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I'm changing up the gauge cluster. I've already changed the color form green to blue, and now I'm soldering in individual LEDs in place of the twist lock style 194 bulbs.
Ive completed the tach lights, with three series of three 3mm LEDs secured inside the white gauge cluster housing. Unfortunatelt they don't proved as much light as I'd hoped, even though it is even with no hotspots.
Tomorrow I'm going to finish out the rest of the gauge cluster with the white 3mm. I'm also thinking about doing a second set of LEDs mounted to the rear of the actual gauge faces. These ones I'm going to make blue to exaggerate the blue film I used to replace the factory green. The white to blue ratio SHOULD allow me to keep the odometer a cool white, while making the blue richer. The blue also makes the orange needles very vibrant, like putting neon under a black light. This is what the gauges looked like as of this morning. I'll update with more pictures tomorrow night when it's (hopefully) finished.
Man.... I been wanting to do something ti mine forever.... almost can't see anything at night anymore
Same here. 50% of the bulbs are burned out and the ones that still work are so dim they're almost worthless. I had to get some small stick on LED lights that plug into the 12v power outlet to see.
So things didn't pan out quite they way I'd hoped. The led strips I had mounted inside the cluster fell and were bouncing around inside the cluster. I previously had duct tape (the reflective kind actually used for ducts) inside the gauges to eliminate hot spots, but removed it so as to not conduct through it when I soldered in the LEDs. Unfortunately, the LEDs I was going to mount inside didn't work out due to clearance issues with the gauges, so I'm back to square one. I did solder in two rows of 3 LEDs and plug them in where the smaller bulb at the top dead center was before (168 maybe? It's a T5 base, I know that). So now I'm on the hunt for some good LEDs that are designed and emit light in a similar fashion to the 194 incandescent bulbs that came with the truck.
i put dielectric grease on all the LED bulbs I had in before and that appears to have solved the flashing/flickering, which I believe was caused by bad conductivity.
So things didn't pan out quite they way I'd hoped. The led strips I had mounted inside the cluster fell and were bouncing around inside the cluster. I previously had duct tape (the reflective kind actually used for ducts) inside the gauges to eliminate hot spots, but removed it so as to not conduct through it when I soldered in the LEDs. Unfortunately, the LEDs I was going to mount inside didn't work out due to clearance issues with the gauges, so I'm back to square one. I did solder in two rows of 3 LEDs and plug them in where the smaller bulb at the top dead center was before (168 maybe? It's a T5 base, I know that). So now I'm on the hunt for some good LEDs that are designed and emit light in a similar fashion to the 194 incandescent bulbs that came with the truck.
i put dielectric grease on all the LED bulbs I had in before and that appears to have solved the flashing/flickering, which I believe was caused by bad conductivity.
Too bad. That stinks. Did your truck use 194 or or size 74 twist locks? Mine is the tiny 74. I ordered some leds from China a few months ago. Decided to try one today. Once I reversed the bulb so the polarity was correct the pc74 bulb worked. Very bright.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalytic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
