LED review:Dash yes, Clearance Lights no

[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.

[motornut]

I didn't see this thread before but try it this way
white paint
add extra LEDs
stock is dimming white,red are on only when running.

[stroker87]

You can add a led dimmer in the circuit there simple to wire and with these trucks you have a lot of options for mounting, I use one on my boat since the LEDs are bright

Just google led dimmer or search eBay

As for LEDs I seen people use led strip lighting inside the clusters very bright and you can see all of the gauges with out a problem
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[curt350]

I guess I just dont get it.. there should be something that can be installed either before the power gets to the bulbs from the dimmer or somewhere along the circuit to increase the resistance so the stock dimmer control will work..

[meme1911]

here´s mine...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=465403

[curt350]

Finally got it to work! with the factory dimmer. All Led's dim to about 20%. Here is how I did it- Finally found a 20 watt 8 ohm Ceramic resistor from radio shack and spliced it into the hot wire at the heater control bulb then grounded the other end. works like a charm and with the factory dimmer. Caution though an 8 ohm ceramic resistor generates a lot of heat so I built an aluminum heat sink out of 1"x1" angle with a slot cut in the middle for a small hose clamp to fit through then attached it under the bottom edge of the dash under the ashtray so its away from wires and plastics the aluminum helps act as a heat sink. no problems so far and had it working like this for about a month.