How to turn dash lights red

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Armyman14

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Posts
478
Reaction score
17
Location
Texas
Ram Year
2002
Engine
4.7 V8
I have a 2002 dodge ram 1500 red sport SLT quad cab 4X4 that I want to make red on the interior as well. I heard that I have to buy 11leds but which ones, and do I need to buy some lenses or films or whatever. I heard I need those for the odometer and the temperature gauge thing. Any more information would be great! And a step to step installation guide would be AWESOME!!
 

Deviate

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Posts
710
Reaction score
42
Location
St. Augustine, FL
Ram Year
2005 4x2
Engine
4.7
I think there is a how to in the DIY section. The problem you are going to have with red is that there is a film on the back of the gauge cluster that filters the light. That film is bluish. The stock lights look green because the bulbs put off a slightly yellow light. When people replace those bulbs with white or blue LEDs, it makes it look more blue. If you try that with red....you might end up with something more like purple.
 
OP
OP
Armyman14

Armyman14

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Posts
478
Reaction score
17
Location
Texas
Ram Year
2002
Engine
4.7 V8
I think there is a how to in the DIY section. The problem you are going to have with red is that there is a film on the back of the gauge cluster that filters the light. That film is bluish. The stock lights look green because the bulbs put off a slightly yellow light. When people replace those bulbs with white or blue LEDs, it makes it look more blue. If you try that with red....you might end up with something more like purple.

Couldn't I remove that film and replace it with a black or red? Maybe something like this.

image-1962110489.jpg



image-1435224695.jpg

Also, should I use that for the odometer and temp gauge on the ceiling?
 

Deviate

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Posts
710
Reaction score
42
Location
St. Augustine, FL
Ram Year
2005 4x2
Engine
4.7
I'll have to let someone that has dug into the gauge cluster more answer whether or not you could replace that stock film. I'm not sure how much more you would have to take apart to get to it.

Here's the DIY thread I was talking about: http://www.ramforum.com/f76/led_dash_conversion-1495/

On page 3 there is a picture of the back of the cluster. You can get an idea of what would be involved to take it all apart and get to the back of the gauge itself to see if you could cleanly remove the old film.
 
OP
OP
Armyman14

Armyman14

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Posts
478
Reaction score
17
Location
Texas
Ram Year
2002
Engine
4.7 V8
Added a post on there but haven't heard anything yet. Maye somebody will chime in, I hope!
 

Stangshcky12

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Posts
9,047
Reaction score
941
Location
Oshkosh, WI
Ram Year
2007
Engine
5.9 Cummins
I'm not sure if you'll want to do red, my '13 mustang has my color gauges and being race red I set them to red and white, I had a hard time reading the numbers (eyes wouldn't focus) and after awhile my eyes started to hurt so I switched ten to white with red ticks instead
 
OP
OP
Armyman14

Armyman14

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Posts
478
Reaction score
17
Location
Texas
Ram Year
2002
Engine
4.7 V8
I'm not sure if you'll want to do red, my '13 mustang has my color gauges and being race red I set them to red and white, I had a hard time reading the numbers (eyes wouldn't focus) and after awhile my eyes started to hurt so I switched ten to white with red ticks instead

Do you happen to have pics of the way you had it setup and the way you have it now?
 

Alex

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Posts
608
Reaction score
96
Location
Weyburn, SK, Canada
Ram Year
2015 Mustang GT
Engine
5.0
In my grand am the gauges are red from factory, the lights in the cluster are white and there's a red gel on the back, people would just very gently wetsand the gel off then put whatever color bulbs in that they wanted, would that not work here as well?
 
OP
OP
Armyman14

Armyman14

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Posts
478
Reaction score
17
Location
Texas
Ram Year
2002
Engine
4.7 V8
Not sure Alex. I haven't taken mine apart yet. But i have question for everyone! For my 2002 dodge ram 1500 is 11 red bulbs for the HVAC controls, headlight controls and the gauges? Or just the gauges? If just the gauges how many do I need for all?
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
194,925
Posts
2,864,168
Members
155,293
Latest member
RedFlameRam
Top