LED review:Dash yes, Clearance Lights no

[RuralRoute C-30]

So I tried this on the c-30 just to see how it works. Personally, and this is just my own opinion, I am staying with oem bulbs on the outside. Saw no respectable increase in light and the amber lense with the natural white bulb is wrong for what I want. It just ain't right from what I saw. Still, to be fair, there are other choices I could have made in the bulbs. These are the 5 light Wx5 bulbs.

But, since I had the bulbs, six all total, one as a spare for the cab, I tried them out on the gauge cluster project/rebuild. Here they are perfect for the type of lighting I wanted. Now I can see the gauges at night and still have not finished closing in the gauge cluster with the speedometer or bezels so it should be even brighter when done.

Just my 2 cents for anyone interested. Yet even the pics show I gain barely anything if at all for the clearance lights. Actually I even lined the one on the right with some chrome heating-duct tape I had around here to see if that would reflect brighter to make a difference between the two I did change on the cab. Not much if any difference from what I see plus they wouldn't match the existing lighting on the rest of the truck. Better for me to stay with the oem on the outside. You be the judge.


Gauge project:





For the money I do see major improvement in the dash though...originally I tried the oem bulbs, these are definitely brighter!

For now, at least on this truck, dash light led's yes, clearance light led's not necessary.

Mark

[spinem]

first off, is that insulation in ur garrage that im seeing? if so, THATS SWEETTT!!!!

bulbs, eah, some people say that about the 5 led.

and being able to see the speedo
vs
the cop seeing you speed because you couldnt see the speedo.

id choose your way too.

[RuralRoute C-30]

Originally Posted by spinem

first off, is that insulation in ur garrage that im seeing?

Yes, a few years ago insulated the machine shed one fall, winter and spring! Even painted the rafters white and built a shop inside the shop. My wife calls it my "man-cave"!

Regarding what type of bulbs for the dash. Learned the oem bulbs are '194' 's and here are a couple of links I used to research options if you want to go with led's . There are others. Just read the options that are compatible with the 194's.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...ini-wedge.html

http://www.whitegauges.net/categorie...Bulb-Lighting/

I used the Wled-x5 in "natural white"...yes there are options.

Personally the dash definitely deserves them. Installed an oem radio tonight and reinstalled the heater faceplates only to be reminded how greenish dim the dash lights originally were. (granted over half the bulbs were burnt out!) But for the dash, I'm sold on using led's for the gauges at least.

Odd as it is, this was not my original focus. All I originally had was an oil pressure gauge issue. That began with the engine, to the gauge cluster, to the fuse box more than once, to the radio, to the heater and as far as the frigging ashtray where the courtesy light hung as I just kept trying to clean-up the electrical mess discovered when I took the gauge cluster out. Oh, and then there was the time spent cleaning and painting the cluster housing and more cleaning and painting no one will ever see! I doubt I am unique having this experience, as yes, one thing can lead to another in these projects!

Oh well, oil gauge works great and by the week-end it will all be back together! It has made me laugh more than once this week when I realize what started this learning curve originally has taken me through a lot more than I bargained for!

Gotta love doing it. Beats television...and I did buy a service manual today!

Mark

[Restrorob]

Mark,

If your looking for a brighter dash at night I saved THIS write up a while back. Now's the time to do it before you get it all back together......

[RuralRoute C-30]

Finally have the results of my led gauge transformation tonight. You be the judge.

Overall I am totally satisfied with the final result and stayed fairly on target with what was suggested in this link:
http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/interior/dashlights.htm
including some suggestions and ideas found in this forum. Then I added a few personal ideas that created the final result here. I also painted the needles with a GM red.





and then there is this reason I do not need led's for the cab!


Once again, thanks for this forum and the advice from all. I never would have thought of this solution without it!

Mark

[bigwheel15]

I like those dash lights, that will be added to the never ending list of things to do to the truck.

[andrewmp6]

Pretty much anything from the 80s back have the worse dash lights.Leds in the gauge cluster is cheap easy and a most if you drive at night.

[coater]

What type of LED bulbs are used for the cluster. I only have 1 bulb that works,so I need to replace them anyway.

Thanks

[Tow Me]

Mark, those look great! Do you know how many lights the gauge cluster uses? I'd like to get the lights ordered before tearing into it.

So did you upgrade your heater panel lights too?

[RuralRoute C-30]

Thanks Glenn,
Originally I purchased 6 of these bulbs. Five for the clearance lights with a spare. Didn't like the yellow color these led whites created inside the lamp lenses as it failed to match the amber of the bed lights. So this is how I afforded them for use in the gauges.

So, for the gauges, I used 5 bulbs. In hindsight, while the dash was apart, I should have replaced the heater control bulb. Eventually I will as I have the sixth bulb for this. Having steel wooled the black paint off of the heater control plate, turning it into a bright silver, I am betting it will be a lot brighter(and whiter) with the new bulb as well.


I do contribute equal improvement of the new light from taking the advice of many here and painting the interior of the bezel silver/chrome. I did elect to add the same paint to both sides of the plastic cover that is behind the clear plastic. (it also made a significant difference in reflectivity)

Good Luck! Personally I do like finally seeing the gauges at night. The original light from the oem ones were terrible and for my 'older' eyes, these are perfect.

Hope this helps.
Mark
Remember: You don't need leds for the bulbs for the bright light and turn signal indicators. If I update again I might add one more...but it really isn't necessary.

[RuralRoute C-30]

A couple of pics of the bezel painted for anyone interested in doing this:




One of the most practical and cheapest improvements I have made so far.

Mark

[east1la]

Originally Posted by RuralRoute C-30

Thanks Glenn,
Originally I purchased 6 of these bulbs. Five for the clearance lights with a spare. Didn't like the yellow color these led whites created inside the lamp lenses as it failed to match the amber of the bed lights. So this is how I afforded them for use in the gauges.

So, for the gauges, I used 5 bulbs. In hindsight, while the dash was apart, I should have replaced the heater control bulb. Eventually I will as I have the sixth bulb for this. Having steel wooled the black paint off of the heater control plate, turning it into a bright silver, I am betting it will be a lot brighter(and whiter) with the new bulb as well.


I do contribute equal improvement of the new light from taking the advice of many here and painting the interior of the bezel silver/chrome. I did elect to add the same paint to both sides of the plastic cover that is behind the clear plastic. (it also made a significant difference in reflectivity)

Good Luck! Personally I do like finally seeing the gauges at night. The original light from the oem ones were terrible and for my 'older' eyes, these are perfect.

Hope this helps.
Mark
Remember: You don't need leds for the bulbs for the bright light and turn signal indicators. If I update again I might add one more...but it really isn't necessary.

nice write up. I wonder if the heater control bulb is a 194 bulb also? I want to do this on my 1987 chevy pickup. how long did it take you to do this conversion?

[RuralRoute C-30]

Time wise, it took me longer than it would today due to not having a clue what I was doing when I began pulling that cluster. Fortunately I have no witnesses from when I first took it apart. I still am learning to ask questions before I take things apart on this truck.

Plus I knew I had issues with an oil gauge and ended up needing to locate a new/used gauge cluster to fix that problem, (mice had lived in the dash at one time), then decided to go with led's for what was another idea during this project, cab lights that didn't look right when I changed them to led, and had to wait for the bulbs to arrive. So the process for me took a bit longer than planned. Paint time is paint time and spray cans dry fast.

Yet if one had the bulbs in-hand and no other issues, plus the paint, then I'd expect this project to be an easy afternoon investment of time. Cluster comes out in 5 minutes, (I got good at it!), 15 minutes maybe if doing it the first time?, and the rest is cleaning the parts, changing the bulbs, paint what one wants and maybe some "housekeeping" time with the cluster off inside that dash cavity. Don't forget to take the time to polish that clear lense with it apart. I think I picked up some polish made for plastic headlights or something like that from Autozone back then.

I probably would go with the white inside the cluster if doing it again. It's a proven higher reflector than the chrome paint I used. Might change that when I pull the dash pad off soon to replace it (another project pending). When I do, I also plan to change the one bulb I forgot with led...the one that illuminates the heater control.

Either way, it was a cheap mod and a good bang for the buck to see the dash at night. OEM bulbs were worthless in my opinion.

As mentioned,should take an afternoon at best if it all worked to begin with, allowing for a cold one and watching paint to dry too, for anyone who just takes their time and walks through the steps others and myself have shared here.

If I can do it without a book, anybody can using all the information here and from other forum members who have shared 'being there, doing it'! Just take your time and be careful with that harness plug would be my advice. And if all else fails...ask someone here.

Good Luck,
Mark

[curt350]

I have done this upgrade recently too, to my 1991(87 body style) v30 and am thoroughly impressed by the color and brightness of the leds. I First installed the bulb in the heater control panel to see what it looked like and tried the dimmer and it worked. but after replacing all the bulbs in the dash the dimmer wont work I am guessing because there isn't the wattage draw there used to be with the incandescent bulbs- here is my question is there anything that can be added to the circuit to increase the wattage draw to make the dimmer work? I am somewhat electronically challenged when it comes to adding something maybe a resistor transistor or heat sink? 20 watt bulb hidden under the dash?
I figure there was about 26+/- watts with the incandescent bulbs and now with the leds about 4-5 watts.any thoughts? could be easy to add something off the heater bulb pigtail.

[West Texas Z]

cool write up!!

[Wincks2]

Very nice. Thanks. The to do list grows.

[jay55jay]

Awesome I just ordered the same bulbs in Amber I am sure they will still put some light out even though they are amber. Great idea I have to hand it to you.

[justinburnett]

Just to confirm these are the WLEDx5 bulbs, right? Top of the "superbrightled" page? Want to get some but just making sure these were the right ones.

[RuralRoute C-30]

Originally Posted by justinburnett

Just to confirm these are the WLEDx5 bulbs, right? Top of the "superbrightled" page? Want to get some but just making sure these were the right ones.

That's the ones I used. Works for me.

Good Luck,
Mark

[RuralRoute C-30]

Originally Posted by RuralRoute C-30

That's the ones I used. Works for me.

Good Luck,
Mark

Just a quick clarification: Refer to this link and you will notice there are 3 different "whites" offered.
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...%2FWLED-x5.htm

After some serious thought and reading I chose the middle one, "natural white". Look at the CCT column and the tiny color square that suggests the color the bulb will produce. I wanted a white light but not a potential blueish/purple possibility the "cool light" might create.
"* White LED Note: Correlated Color Temperature measured in Kelvin, higher numbers indicate blue/purple tint (similar to HID lamps), standard incandescent bulbs are around 3000K"

Just a point to ponder so to speak. For myself and this write-up everything I did represents the "natural light" bulb.

Once again, Good Luck!
Mark

[68Timber]

Looks great, especially with the needles painted. Any tips on pulling them, or did you have to?

[RuralRoute C-30]

My experience?

Gauge needles were painted by taking a couple of pieces of newspaper, slicing a slit in the paper to pass through/around the needle shaft tucking it behind/under the gauge needle while covering the entire gauge in the process. Do it twice to overlap the first seam and should be good to go. Spray as needed and be done with it.

Used a GM red from NAPA as I recall. They do make a difference when 'refreshed'. Mine were a faded orange!

Do the needles come off? Oh yea. I broke one trying to remove it from the fuel gauge before resorting to this paper process.

Fortunately I had a spare fuel gauge from a second cluster acquired from the junk yard as part of this project, (I needed the plastic film circuit board to replace what mice had eaten on mine and got the entire gauge cluster) and went from there. Yes, the needles can come off. Just be prepared for the consequences if they break in the process.

I would stay with the newspaper idea if I do it again. Now I have a spare fuel gauge less a needle.

Hope this helps.

Mark

[bucannon]

I used some blue LED bulbs for mine and they are brighter but still not bright enough. i even painted the bezel silver but i still cant read the spedometer numbers, can i put a higher rated fuse in the circut to make the lights brighter?

[bigwheel15]

Originally Posted by bucannon

I used some blue LED bulbs for mine and they are brighter but still not bright enough. i even painted the bezel silver but i still cant read the spedometer numbers, can i put a higher rated fuse in the circut to make the lights brighter?

A higher rated fuse wont do anything as far as brightness. Blue is going to be hard to get really bright, there is a lot less light output vs. white.

[babyJay]

Originally Posted by bucannon

I used some blue LED bulbs for mine and they are brighter but still not bright enough. i even painted the bezel silver but i still cant read the spedometer numbers, can i put a higher rated fuse in the circut to make the lights brighter?

Not unless your goal is to have the truck a smoldering pile of rubble... Never replace a fuse with a higher amperage one. And no, it wouldn't be any brighter anyway.