2nd Gen LED dash light Change DIY

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98hemi-ram

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Check it out fellas, I made mine bright as hell!
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That looks awesome!! Way brighter than when I has my red ones!! You are braver than me. I was going to pull the needles to do this to mine but was worried I wouldn't get them back on in the right spot.

Edit: now that I think of it I still have a spare cluster in the barb I could pull apart and try this on first.

Is the light distracting going doing the road?


That's one thing red is really good for usually. Even if it is bright it generally doesn't mess with your night vision or distract as much as other colours. The blue LEDs in my dash are damn bright and can be a little distracting until you get used to them.
 
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MagSport

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The key to removing the needles is lots and lots of patience and pictures lol. Fortunately our guages have a self calibration system integrated in. I just found out about this so I'm gonna try it soon and see if I can get them back right. Here's the link to the calibration process:
http://dodgeram.org/tech/repair/elect/inst_panel_check.htm
Hemi ram, I'm not too sure it would work with yours but u can try it before anyways.


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98hemi-ram

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Ya I'm not sure if it will work or not either but it's worth a shot. Like I said when I get around to doing this I'll test it all out on my spare cluster first. That way if I screw something up it's no big deal.

I've gotten good at pulling the cluster now. Only takes about 5 minutes or less haha
 

MagSport

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Update on the self calibration process. It works! sorta... lol you can use the self calibrating feature to get your needles back right. With the gauge cluster exposed, remove needles with truck off. With the needles off initiate the calibration by holding down the trip button and flipping the switch to on, DO NOT START! Hold the reset button until CHEC comes on in the odometer area. Release the button and wait for all of the lights to flash. Then, wait for the calibration to finish. In 98+ trucks, the key-in-ignition tone will ring at the end of the process. Replace needles relative to their relaxed positions on the gauge cluster (hint: this is where a before picture would come in super handy). Start the truck and verify the needles are whereabouts they should be.

This worked super well for me with oil psi, speedo, rpm, and gas guage. The temp and volt gauges were a little trickier due to my picture angle, but I got them all where they should be.
 

tommyboi87

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By sanding the back of the gauges is how you got them to show up white like that?

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MagSport

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By sanding the back of the gauges is how you got them to show up white like that?

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Yes but as a warning white is bright af. I decided to go back to red since the white bulbs hurt my eyes at night.
 

tommyboi87

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Oh ok. Good tip bud. I want them to shine bright as possible. I'm intending on tinting my cluster to match my glowshift gauges.

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MagSport

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Oh ok. Good tip bud. I want them to shine bright as possible. I'm intending on tinting my cluster to match my glowshift gauges.

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You may notice more hotspots if you tint the glass since the purpose of the white behind the gauge face is to diffuse the light as well. When you sand that off the light is more concentrated on one spot. With the red leds they look more consistent at night but during the day you can see the hotspots really bad. That may also be the case if you tint over.
 

tommyboi87

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So, should I not sand then? Maybe just get some higher lumen leds?

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MagSport

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If you want white then you have to sand it otherwise it will just be a light blue. I've thought about the problem and I think that if you sanded everything down and then applied watered down paint (like a white tint) in a 1in radius around each bulb position on the gauge face, it would block enough light so that the color would be consistent throughout. That's what I was going to do but I just decided I liked red leds more anyways and went with that.
 

rammanriley20

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you guys make me spend too much money... had to get the LED headlights, now these look sweet...
 

rammanriley20

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Me and my dad have spent a ton recently on LED's everywhere. Made probably 15 orders from SBL

ive made 4. and two of them i got the wrong lights and my email got hacked and shut down so i cant log in and return them... only out like $20 but still lol :flipthebird:
 

BlackMagnum2000

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ive made 4. and two of them i got the wrong lights and my email got hacked and shut down so i cant log in and return them... only out like $20 but still lol :flipthebird:
We didn't bother returning the wrong lights of ours lol. Just kept them in case we find somewhere they fit
 
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