Warning: LONG POST!

Some of you may remember a month or so ago that I installed four Auto Meter Phantom gauges in my SD...

2004 F250 Quad Gauge Install

Well, a month (or so) has passed and I gotta say I'm less than impressed with the illumination of these gauges. They just used a normal bulb with a little green jimmy hat (don't know what else to call it lol) to make the light green. Well, this didn't make for very consistent lighting between the gauges. Some were brighter than others, some were different shades of green, etc. It should be noted that the bulb for the trans temp gauge was already half-blown, all silvery looking on the inside (I forget what that's called).

Soooo, Auto Meter offers an LED bulb upgrade for these gauges at $13/ea (!). So, I did a little research and found that superbrightleds.com offers mini-wedge LED bulbs (part number WLED-G) for less than $2/ea so I ordered some to try. Turns out they work like a charm! Much more consistent and full illumination.

So, if anyone out there has Auto Meter Phantoms (or Ultralites) then this is the way to go, if you wanna save $45! I'm gonna update my webpage with this info soon.

Check out the before & after pic I put together....

 

Wow, thats in incredible difference! Looks great to me. I do have a question for you and the other guys with aftermarket gauges though.

Are the brightness of the gauge lights adjustable like factory dash lights? I hate having lights in my face while driving in the dark, so I always run with my dash lights turned VERY low. My CB lights even drive me nuts so I either throw a small rag over em or hold the steering wheel so my arm blocks them.

 

Yes, if you hook the illumination wire to the same signal that the instrument cluster (and the headlight switch, radio, heater controls, etc) uses then it they will dim along with the rest of the dash lights. I hooked the blue/red wire of the headlight switch.

Edit... by the way, the pics above were taken with the illumination at full brightness.

 

Thats what I figured, but I say its always best to ask those who know. Thanks man

 

Smart mod... thanks for posting the pic!

 

I was thinking of doing this with my 250 but was unsure weather I wanted to really get into trying to fish all the leads through the firewall. I have issues with my back so twisting up under the dash is out of the question. I can order all the stuff from Isspro through work at cost so parts wouldn't be expensive at all.

 

I went to Auto zone and found a round switch that had a blue led in it to match the gauges and wired that up so that at night i can turn off the back lighting of the gauges, the gauges I bought had the LED back lighting and they will BLIND YOU at night. Ill find a pick and post it in a while.

 

Installing gauges takes Hours of work and alot of bending and getting under the dash, it is not for the faint of heart. Figure 5 wires per gauge, and it makes for alot of wireing, and then also installing fuses.

Also how hard would it be to replace my blue LEDS with green ones?
Also SWEET wright up! Very impresive.

 

Thanks guys!

I see your sig says Auto Meter gauges, but it depends on which series of gauges you have. If you have Phantoms, or Ultralites, or any other that use the twist-lock bulb housing in the backside, then it is as easy as pulling the old bulb out and putting the new bulb in.

 

I have the c2's with biult in LED's

 

I just took a look at the C2's on Auto Meter's website and it looks like converting those to a different color would be a bit more involved. If you could get one apart without trashing it you could see what type of LEDs are used and maybe swap them out with green ones. Might not be worth the risk though!

 

Thanks for the info. I just installed my autometers today and I agree with the lighting. Although it seems pretty consistent, its just dull. I know you said the wled-g was the part # but did you get the 90 deg or 120 deg? It is the one LED not the 4 LED bulb correct?

thanks

 

Great Job! I have the Cobalt's (nine of them) all on a separate dimmer switch which is tied into the truck's dimmer. This way I can as needed or wanted.

Again, congrats on figuring out a better option and making it work.

 

That's right it is the one-LED bulb, I got the 120 deg version. I updated my gauge install write-up with a section about this. Thanks for the correction, I'll add that to the write-up for clarity.

2004 F250 Quad Gauge Install

Here's the bulb I used.

 

Thanks! That's pretty awesome you have nine gauges! What nine things are you monitoring and how are they all mounted? Post up some pics if you want to.

With the way my gauges light up at night, I thought I might need to do something like you did. So far they don't bother me but I might add another dimmer for them some day.