led cluster bulbs
 

So i want to replace my bulbs in my cluster and any other place i possibly can with LED bulbs, such as 4wd switches, window switches, hvac, etc etc. anything using the stock offwhite dull color, whatever its supposed to be. I havnt decided on what color i want to do, but either way my question is what would happen if i just bought the LED's and put them in? i am not a pro-solderer, the sockets are reusable and i can buy LED bulbs that i can just put into the sockets and screw into the holes. do i need resistors? what could happen if i dont put a resistor on them? or instead of going this rought, if it may be easier, is it possible to buy the little condoms that go over the bulbs in other colors so i can just do that? i just want to change the color of the speedo numbers and all the other light up buttons in the cab and dont know what resistors to use or if they are really all that necessary. if the worst thing that is going to happen is the LED's are going to be really bright or wear out faster thats fine, i can just dim them or replace them?

thanks

If you find out anything let me know. That is what I want to do to my '95 Chevy S10 Blazer to switch all the lights inside of the Blazer to green leds.

i found bulbs at superbrightleds.com that already have resistors built in. im sure they probably cost a little more, but definitely easier than messing with soldering unless youre really good at soldering. now i need to figure out how many of each color i want and whether or not i will need to remove any colored film from the back of the cluster face. whether i will need to remove the needles and if so, how do i get them back on after i replace them (worried about breaking them of course) but thats about it. once you find a source for bulbs, find out how many of each you need, then find out if they sell all the kinds you need, and then just take your cluster out and swap the bulbs and done.

personally i want to do this to all bulbs for buttons and switches too because i hate the dull standard halogen bulb hue and i want the pure white from LEDs. i just think it looks cleaner and more modern.

from what ive heard, running LED's without resistors the worst case scenario is you will burn through LED's faster than intended or could blow a fuse somewhere, but it shouldnt hurt the circuitry of the cluster. this is from a friend who knows alot about pretty much anything and is very good with electronics. he does a lot of soldering and taking apart of circuit boards and stuff. i trust him but im going to personally get the resistor built in ones for piece of mind anyway. good luck

Colored bulbs get old real fast. I first had blue to match my radio, then green to match my truck. If you drive a lot I suggest getting cool or warm white. The cool has a blue tint and the warm looks more like the normal bulb. I've finally settled on the cool blue.

For the dash just get on ebay and get a 10 pack of 194 replacement led bulbs. They will have the correct resistor and base to be plug and play. The superbright leds work but I got 10 bulbs for what they charge for one and they have been working great for 2 years now.

Some of the other bulbs are t5 bulbs and some are soldered in like in the switches. Different colored leds require different voltages so you can't just swap leds out in a board and expect them to work.

thats good news on the cluster, thats my main point of interest as far as what to change out.

with that being said, i would love to do the lights for all my switches like power windows, rear wiper, 4wd, and hvac. i understand the color temp diff between cool/warm and i definetly prefer the cool white look of pure white led's. i would definetly not replace the standard bulbs with a warm white led, would be a waste of time. and i agree on the color'd gauges. i could handle all red since i had an audi a4 and every light inside there is red, every switch, everthing period lol. but yea, i want cool white everything other than say my speedo/odo needles and warning lights like check engine etc, i wont be messing with those.

so ill probably order a set of the 194's in pure white. do you have any idea what type of bulb is used in the power window switch? i pulled it out and radio shack doesnt even have them. i suppose i could just take the blue condom off and make it not that teal color, but would still prefer to put white led's in there but im struggling to get the info i need anywhere.

I have done every bulb in mine in green and I love it. The window switches, rear window defrost and rear hatch are these bulbs. I don't know if you can find them on ebay, but this is what they are called. On mine there were a couple of different sizes, so check them out first. The 4x4 switch and HVAC controls are bulb #74. The 4x4s needed the twist-lock base. They should just be plug and play.

I have some pics if you would like to see what they all look like installed.

So you installed green leds in your? That what I am going to do on my '95 Chevy S10 Blazer. I am doing grabber green/black paint scheme on it.

Yeah all green on mine.
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...8734147013.jpg
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/.../leds002-2.jpg
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...lazer007-6.jpg
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...rt/leds002.jpg

That look sharp. I am going to get some hopefully by spring :)

Well they are all just plug and play, exept one. The rear defog switch didn't light up as much as I liked, so I put in a small reflector at a 45* angle to shine more light where it was needed. Something to look into.