Gauges

[bartgillam]

I want to change my gauges to a white color so i can use RGB Leds behind them and have it show whatever color i want instead of whatever i want mixed with the blue ford has in it stock. I found these white over lays on ebay for 95-97 explorer and ranger and they look almost the exact same as mine except it looks like the door open and check engine light have been swapped. Will these fit (see link) http://www.ebay.com/itm/1995-1997-F...Parts_Accessories&hash=item19c795ed69&vxp=mtr

 

[crazymind]

If I remember correctly there is a film on the back side of the gauges you have to scrap off in order to change the color. Changing the face color wont affect the light color.

 

[dustinjorge]

Door and check engine are in the same place as my 95.

Couple things: the color in the stock gauges comes from the stock overlays which are lightly glued over the clear plastic gauge assembly. All the lights are clear bulbs. The white gage set i got had clear through the warning lamp cutouts so even if i used leds i would have been able to see the bulbs. Also note that when you remove the stock overlays the needle keepers for rpm/speedo don't have anything to press into.

What i did was use translucent tape (bought at shucks) and double layered it over all the warning light locations prior to lining up the overlays. For the needle keepers we cut out pieces of the stock overlay and glued them back into place.

Looks great.

 

[Hunter32]

If I remember correctly there is a film on the back side of the gauges you have to scrap off in order to change the color. Changing the face color wont affect the light color.

I believe this is for later models. I think '95-'97 use just a blue tint that [when used with stock bulbs] mixes with their yellow glow to make a green color. If you install white LEDs in a '95-'97 it will make your guages blue:

whereas they would still be green in later models because of the green film you are talking about

 

[bartgillam]

i installed 2 feet of white led strips behind it and removed all the stock bulbs and it is now a nice blue (97 mountaineer by the way) i just want to put rgb strips so i can make it any color but i didnt know what to change to make the colors show up. The blue is part of the black inlays? or is it actually on the plastic behind the inlays

 

[crazycoop]

if there the same in a 97 mountaineer as my 00 x you can get what ever color you want i went with red

the camera doesnt do the color right its bright red
i used this write up by MustangP51 http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2160406&posted=1#post2160406 but i put red leds in and scrap off the green tint from the factory

 

[dustinjorge]

Yeah here's mine I went with the bem reverse glow gauges. Like i said i removed the stock gauge overlays and used translucent tape for amber glow on all the warning lights.

 

[Steeda04SVT]

Good thread, been debating on this.

 

[Exploder919]

Yeah here's mine I went with the bem reverse glow gauges. Like i said i removed the stock gauge overlays and used translucent tape for amber glow on all the warning lights.

I really like the look of those gauges