LED Instrument Lights

[tonyfromjersey]

Its time to start replacing instrument lights, and I'd like to go with some LEDs to increase the illumination. I found one person who had a bulb recommendation doing a search on here. Does anyone else have a good source for these bulbs? I'm going to do all of the instruments at one time, I figure once I drop the steering column to pull the dash I might as well do them all.

Thanks,

Tony

[divace73]

I founf the LED wasn't much good from my experience, however at the same time I also discovered that my dash bulbs were only getting 8 volts instead of the 12V....once I fix that I will have a bright dash to start of with and maybe then the LED's may be a better option.

I guess I'm saying measure what voltage your dash bulbs are actually receiving first????

[azygoustoyou]

Hi Tony,
I need to do the same. Let me know what you find out. I would like to get that part done with. I would also like to put LED's in my tail lights. I just want to make sure they don't melt my corvette lenses.
Do the LED's work as a turn signal too? One of my tail lights have to be the turn signal also.

[spider2081]

Not sure how well the LED's will work for the dash lights. If they are to operate full bright then they might be ok. They are hard to dim. Also LED's are pretty directional compared to incandescent bulbs, the light may no light all the intrument.
I do not operate my dash lights full bright with the stock bulbs in the instruments

[bluespider]

I just recently upgrades all my instrument and side marker lights to LED's at LEDlight.com The LED lights were "7 LED T10 Wedge LED Light" for the most part. They fit perfectly into the 194 bulb holders on the car so in most respects are totally interchangable with standard bulbs. I beleive they were around $4 - $5 each and I required 15 or so to do the car. They are one directional with respect to polarity so you have to reverse the light in the socket if it doesn't light up. I used there "1 Watt L.E.D.High Power T10 Wedge LED Light" for the fiber optic lights. It again fit perfectly and tripled the light output at the ends of the fiber optics. The nice part is that they are a very white light so they seem to look alot sharper than the incandescents. Over the next year or so I will definitely start replacing tail and signal lights with the LED's

Hope this helps with your decision. It is a great upgrade and they fit right in without any modifications!

[BenjamminsFiat]

Awesome! Thanks for the post and the info. I should have waited before I replied to your post on the heated seats thread : )

[spider2081]

Just curious about the dash LED's do they dim with a decent tapper? I seem to recall that LED's are almost full bright and then they turn off when used with a traditional rheostat.

[bluespider]

You are right about the lights NOT dimming. They are either on or off. Not a big deal to me as I usually run my dash lights high.

[azygoustoyou]

Thanks Bluespider! What site did you get these from? Did you price around?

[bluespider]

Brady;
I found them at LEDlight.com. The company I work for supplies some of these lights, from this supplier, for brake and tail applications one mining vehicles. No complaints so far so I think they are fairly robust!
I didn't shop too hard but they seemed reasonably priced for the 194 style. The tail and brake lights are considerable more money so I may shop those now that I am comfortable with the technology.

[tonyfromjersey]

Thanks, I'm going to order those as soon as I get back from my vacation. I'd like to do all the directional and tail lights too, but one thing at a time.

[jbills]

been on my list to order up LED replacements for my dash - just about to do it here in the next week or 2. I was going to go with "superbrightLEDs.com"
for example, the dash lights are very reasonable at $1.99 per
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... LED-x4.htm

will report back about the experience and quality after I get 'em in there.

[baltobernie]

FWIW, if your gauge lens is clean, and you're getting 13V to clean bulbs, the stock setup is more than sufficient.

Do not use LED replacement bulbs in your tail or stop lamps, or your turn signals, unless you disassemble the housings, remove the reflector, and redesign the fixture. LED "bulbs" do not have the dispersal pattern that makes the assembly visible off-axis. This is vitally important in a Spider, with the tail lamps only 21-22 inches off the ground, and all those SUVs and 4x4s out there. Again, if you have clean bulbs and reflectors, and lenses in good shape, with 13V the stock setup is great.

I know the thread is "instrument lights", but please leave your rear lamps alone.

[kmac33]

I ordered perfect fitting instrument bulbs from http://www.Autolumination.com
This is the bulb: (cut and paste from the web site)
The Widest, 194 168 W5W 2825 Ever Made!
Outfitted with the latest Super Wide High-Flux low profile Leds
Designed especially for gauges, & applications requiring a super-wide large uniform field of bright light
Only 10mm diameter x 26mm overall
194 168 W5W 2825 Super Wide Angle Bulbs
Super White
Blue
Red
Amber
Green
$5.99 each

I got the Super white. Not cheap, but they are a huge improvement over the stock bulb and should never burn out.

[azygoustoyou]

Are they too bright Kevin? I heard they could be too bright.