LED's

[HegsZ-71]

Anyone know if these would work? http://www.stylinconcepts.com/part.cfm?PartID=19686&PartFamilyID=267&SubCategoryID=198&CategoryID=26 I want to make for sure they will. I can get a deal through here that's why I'm going this route instead of ebay.

[popknot98]

looks like they might, do the bulbs that are stock come out of that lil locker dealie?? and im assuming that these are for the gauge cluster right?

[1998chevy1500]

I would go through http://www.superbrightleds.com to get the bulbs as you can get the 194 bulbs in 1, 4, 6 LED models, as well as the 74 bulbs for the A/C controls. You can buy the Bulbs at 12v LEDs (http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=CAR)

What I did in my interior to change the dash illumination to red was get the 4-LED 194s (they did not sell the 6-LED at the time) for the gauges(6), the door markers(2) and the floor lights(2) for a total of 10
I then changed the A/C controls that need the 74 bulbs (4) i ground down 4 more 4-LED 194 bulbs because they did not make the 74 bulbs yet

the overhead light i believe was a 4211 or a 3910 I don't remember
as for the window switches, headlight switch, cargo lamp, air bag, 4wd button, ect.. I bought some bulk LEDs and resistors and sodered them into the circuts.

If I were you I would get

194 - buy 12 of them so that you have a few spares, i had 2 of them quit on me after avout 2 years, get them in either the 4 or 6 led configuration, i see they now make a 5 led wide angle bulb but i have no experience with it.

74 - you will need 4 of them for your ac controls

this should cover the two main areas of the dash if you want to do any more LED changing check out the tech articles
http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61656
and
http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96579

hope this helps

conrad

ps. i don't have any pictures of my illumination as my digital camera seems to have trouble picking up the red light good enough to make out anything, but the lighting is simmilar to the red lighting in most grand am cars

[HegsZ-71]

Good info there. I already have the door, under dahs, and headliner lights red so I don't need those. I want my gauge cluster to be red and I would liek the ac controls, but I don't want to have to solder anything in. just plug in pretty much for now at least. It's way to cold to be outside for very long.

[HegsZ-71]

Well I ordered 8 red #194 6 LED configurations And 6 Red #74's for the ac controls. Hopefully they all work and I won't need the extras.

[nebraskaz71]

Take pics of the process hegs

[1998chevy1500]

Awesome, good luck to you.

Conrad

[HegsZ-71]

Yeah pics will be of plenty.

1998chevy1500: thanks for that info and the links.

[1998chevy1500]

Anytime

[1998chevy1500]

Hegs

Went out and got some pics of my install. The pics don't look near as good as in person, but at least they give you an idea.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/350000-350999/350798_9_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/350000-350999/350798_10_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/350000-350999/350798_11_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/350000-350999/350798_12_full.jpg

they are a little hot spotted but not bad. i guess i like it. use your own discression

Conrad

[HegsZ-71]

Sweet man. i can live with the hot spots. Do you just have clear needles like me? that looks damn good.

[1998chevy1500]

No I don't have any clear needles, I have been to lazy to but after looking at yours I am thinking more about it. The needles would light up pure red instead of red-orange.

How hard was it to do? How accurate did you end up getting the needles back on when you were done?

Thanks for the compliments

Conrad

PS. Don't forget that the LEDs have a + and a - side as they are a diode and only flow power one way. I just found what pins the metal strips went to and used a DMM to see what one is + and - other that that good luck.

[HegsZ-71]

Really. In the pics your's look perfectly red. Anywho It wasn't hard at all to clear them. I just turned the key to the on position then marked where the needles were lightly. Then turned the truck off and used a fork to pry them off. then just take a sharp razor blade and scrap away from you. After I was done I just turned the key on again and put them where they were before. They were all dead on except for the temp which was only a little off.

[1998chevy1500]

You posted while I was editing so here is what I said again

Don't forget that the LEDs have a + and a - side as they are a diode and only flow power one way. I just found what pins the metal strips went to and used a DMM to see what one is + and - other that that good luck.

That sounds pretty easy to do. Gonna put it on the To-Do list for the truck. I also have AutoTap so I could probably check it with that.

conrad

[HegsZ-71]

Yeah I knew there was only one way for them to go in, but I know I'm going to put them in then put the dash back together and only 2 will work. I think I'll write a note to myself and put it in the truck.

[1998chevy1500]

Hegs

Do you have any pics of your leather interior that you can post. I did a search for them and came up blank. Also any info on how they fit, install problems, ect. would be great.

thankx
conrad

[HegsZ-71]

Sure do. There from my phone so they don't do them justice. It's dark out and my batteries are dead on my digi cam, but I'll take some soon enough. They fit great. Only things I would recommend is to do it in summer and let the leathers sit in the sun. I did it in fall and it was like 40 out so everything was tight. If you have a center console like me it's a real pain. I screwed it up and have to get it redone sometime. Other then that putting them on was easy.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/HegsZ-71/Leather3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/HegsZ-71/Leather4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/HegsZ-71/Leather11.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/HegsZ-71/leather13.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/HegsZ-71/Leather8.jpg

[HegsZ-71]

I see I didn't take any of the door incerts, but there the same marron. Once I get the black carpet to match the inserts it should look a lot better.

[1998chevy1500]

Looks awesome.

I have the same fold down console so it would probably be just as bad. I hope to get buckets some day and a center console and then get leather. By the way what color it the leather? How tight does the leather fit?

You said that you are getting black carpet. I just finished putting in Black Vinal flooring (like you see in the work trucks) and all in all it wasn't too bad. Just make sure that the carpet is layed out flat in a very warm area so that the creases flatten out. I had to buy a heat gun to help to flatten out the creases and it still doesn't fit perfect. I will probably continue to fight it when it gets warm out. The carpet I got was Carpet (http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=partdetail.asp&part=NPI%2D931701&view=33&N=120+400373+%2D42066+%2D44527+309001) . I don't have any pics of the carpet but it looks good when its clean and it only takes a hose or a rag to clean it.

Conrad

[HegsZ-71]

The color is Med Red with Dark Charcoal centers. When I took a peice of that and the maroon they offered it matched a lot better. The pics make it look really different, but it's close. They are tight! I haven't zipped up the back ones yet or used the hog rings on the fronts sicne you pretty much have to take the seats out to do that so I'm going to wait to get the carpet this spring. But for not being tightend down they are still very snug. The quality is top of the line very soft and comfotable.

I think I'll stick with carpet just because it feels more comfotable and will absorb some sound. I'll check out that link when I decied to order mine up.

[HegsZ-71]

Well I installed mine a couple days ago. Of course my camera had no batteries, but it was really simple. Remove old bulb put new on in. No soldering or anything like that.

However, Hot spots are pretty bad with the 6led.
Conrad: Do you have more then one bulb in the tach part. Miny only had one at 6K and you can hardly see the 1-3K. Rpms.

[1998chevy1500]

Conrad: Do you have more then one bulb in the tach part. Miny only had one at 6K and you can hardly see the 1-3K. Rpms.

I am a little confused as to what you mean by this could you elaborate a little more.

As for hot spots mine aren't too bad but I have the 4-LED ones. I had to replace a total of 6 illumination bulbs on the back of the gauge. When it is completly dark out they are almost uniform no hot spots, and it all lights us so that you can see it. Are you absolutely sure that ALL the LEDs are wired up with + to + and - to -. The way that I checked was used a 9v battery and individally tested each LED and marked each of them as to what side is positve then traced the wireing on the back of the gauge panel to see what side is + and - then inserted the LEDs in the holder, marked the holder then inserted it into the gauges making sure that the contacts on the holder were inserted with + and -.

I know that this is alot to read but just go back and double check yourself. You can test LEDs with a 9v battery and they will be just as bright as with 12v as they draw almost no amperage.

Good luck and post back w/ any ?

Conrad

[HegsZ-71]

Yeah that was a little confusing. on your first pic that you posted It looks like there are 2 hot spots on your tach gauge at 2 and 6. Mine is only at 6. Since I didn't think anything of it I forgot if there was 2 bulbs there. I know I used 6 Different LED's, but I don't remember where in the gauges they are and I don't want to take it all out and fix it unless I have too.

[HegsZ-71]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/HegsZ-71/29acb5ab.jpg
This was with my phone so the quality sucks, but notice how it's not bright on hte tach side. Is there a bulb that's in wrong by the number 2?

[1998chevy1500]

Is there a bulb that's in wrong by the number 2?

That is a good question, it has been a while sence I did the LED swap but when you remove the sockets they should have ILUM or ILM I can't remember whitch written next to them. On mine the 3 sockets on one side were all gray and 3 sockets on the other side were all black so that may help to verify what ones you pulled out to change. I may just recomend pulling it out and rechecking it from square one and takeing your time making sure that they are put in correct and that they all light up. You may have a bad LED, I had this happen to 2 of them after about 1 year of use.

Good Luck

Conrad

[HegsZ-71]

Damn I really hate taking that damn dash off, but I got it down to about 2 min. lol I'll crack it open tomorrow I guess.

[whytry]

I think it looks pretty good too... I was wondering about changing my LED's in my dash too....> This helps a lot. Are the prices pretty good for all the ones you needed for the dash?

[HegsZ-71]

cost me about $31 something shipped. not too bad.

[1998chevy1500]

HegsZ-71

Any luck yet with double checking yourself?

Conrad

[HegsZ-71]

http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1452008#post1452008 :read:

I took the dash apart again and looked today. Not only was the one not working I missed another one that is at like 60mph. Turns out the one at 60mph was a bad LED, but the other one was just in wrong. Thanks for all the help and I'm definatly glad I did this!

[1998chevy1500]

Looks good, sorry to hear that one of them was bad. Did you order an extra 1 or 2? They seem to light up brighter than my 4-LED ones.
It really seems to accent the red interor doesn't it.

Conrad

[HegsZ-71]

Looks good, sorry to hear that one of them was bad. Did you order an extra 1 or 2? They seem to light up brighter than my 4-LED ones.
It really seems to accent the red interor doesn't it.

Conrad
yeah it was no problem I had ordered 2 extra. these are the 6 configure ones so I would imagine they would be brighter.

It matches the other red I have inside. only things that are still white are the controls on the doors, but I don't mind them.