Guage LED's
01-19-2005, 11:52 AM
#1
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 648
Guage LED's
I'm about to change my gauge bulbs to get them brighter. I'm on the www.superbrightleds.com and wanted to know which wedge bulb to get. I know that I need a 168, and I need 5 of them. Should I get the wide angle or narrow angle bulbs. Also will the oversized wedge bulbs fit the sockets corectly?
I've got the White SE gauges.
I've got the White SE gauges.
i would like to know which ones to get too
01-19-2005, 12:45 PM
#9
[QUOTE=adithius] Should I get the wide angle or narrow angle bulbs. Also will the oversized wedge bulbs fit the sockets corectly?QUOTE]
i dont have a 99 so im not quite sure of the diferences between 168 and 194 however i can tell you that wide angle bulbs will work better or a wedge bulb with more than one led in it.... leds do not transmit the light from all angles like standard bulbs it is emited through the tip and if you buy a narrow angle bulb you will have hot spots on your gauges with uneven light distribution
i dont have a 99 so im not quite sure of the diferences between 168 and 194 however i can tell you that wide angle bulbs will work better or a wedge bulb with more than one led in it.... leds do not transmit the light from all angles like standard bulbs it is emited through the tip and if you buy a narrow angle bulb you will have hot spots on your gauges with uneven light distribution
01-19-2005, 12:49 PM
#10
[QUOTE=pavelsmax]
thats why some people sand them, if im not mistaken
Originally Posted by adithius
Should I get the wide angle or narrow angle bulbs. Also will the oversized wedge bulbs fit the sockets corectly?QUOTE]
i dont have a 99 so im not quite sure of the diferences between 168 and 194 however i can tell you that wide angle bulbs will work better or a wedge bulb with more than one led in it.... leds do not transmit the light from all angles like standard bulbs it is emited through the tip and if you buy a narrow angle bulb you will have hot spots on your gauges with uneven light distribution
i dont have a 99 so im not quite sure of the diferences between 168 and 194 however i can tell you that wide angle bulbs will work better or a wedge bulb with more than one led in it.... leds do not transmit the light from all angles like standard bulbs it is emited through the tip and if you buy a narrow angle bulb you will have hot spots on your gauges with uneven light distribution
I got the wide angel (inverted) 194's to replace the bulbs behind my gages.
01-19-2005, 02:35 PM
#13
true i guess you could sand them i have blue leds in my climate control, amp, window switches, door handles, needles, etc.... and they are all sanded but they are just single leds i wired with my own resistors not wedge type bulbs but i guess you could just sand the wedge type bulbs
01-19-2005, 03:52 PM
#15
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,809
Originally Posted by adithius
I'm about to change my gauge bulbs to get them brighter. I'm on the www.superbrightleds.com and wanted to know which wedge bulb to get. I know that I need a 168, and I need 5 of them. Should I get the wide angle or narrow angle bulbs. Also will the oversized wedge bulbs fit the sockets corectly?
I've got the White SE gauges.
I've got the White SE gauges.
if you have a 97-99 the 194/168 bulbs will NOT work!!
Ant
01-19-2005, 04:40 PM
#17
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98-99 use a screw type skinny bulb, they aren't very big. There are 4. I have no idea of the number, but 74 sounds familiar
Get inverted/wide angle!
Edit - It looks like the 74 bulbs will work...i'm going to order them myself and see how they turn out
Get inverted/wide angle!
Edit - It looks like the 74 bulbs will work...i'm going to order them myself and see how they turn out
01-19-2005, 10:46 PM
#23
Originally Posted by joew
if you folks have red, post your pics. any regret with red color?
WLED-5 Wide is brighter than White 1-LED inverted?
WLED-5 Wide is brighter than White 1-LED inverted?
01-19-2005, 10:58 PM
#24
If any of you are interested you can check my domain, I used 5 #194 bulbs from superbrightleds.com in my 95. The first time I used single LED's then went with the 4 LED's per bulb which I'm completely happy with ( I have pics of both set ups), but you can use 6 LED's, I ended up using the single LED's in my triple gauge pod. It's an inexpensive and great looking mod. Good luck guys
01-20-2005, 06:13 AM
#26
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 648
Okay guys, being that there is no consensus as to what bulb to use for my car (99), I'll just go ahead and take the darn thing apart and find out for myself this weekend.
I'll let you know what I find. I'll see if I can put some pictures up too.
I'll let you know what I find. I'll see if I can put some pictures up too.
01-20-2005, 07:04 AM
#27
Originally Posted by ny96max
the ones with 6mini LED's will fit... the ones with 9 will NOT fit. I have the ones with 6-mini led's and they barely fit into the gauge cluster.
if you have a 97-99 the 194/168 bulbs will NOT work!!
Ant
if you have a 97-99 the 194/168 bulbs will NOT work!!
Ant
01-20-2005, 07:46 AM
#28
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 637
Originally Posted by pavelsmax
true i guess you could sand them i have blue leds in my climate control, amp, window switches, door handles, needles, etc.... and they are all sanded but they are just single leds i wired with my own resistors not wedge type bulbs but i guess you could just sand the wedge type bulbs
01-20-2005, 07:48 AM
#29
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 637
By the way, these people are rip off scam artist: http://www.superbrightleds.com
LEDs are LEDs... only thing that makes them different is their size, shape and their MCD rating. I honestly believe there's no such thing as bad/good quality LEDs other than the MCD rating.
LEDs are LEDs... only thing that makes them different is their size, shape and their MCD rating. I honestly believe there's no such thing as bad/good quality LEDs other than the MCD rating.
01-20-2005, 07:54 AM
#30
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 637
Originally Posted by pavelsmax
i heard you could use nail polish remover never tried it but if you do you have to make sure to not get any on your gauges... i have had my needles off twice now and it was no big deal
01-20-2005, 08:32 AM
#31
i have a 99, i guess 97-99's have size 74 bulbs in the gauge cluster(really small) but you can still use size 194 bulbs, its easy to put in, instead of putting the size 194 thru the back of the gauges, put them the other way in and use hot glue or something to keep them in place.
once you have your size 194 bulbs in your hand and the gauge cluster taken apart, youll clearly see how to do this, any john doe can do this mod.
once you have your size 194 bulbs in your hand and the gauge cluster taken apart, youll clearly see how to do this, any john doe can do this mod.
01-20-2005, 09:35 AM
#32
Originally Posted by illmortal
What would it matter if you use nail polish remover and some of it got onto the gauge face? (not the white aftermarket ones) The stock gauges are just black plastic.
99's definitely use bulb #74
01-20-2005, 09:45 AM
#34
i'm about to do the same thing with my gauges. i have a 97 gxe and i want the 6 leds from superbrigjhtleds.com there WLED 6, the brightest they have which is nonpolorized and also has a rating of 8400mcd. mine have the 194s and #74 are the smaller ones, like ur turnsignal arrows and keyring light and others. there are 5 bulbs to light up the gauges. i'm thinking about getting those in blue and also for the arrows, 1 for keyring and 2 of the 9 led white reverse bulbs. POST PICS IF YOU HAVE THE 6LEDS FOR THE GAUGES.
01-22-2005, 04:16 PM
#37
97's are a link between the older look and the newer look of the 4th gen in that the older mechanical cluster was used in the newer look body for this year only.
So...
95-97's use 194 bulbs (mechanical odometer)
98-99's use 74 bulbs (digital odometer)
Keyring, 95-99, 74 bulb.
So...
95-97's use 194 bulbs (mechanical odometer)
98-99's use 74 bulbs (digital odometer)
Keyring, 95-99, 74 bulb.
01-22-2005, 04:19 PM
#38
Originally Posted by anarchy57
ill repeat myself again, you CAN use size 194 in 98-99's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
as for keyring i believe its size 74.
as for keyring i believe its size 74.
Yes, you can use 194 bulbs in 98-99 clusters but you will need a little modding to get them to work, not simple plug and play, but not a difficult mod from what I've read.
