2000CCSB
CrewCab Stalker
Haha. Yea I would say those wedge leds from superbright would be the way to go. All the pics I've seen with them look great.
CrewCab Steve
CrewCab Steve
Retrofitting/Modding my Instrument Cluster
- Thread starter Sumbitch
- Start date
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Half Assed
WINNERS NEVER LIFT
Is that security light in every cluster?
I have some blinking red LEDs that I'm going to put in each front door and one on the dash as a sort-of dummy alarm system when the truck is off. Would be nice to add another LED behind that security light.
I have some blinking red LEDs that I'm going to put in each front door and one on the dash as a sort-of dummy alarm system when the truck is off. Would be nice to add another LED behind that security light.
I wouldn't know for sure... but I can almost bet it is. Cause you could buy the truck with the option of a Delco radio that had a lock/alarm system built in it for theft-prevention. That's probably why its there and I can assume that GM built most of them with a security light. Why build totally different dashes for trucks with a non-hugely-popular option?
The dash I pulled didn't have a light behind it. But then again over the last 350k miles, a PO could have pulled it out when he installed an aftermarket HU.
Sweet. Gonna throw em in the cart. Maybe get some HVAC replacements while I'm at it...2000CCSB said:
Okay, now I have to ask after I attempted doing this. How does a guy get JUST the needle to light up like that and stay lit up at all ranges of the speedometer? I'm sure there is a write-up somewhere... but if you could point me in the right direction, that'd be awesome!
Well, the odometer sorcerer came for a visit today and before he left, he used his magical witchcraft to turn my "test" cluster into a "test/temporary" cluster. Now I can throw it in my truck for brief drives to see if I like the things I do to it. And it'll match my ACTUAL mileage. If ya catch my drift... (I have two clusters that read 162,409.1 miles now)
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This is what I plan on doing to MY dash... I'm thinking I'll mod the circuit board from the 95 (which is shown above) and swap it out with the one in my 97. That way if something fails, I can put the true, original circuit board back in and forget it ever happened.
I was originally going to go with red because I'm going with red indicators in my transfer case switch (electronic 4WD) and in the indicator light for whenever I find a true fog/aux dash switch.
BUT, (even though its a super cheap piece of sh*t) the red LED doesn't really do much for me... however, the green is a nice touch. Maybe if it was teal/green like my back-lights on my dash switches (cargo, cargo, transfer case switch, etc...)
I tried using the last teal/blue LED I had and for whatever reason, the diode in it was inefficient in being a diode. It lit up but it let a little bit of power slip to all the other LEDs... so when I strictly powered the reverse indicator (which is what I had the teal/blue LED in), all the other LEDs lit up very dim, but bright enough that all the indicators can be seen lit.
So whatcaya'll think? Teal/green? Red? Perhaps a mixture? (even though a mixture would probably only look good when they are all lit up. which never happens during normal operation.)
(BTW, I JUST tried to get the 12v jumper wires to hold in the proper positions, accidentally bumped into the cluster and apparently shorted out the two green LEDs... **** me. lol.) Whenever I install my teal/green (most likely what I'll do anyways) I'll test it ONCE and not screw with it anymore... cause I've replaced at least 5 LEDs in this circuit because of accidental shorting.
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This is what I plan on doing to MY dash... I'm thinking I'll mod the circuit board from the 95 (which is shown above) and swap it out with the one in my 97. That way if something fails, I can put the true, original circuit board back in and forget it ever happened.
I was originally going to go with red because I'm going with red indicators in my transfer case switch (electronic 4WD) and in the indicator light for whenever I find a true fog/aux dash switch.
BUT, (even though its a super cheap piece of sh*t) the red LED doesn't really do much for me... however, the green is a nice touch. Maybe if it was teal/green like my back-lights on my dash switches (cargo, cargo, transfer case switch, etc...)
I tried using the last teal/blue LED I had and for whatever reason, the diode in it was inefficient in being a diode. It lit up but it let a little bit of power slip to all the other LEDs... so when I strictly powered the reverse indicator (which is what I had the teal/blue LED in), all the other LEDs lit up very dim, but bright enough that all the indicators can be seen lit.
So whatcaya'll think? Teal/green? Red? Perhaps a mixture? (even though a mixture would probably only look good when they are all lit up. which never happens during normal operation.)
(BTW, I JUST tried to get the 12v jumper wires to hold in the proper positions, accidentally bumped into the cluster and apparently shorted out the two green LEDs... **** me. lol.) Whenever I install my teal/green (most likely what I'll do anyways) I'll test it ONCE and not screw with it anymore... cause I've replaced at least 5 LEDs in this circuit because of accidental shorting.
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Been solving more serious problems with my truck lately so this project got put on the back burner. I have $100 to spend on useless stuff (birthday money) and for roughly $60, I can swap all the bulbs in my dash with LEDs.
I found these wired sockets for 74-bulbs that look like they'll fit in the holes in the back of the instrument cluster and I figure I can just plug these in and then run the wires to where I want.
So I'll buy two, one for the DRL indicator light (to indicate fog lights) and one for the Security light (for whateva I want!).
sadly can't find natural white bulbs for both behind the instrument cluster AND the HVAC, so the HVAC is gonna get COOL white bulbs.
Don't know if I still wanna do the transmission position indicator LEDs different colors or all one color or leave them alone. I'll do them another time maybe.
I found these wired sockets for 74-bulbs that look like they'll fit in the holes in the back of the instrument cluster and I figure I can just plug these in and then run the wires to where I want.
So I'll buy two, one for the DRL indicator light (to indicate fog lights) and one for the Security light (for whateva I want!).
sadly can't find natural white bulbs for both behind the instrument cluster AND the HVAC, so the HVAC is gonna get COOL white bulbs.
Don't know if I still wanna do the transmission position indicator LEDs different colors or all one color or leave them alone. I'll do them another time maybe.
Damnit, the more I think about it, the more I wanna do the gear indicator LEDs different colors.
Perhaps Park and Reverse would be solid green and neutral would be red. The rest Teal/Green. I dunno.
I don't know if I want to go in the direction of teal/green indicators or red indicators.
No idea what direction I wanna go in. At one point, I want to keep my cargo switches teal/green and then make the lettering on my 4x4 switch teal/green, but at the same time I think it'd be badass if the indicator lights were teal/green as well. But how would that look? Too much teal/green? Ugh. The things that stress me out...
There has to be someone out there who has done this to their truck already...
Perhaps Park and Reverse would be solid green and neutral would be red. The rest Teal/Green. I dunno.
I don't know if I want to go in the direction of teal/green indicators or red indicators.
No idea what direction I wanna go in. At one point, I want to keep my cargo switches teal/green and then make the lettering on my 4x4 switch teal/green, but at the same time I think it'd be badass if the indicator lights were teal/green as well. But how would that look? Too much teal/green? Ugh. The things that stress me out...
There has to be someone out there who has done this to their truck already...
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Apparently the kid whose totaled truck I pulled the instrument cluster out of is majorly pissed off that someone "stole" his gauges. He doesn't know it was me, even though I'm pretty sure I'm one of two people who pulled interior parts from his truck. Anyways, he's majorly pissed and says he'll file a police report if he finds out who did it.
I paid the lil ******* $20 for the dome light assembly and a few odds and ends. When I handed him the $20, he told me to feel free to go back and take whatever I want. I assumed he meant within reason, so I wasn't gonna pull the 6" suspension lift outta the truck, but I figured the gauge cluster wasn't any use to him. So I went back the next day and pulled some stuff out.
Thinkin' bout offering him $10 to shut the f*ck up and if he won't take it, let him file a police report. Its his word against mine and the kid has been in the back of a squad car more than any other 16yo I know. Ugh, this is just the sh*t I need right now. A hissy-fit over a damn gauge cluster.
I paid the lil ******* $20 for the dome light assembly and a few odds and ends. When I handed him the $20, he told me to feel free to go back and take whatever I want. I assumed he meant within reason, so I wasn't gonna pull the 6" suspension lift outta the truck, but I figured the gauge cluster wasn't any use to him. So I went back the next day and pulled some stuff out.
Thinkin' bout offering him $10 to shut the f*ck up and if he won't take it, let him file a police report. Its his word against mine and the kid has been in the back of a squad car more than any other 16yo I know. Ugh, this is just the sh*t I need right now. A hissy-fit over a damn gauge cluster.
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[/URL]I do not claim this as my own, it is property of 2000CCSB.
But that is EXACTLY WHAT I'M GOING FOR! That teal/green (and if its not teal/green, its damn close enough to give me an idea of what it'd look like) is so damn sexy! Damn am I excited.
Did you ever end up soldering them LEDs into the circuit board? Just curious if it'd work or if I needed to swap out a resistor on the board in order for them to work properly.
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