1994 Ranger blue LED dash

[veefer800canuck]

Had a burned out bulb, got some blue LED's off Fleabay, gotta have skinny hands to reach in behind the instrument cluster after unbolting it. Ouch.

As always, camera doesn't do it justice......

 

[Dhillbilly]

thats pretty sweet. how much did it cost and how hard was it?

 

[veefer800canuck]

bag of 10 LED's from Ebay, $10.50 from Hong Kong.

Probably about an hour to do, only because reaching the bulbs is a bitch with the speedo cable restricting the gauge cluster and how far you can pull it out.

The dash is actually lit up better than the picture shows. I tried to get a better pic, but hey, it's a camera phone, so that's it.

Having small hands and patience helps.

I used the inverted cone single LED's like this:

 

[veefer800canuck]

Note: the LEDs hardly dim at all when you rotate the dimmer knob.

And I had dimmed the OEM incandescents the day before I put the LEDs in, so I know the switch works.

No biggie, the light intensity is perfect for night driving as-is, I didn't modify the backs of the gauges at all, No scraping off the greenish tint on the numbers, so it seems fine for me.

 

[CodyXLT]

where did u get a speedomator that goes up to 180mph?

 

[Snoranger]

where did u get a speedomator that goes up to 180mph?

Look at where he's from.

 

[CodyXLT]

oh i see it now damn i feel dumb

 

[AllanD]

you do realize that fashion statement aside "blue" light is the hardest for the human eye
to focus and causes the pupil to contract reducing night vision...

this is why interior night lighting on navy ships is RED

That having been said I was less than thrilled with the white
LEDs I recently bought, not as bright as hoped

 

[6.2]

you do realize that fashion statement aside "blue" light is the hardest for the human eye
to focus and causes the pupil to contract reducing night vision...

this is why interior night lighting on navy ships is RED

That having been said I was less than thrilled with the white
LEDs I recently bought, not as bright as hoped

Well then it's a damn good thing he ain't drivin a navy ship!

I like it. Blue is awesome. I'll be doing mine in a few months. But I'll go all out. Diffuser sheets, scraping the green, etc.

 

[AllanD]

RED is best for a physical reason

BLUE impares night vision.

This is REALITY.

Your childish retort is the illuminating equivelent of my telling you Methyl Mercury
is poisonous and you countering "but I like the taste".

I've had similar discussions in the past, on proper headlamp/accessory lamp (fog/driving) color temperature.

Certain "old school" colors were chosen for logical scientific reasons and all the "Fashion preference" in the universe will not change reality the least tiny bit.

The reason for Yellow fog lamps is simple it is a color temperature in the dead center of the range of light frequencies
the human eye able to see and thus is the color of light most easily focused , and this aids in improving contrast under
foggy conditions. (This of course ignores the a$$holes that drive with their foglamps on all the time AND generally
have them aimed to illuminate low flying aircraft)

"white fogs" contain more blue in their color spectrum and blue light scatters more
defeating the whole purpose.

What I'm saying here is you don't really need to see your instruments nearly as much as you need to
see THE ROAD and world outside your truck and even the momentary glance you take at blue guages
makes that job harder on your eyes.

And if all that cause you to miss something important that you really NEED to see
to avoid a crash... (Note that I did not say "accident"...)

 

[6.2]

Chill out man lmfao. People will choose whatever color they want. If red is so damn good why dont they all come stock with red.... Chill out man.

Ps I drive with my fogs on all the time. More light is good light.
Maybe I should make them red so its easier on my eyes....

 

[veefer800canuck]

BLUE impares night vision.

This is REALITY.

Good, I don't want to see my gauges that good at night anyhow. Every single vehicle I've ever driven at night, I screw the gauge lights all the way down to like 1 percent brightness so I can just make out the needles.

Then, I can actually see the roadway just perfectly. Nothing worse to me than a SUPER BRIGHT FREAKING DASHBOARD shining in my face. My eyes get fatigued trying to peer through the glaringly bright dash lights and actually see the ROAD (you know, the important part out there that you drive on and stuff).

 

[AmericanPride]

Oops