I am looking at doing the LED Gauges/Needles mod.. instead of doing just plain blue like everyone else.. i am looking at doing amber and white.. i read the how-to thread in the stickies and noticed he used 5mm LEDs.. but i did not know what mcd rating to use?? i am looking at getting some Orange 5mm 5000mcd LEDs.. is this going to be bright enough?? i want them to be bright enough so that i can notice them during the daytime also like on NEOs setup.. i noticed that he used 10mm LEDs so i didnt know if 5mm would be enough?? I appreciate any help i can get with this.. thanks in advance
-Jason

 

The size of the bulb should not matter too much other than it being more difficult to move and adjust around. I would generally stick with 3mm because it is smaller and produce just as much light as the 5mm LED would. Your 5000MCD would be plenty bright. I have 14000MCD in a few locations in my car and they are blinding bright. I wish I could have gone a lower MCD but o well

 

ok cool.. thanks for the input.. what color LEDs are you running?? gotta a pic?

 

I got white leds in everything inside the car: guages, window switches, visors , door light, security light, climate control, ash tray, glove box, and some more i think? My server got shut down a few weeks ago so I'm trying to get everything back up in a week or so.

 

size on LED bulbs makes no difference in light output whatsoever. just use 3mm, they're easier to deal with (no drilling anywhere, really) and around 5000mcd+ should be fine.

why do you want orange needs? thats what your car came stock with

 

thanks again.. for the input.. i just ordered 30 3mm 5000mcd LEDs.. so hopefully those will be bright enough.. thanks for all the help guys.. ill be sure to get a pic posted once im done..

no i plan on doing orange faces with white needles.. and then white in redline area on the tach..

 

You are going to need 470ohm resistors 1/2watt preferred also! Don't hold the solder longer than a couple of seconds.

 

ah, i see. that should look cool.. im in the middle of doing white face/blue needles.. a word of advice, go slow. stuff can break pretty easy in there.. also, good luck with the speedo needle. im still trying to get an LED in there.. im trying to take apart all the circuit boards so i can get it in there easier (you'll know what im talking about), but im afraid im gonna break something. if you figure it out, let me know how. again, good luck

edit: on resistors, you'll need them for some of the lights.

 

How about the LED tail light mod, what mcd led should I get? I know where I should get them from superbrightled , this place is good deals I think. any resistors involved in it while doing it?