My quest for a brighter, more modern dash! | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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My quest for a brighter, more modern dash!

So I seen the post, MustangP51's LED conversion, he only did his gauges, which look great btw, heres the thread:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240166

Im gonna do my whole dash, from the gauge cluster, to the lights in the 4wd, fog lights, rear wiper, and all those, soon the overhead lights too, those would be LED pods, or some pre-made LED strips.

Im gonna order the LEDs tomorrow, off eBay, like MustangP51 says, use the 194 SMD LED bulbs, none of the other ones can/will put out an even light pattern, your gauges would look like ****!

Soon, I would also like to get that green tint off there, and have the numbers and letters either clear, or blue.
One or more of the bulbs in my AC/HEAT controls is out too, so those are barely lit up; along with the bulbs in the 4x4 switch, rear wiper switch, and the rear defrost are all burnt out)

The gauge cluster uses 6 bulbs, 194 style.

Before pics:
(Its so dark, the gauges on my 92 are about twice as bright, these are brand new bulbs too...I forgot 2 of them , so thats why half the speedometers out)

SANY0050.jpg


SANY0051-1.jpg


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SANY0055-1.jpg


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Once I get my Sony headunit in there it'l brighten it up quite a bit, plus it'l make the LEDs look like more "matching" I guess you could say.

The 194 SMD leds are about 4-5$ a pair, usually free shipping, so this mod is ehh, 15$

Will keep you guys updated, and have tons of pics when its done.
 



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Sorry its been so long,

I got more mechanical, and really checked out my engine, I need a PS pump, and a tensioner pulley, then around July I should be able to start working more on the dash.

(My moms bday was just a couple days ago, then monday is me and my gf's 1 year anniversary, then june 22nd were going to cedar point, tix are 40$ and gas in a 92 explorer....hah. plus I need coolant and oil so yeah moneys TIGHT on a part time kroger work schedule lol.)


I think what Ill do for the 4x4/wiper switch etc is somehow get an individual white LED and mount it where the tiny 1815 bulb goes.
 












^Check your link.^
 






Ahhhh that was meant for my power steering pump thread lol
 






I also figured out that im gonna be replacing the main dummy lights with LEDs
(Such as blinkers, CEL, speed cont., high beam indicator etc etc)

They are the 1815 if i recal


DOES anyone else have this dark spot around the 45mph area?
All the bulbs i put in are brand new....
Hopefully the LEDs will fix that.

SANY0236.jpg
 






Ill also be replacing the (2) 194 bulbs in the ac/heat controls with LEDs.

So ill need 8 194 SMD LEDs total.

Here it is with the reg bulbs though, it doesnt look bad now (My right side bulb was burnt out before)
SANY0233.jpg

Once again, sorry for blurry pics.
 






I have the dark spots around the 50 and 90 MPH area. You need to take the speedometer apart and clean back there. I cleaned mine when I installed the LED bulbs. All I have left to do is put LEDs in the door switches.
 






Mine also has a dark spot in the same area, which i was a little disappointed with, but at least i can see the damn gear selector in the dark now.
 






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