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Speedometer Light Bulbs

DirtyB

DirtyB

Crazy Cajun
Lifetime Member
City
Port Allen
State
LA
I bought these light bulbs as replacements for my speedometer. They work great, and because they are LED, they'll probably last 20 years. I used the 7-SMD LED for the directional lights (the ones with the little tubes in the speedometer like the turn signals or high beam indicator) and I used the LED 5050 5SMD for the 3 that give general lighting in the speedo.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BY0ESVC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BP2BOPC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The picture shows the old versus the new.

IMG_20140521_152153561[1].jpg
 
wm69

wm69

Scrambler Junkie
Silver Member
Lifetime Member
City
God's Country
State
AR
Interesting. Guessing they're brighter and cooler so won't melt the colored filters in the speedo housing like brighter halogen bulbs do.

Do they dissipate the light well? The big issue I've seen people have with LED's in gauges is they tend to focus all the light in one spot, making an area of bright spots with not a lot of bleed around to backlight the entire gauge.
 
DirtyB

DirtyB

Crazy Cajun
Lifetime Member
City
Port Allen
State
LA
wm69 said:
Interesting. Guessing they're brighter and cooler so won't melt the colored filters in the speedo housing like brighter halogen bulbs do.

Do they dissipate the light well? The big issue I've seen people have with LED's in gauges is they tend to focus all the light in one spot, making an area of bright spots with not a lot of bleed around to backlight the entire gauge.
Click to expand...

That's why I bought the two different styles. One style shoots light only in a forward direction like a flashlight. I used these for the turn signals, high beam indicator, brake light, and 4x4 light. The other style spreads light around in all directions like a light bulb. That's the ones I used to light of the entire face.
 
jerseyjeeps

jerseyjeeps

Crazy about AMC Jeeps
Lifetime Member
City
Landing
State
NJ
I have used LEDs twice now and have had nothing but praise for them. Haven't used em in a speedo , but I have for the always so dim interior light for the CJ7 hardtops (same as j trucks, which really make a difference in white light feel inside) and also in my camper. Those outdoor bulbs used to burn out once a month literally and every few months inside. I have had the LEDs on 24/7 on the outside and not one has burned out in over a year.

So when do we get to see the lit up speedo pics ? :thumbsup:
 
BRKLYNZ28

BRKLYNZ28

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
City
BROOKLYN
State
NY
I have replaced every bulb in the jeeps and my z28. There great. But if you use them for your stop lights u might have to get a special blinker relay as the OEM won't work with LEDs.. No load.

Sent from my SPH-L900
 
Dave The Sparky

Dave The Sparky

Rebuilding my CJ8 very,very slowly...
Member
City
Halifax
State
UK
But what about the dimmer that works when it feels like it! I may wish to dim the already dim illumination one day and with Leds they dont normally like it!!!...............:)
 
BRKLYNZ28

BRKLYNZ28

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
City
BROOKLYN
State
NY
DirtyB said:
I hesitated to post this pic because my camera work is so bad. It looks much better at night in person.

View attachment 43920
Click to expand...

i took the blue filters out of mine so its white like the rest and more lite.... also u can change the volt gauge and pressure also to match the white light.. btw great voltage.... almost 14 lol
 
sdsupilot

sdsupilot

CJ-8 Member
Member
City
OKC
State
OK
DirtyB, great post. I used the links to buy the same bulbs you used. They look great and I can actually see my speedometer at night now! I'm going to get another package and finish changing all the gauge lights over to these LEDs.
 
DirtyB

DirtyB

Crazy Cajun
Lifetime Member
City
Port Allen
State
LA
sdsupilot said:
DirtyB, great post. I used the links to buy the same bulbs you used. They look great and I can actually see my speedometer at night now! I'm going to get another package and finish changing all the gauge lights over to these LEDs.
Click to expand...

I haven't experienced this myself, but I've heard that the dimmer dial won't work any more with LED's. It works fine for me, but that may be because only a few of the lights controlled by the dimmer knob are LED's; the rest are the old style. :shrug:
 
C

chappellheel

Basic User
Gold Member
City
Nashville
State
NC
I want to replace all my lights in the dash. Gauges, speedo, etc. What do I need to order from Amazon?

Thanks

photo
 
DirtyB

DirtyB

Crazy Cajun
Lifetime Member
City
Port Allen
State
LA
If you look at the links in the first post, you'll see that there are two different styles of bulbs. One kind is directional (like a flashlight) and one is omni-directional (casts light all around like a naked light bulb). Things like a turn signal or 4x4 light will need a directional bulb. Sockets that are positioned to light up an entire gauge will need the omni-directional.

The new LED bulbs will fit directly into the old sockets.
 
Becarr21

Becarr21

Basic User
City
Raleigh
State
NC
Thanks DirtyB for the links. At first I thought no way would they fit but just installed them tonight and they look awesome. Dimmer works as it should.
 
wm69

wm69

Scrambler Junkie
Silver Member
Lifetime Member
City
God's Country
State
AR
Becarr21 said:
Thanks DirtyB for the links. At first I thought no way would they fit but just installed them tonight and they look awesome. Dimmer works as it should.
Click to expand...

Which ones did you order? PICS!!!!
 
C

CJ8C210

Basic User
City
Arroyo Grande
State
CA
Thanks for the links. Best, cheapest and easiest upgrade I've done to my 8. Would recommend to anyone.

Do they make bulbs like this for the tail lights?
 
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