What can I do to the dash lights on my 85 to make them brighter? I thought at one time I saw an article on this somewhere at 1 time but I can't find it. Can somebody help me here? It's a pain in the but trying to see them at night!

 

You can try taking the blue caps off the bulbs in the cluster.But you'll have to remove the cluster and disassemble it to get to them.

You might also be able to switch to brighter bulbs.

If that still doesn't suit you,then you can try painting the gauges white or a similar color.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...te-gauges.html

 

You can remove the clear bulbs and covers as Shaun recommends, but replace them with blue colored 194 bulbs. They're available at just about any parts store and make a noticible difference. I also got a huge difference on mine when I had to replace my light switch. I don't recommend replacing the switch just to make your dash bulbs brighter, but maybe cleaning it might get the same gain I realised with mine.

 

I installed led bulbs in mine. I can see my gauges perfectly at night.

Its a cell phone pic but you get the idea...

 

hey check your battery AND CHARGING SYSTEM sorry caps...
my alternator was barely working coundnt see ****
might as well replace the voltage regulator if it aint internal to the alt.

 

GE: 194-G Green bulbs match the OEM color exactly.

You can also use 168-G, Green bulbs for brighter than OEM.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Guy's for all the advise. I've been busy the last few days & forgot to check the post again & I didn't get any email notifications telling me you'll had posted.
I really don't care about the green look so blue or green bulbs don't really matter to me.
How hard is it to take the cluster out & disassemble the dash & take the covers off?
How many bulbs do's it take? I also might replace them with the 168's so there brighter.

 

It's pretty easy once you do it a few times.You have to remove the wiper and headlight *****,which can be a little tricky,but after that you should remove the steering column cover,and then the cluster panel.The cluster panel is held on by 3 screws.Pull that off,and then you have access to the cluster.The cluster is held in by 4 screws.You'll need to be careful pulling it out,as the speedometer cable and wiring connector are still plugged in.Once the cluster is out,You should have enough room to untwist the bulb sockets and pull them out.I think there is about 8 of em,give or take.

 

Mine were the same - you could tell the dash lights were on, but that was all - I thought half of them must have been blown, but they were all working.
I removed the blue covers & renewed all the bulbs, also the ashtray & wiper/light switch bulbs.
Made a huge difference - one more job off the list

 

I removed the blue caps yesterday. Man what a difference!
I will say though, last night I sat down & read the thread about painting your gauges white & I'm seriously thinking about painting them silver because I love that look! How hard is it to change everything to the red bulb look?

 

Should just be a matter of switching to red bulbs,if they have them.If not,you can do what factory did,and just put on some clear red film or something to give the bulbs that red look.Ctubutis did a whole write up on red dash lighting on the last page of the white gauges link.Guess you missed it.Go back and look at page 11 towards the bottom,look for all the pictures and read through it all.

 

I did a slightly different mod with the LEDs, instead of taking out the blue sheaths, I just purchased these ::




I will say the difference is impressive, about 4-5 times more brilliance, and the bluish green is like a nice medium blue. I found that when replacing some of the bulbs since the contacts are so old I had to use a cleaner otherwise the bulbs appeared to be bad - also these bulbs have cheap contacts so you have to fiddle with them in the sockets for a minute, but the final result was