in order to get enough juice to run GPS and heated gloves.  :P
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: captchee on September 04, 2008, 06:28:52 PM
 yep and being these are just plug and play . just un plug the bulbs and plug in the LEDs . its a fun and simple mod
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: blackandtan on September 04, 2008, 06:44:18 PM
That looks good post some pics lit up at night. I wanted brighter bulbs because the cluster was dim to begin with so I just traded the stock I think 158 bulbs for 168 bulbs, the 168's are much brighter than the stock bulbs
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: captchee on September 04, 2008, 08:25:51 PM
 i tried the 168's as well . but i wanted blue and even the blue 168 bulbs did not shine blue , just a brighter white .
these LEDs are  in my dash i bet 200X as bright as even the 168's
 ill post some photos tomarrow night when i get a chance
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: captchee on September 05, 2008, 07:58:59 PM
Well taking a photo of the dash at night , proved to be  alittle more difficult then I expected .
 Without a flash which kills the colors , the shutter speed is very , very slow . As such . The bright blue  becomes a blue white . This isn’t what it really looks like . Its what the camera is making it look like .
I found that taking a direct onward photo  with a slow shutter speed , the photo also shows  bright spots . This also isn’t the case  as the color is very even .
 I also tried to take a shot with the lights on dim but LMAO the photo came out bright  because of the slow shutter speed .
 So what  I did was take  a shot at an angle . This showed IMO the best compression of the  speedo and tach  while showing  what im meaning about  the color distortion .
 The heater  controls are actually very close to what your seeing  with the dash gages

(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/captchee/scout/LEDs002.jpg)
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: Drone637 on September 06, 2008, 03:08:05 AM
You replace everything...  How many bulbs did you need?
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: captchee on September 06, 2008, 06:48:04 AM
   My side kick is a 89 2 door . For the dash I only needed 4  for the main  lighting bulbs . I changed nothing  concerning the warning  lights , turn signals and such
 The shifter took 1 which is the same size as the dash . So 5 of the larger bulbs .
 Now the heater controls  take 1 smaller bulb . The same size as  the check engine light , hazards and such which are across the top of the interment cluster .

 That  LED set itself was alittle long  so I had to spread the LEDs out  alittle  to get  that one to lock into place . So  that  set actualy needed to be about 1/16th shorter  but I made it work .
 But all together I used  5,,,,,, T10 194 Wedge 6-LED (Blue)
4 in the dash and one in the shifter

1,   T5 Wedge Style LED (Blue) for the heater controls

 i didnt change anything concerning my stereo. They were already all blue LED’s  in the photo  the control panel on the stereo is down  . The  window just above the controls  is the stereo  readout . Its grey back light .
 Im thinking about working on that as well . For right now its ok though .
 Its just a cheep 100.00 radio , CD /mps  player from wal mart . Mounted right in the dash with no modifications
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: Rhinoman on September 06, 2008, 04:14:36 PM
I have two sets of instruments here and they both have a green tint to the plastic. I was going to fit blue bulbs but I don't think that they will work very well through a green filter.
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: captchee on September 06, 2008, 04:24:55 PM
dont know , mine were white . the blue comes through nicly
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: Jookycola on September 14, 2008, 05:44:03 PM
do the speedo and tach needles have seperate bulbs?  I'd love the blue interface but would like to have red needles like newer VW's and Audis.

And are you saying all those bulbs are white or blue in that last reply?
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: SNJSamurai on September 14, 2008, 10:15:58 PM
u guys are lucky i have no lights or radios   >:(  just me the sammi and my monster tach lol

but i like how they came out it looks factory how much did that run you price wise.
Title: Re: Dash and Interment panel lighting
Post by: Carnage on September 16, 2008, 10:04:08 AM
ive got a 96 tracker

and its a mile and a half to replace all those bulbs in your dash since i would have to pull the steering wheel

unless someone knows a better way