BrianDye
I'll have another...
- Joined
- March 1, 2009
- Messages
- 6,170
- Reaction score
- 17
- City, State
- Monroe, MI
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2006 XLT
I usually upgrade all my vehicles to LED where I can plug and play, like the cluster, dome lights, map lights, taillights, etc. Have saw this mentioned a few times, but no definitive guide or pictures of it.
Project difficulty: 2/10
Time req'd: Depending on your speed, 25 minutes to an hour
First thing you'll need to do is order the LEDs. The style is "B8" and I ordered from SuperBrightLEDS.com. You can order elsewhere, but buyer beware, that quarter or two you save on each bulb from eBay or Amazon, they WILL burn out sooner than later. (Spent like $40 on Amazon on my dome lights and two are already flickering bad)
The style on SB LEDs.com has 3 options. You want the B8.4. I mistakenly ordered the 8.5, which DO work, just had to bend the little metal tabs a bit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the three B8 style LEDs: We want the ones on the right, the short ones
Here is the back of the cluster:
The 4 holes you can see are the illumination lights. The two next to each other in the middle/upper area are your blinker bulbs, and then the other one is your cruise light. I ordered just enough bulbs, but should have ordered one more green instead of white. I replaced ALL of the replaceable cluster bulbs with LEDs. Green for the two blinkers, and a white for the cruise. The cluster has a green film, so the cruise light is still green, but not as green with the bright white LED behind it.
Only *issue* is that now the blinker indicators are so damn bright! Daytime they look fine, but at night, its very bright. I love the LEDs, so it doesn't bother me, but I could see some people having an issue with it.
1. You're going to remove the gauge cluster, follow this guide right here:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=404975
2. Once your cluster is out, it was easier for me just sitting in the seat/standing in the door because you'll want to test every bulb to make sure it lights up. The LEDs are polarity sensitive, meaning if it doesn't light up, remove it, rotate it 180 degrees and reinstall it. I installed ALL bulbs, and then plugged the cluster back in, but left the back facing up as much as the wire would let me. Then I turned my lights on, you'll be able to see the LED light up through its shell/case so you aren't guessing on the cluster.
3. If you do the cruise control light, you'll have to actually start the Explorer, and drive it at least 25mph to activate cruise to see if the bulb lights up or not. If not, you know you just need to rotate it 180 degrees and it will work. Luckily, I got it on my first try.
4. Button everything back up, and you're done! These LEDs theoretically should outlast the Explorer.
Here is a picture of the cluster at night I pulled from Google:
Here is mine: (Sorry for the poor quality! The picture makes it look like 80 and 100 are not as vivid as the rest of the cluster, that is only from a smudge on the plastic cover. Mine was dirty from working on it, and I hadn't wiped it down yet)
Notice how white the KM/h numbers are now as well. Really cleans the look up.
REALLY POOR picture of the cruise light, you can kind of see its more of a teal green:
And another terrible picture with both the blinker indicators lit up:
I of course did my HVAC controls, as well as the 3rd row controls. Gonna do a white 6" strip in my shifter light, since its such a long well.
HVAC controls take two of the same bulbs, and the rear controls take one bulb. Shifter light takes one as well, but a strip will be the best bet for good, even light.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional notes:
My total for all you see above, from SBLEDs was about $22 shipped. Worth every penny. Pictures truly do it no justice, its such an improvement over the stock filament bulbs that produce the dim yellow light. This is such an easy task as well, I would be confident in saying anybody could do it, so long as you have the tools.
Remember, if your LED doesn't light up, flip it 180 degrees.
If you have the Limited/Eddie Bauer cluster with the larger display, this MIGHT be a bit different. You may have more or less bulbs, but they should be the same.
*I am not responsible for any damage you may cause to your cluster, Explorer, or self. This is a guide that shows how I personally did this task*
Project difficulty: 2/10
Time req'd: Depending on your speed, 25 minutes to an hour
First thing you'll need to do is order the LEDs. The style is "B8" and I ordered from SuperBrightLEDS.com. You can order elsewhere, but buyer beware, that quarter or two you save on each bulb from eBay or Amazon, they WILL burn out sooner than later. (Spent like $40 on Amazon on my dome lights and two are already flickering bad)
The style on SB LEDs.com has 3 options. You want the B8.4. I mistakenly ordered the 8.5, which DO work, just had to bend the little metal tabs a bit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the three B8 style LEDs: We want the ones on the right, the short ones
Here is the back of the cluster:
The 4 holes you can see are the illumination lights. The two next to each other in the middle/upper area are your blinker bulbs, and then the other one is your cruise light. I ordered just enough bulbs, but should have ordered one more green instead of white. I replaced ALL of the replaceable cluster bulbs with LEDs. Green for the two blinkers, and a white for the cruise. The cluster has a green film, so the cruise light is still green, but not as green with the bright white LED behind it.
Only *issue* is that now the blinker indicators are so damn bright! Daytime they look fine, but at night, its very bright. I love the LEDs, so it doesn't bother me, but I could see some people having an issue with it.
1. You're going to remove the gauge cluster, follow this guide right here:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=404975
2. Once your cluster is out, it was easier for me just sitting in the seat/standing in the door because you'll want to test every bulb to make sure it lights up. The LEDs are polarity sensitive, meaning if it doesn't light up, remove it, rotate it 180 degrees and reinstall it. I installed ALL bulbs, and then plugged the cluster back in, but left the back facing up as much as the wire would let me. Then I turned my lights on, you'll be able to see the LED light up through its shell/case so you aren't guessing on the cluster.
3. If you do the cruise control light, you'll have to actually start the Explorer, and drive it at least 25mph to activate cruise to see if the bulb lights up or not. If not, you know you just need to rotate it 180 degrees and it will work. Luckily, I got it on my first try.
4. Button everything back up, and you're done! These LEDs theoretically should outlast the Explorer.
Here is a picture of the cluster at night I pulled from Google:
Here is mine: (Sorry for the poor quality! The picture makes it look like 80 and 100 are not as vivid as the rest of the cluster, that is only from a smudge on the plastic cover. Mine was dirty from working on it, and I hadn't wiped it down yet)
Notice how white the KM/h numbers are now as well. Really cleans the look up.
REALLY POOR picture of the cruise light, you can kind of see its more of a teal green:
And another terrible picture with both the blinker indicators lit up:
I of course did my HVAC controls, as well as the 3rd row controls. Gonna do a white 6" strip in my shifter light, since its such a long well.
HVAC controls take two of the same bulbs, and the rear controls take one bulb. Shifter light takes one as well, but a strip will be the best bet for good, even light.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional notes:
My total for all you see above, from SBLEDs was about $22 shipped. Worth every penny. Pictures truly do it no justice, its such an improvement over the stock filament bulbs that produce the dim yellow light. This is such an easy task as well, I would be confident in saying anybody could do it, so long as you have the tools.
Remember, if your LED doesn't light up, flip it 180 degrees.
If you have the Limited/Eddie Bauer cluster with the larger display, this MIGHT be a bit different. You may have more or less bulbs, but they should be the same.
*I am not responsible for any damage you may cause to your cluster, Explorer, or self. This is a guide that shows how I personally did this task*
