Dash Board Lights

['94IDITurbo7.3]

What light bulbs do i need for behind the dash board? i have decided to go with incandescent. i have yet to find a definitive answer for what LED's work in OBS trucks and i am worried about them being to bright and not getting the right ones. right now half my dash is dark, i just want it to light up. IIRC i need five for the dash.

 

[WhiskeyBottle2]

Bulbs

What light bulbs do i need for behind the dash board? i have decided to go with incandescent. i have yet to find a definitive answer for what LED's work in OBS trucks and i am worried about them being to bright and not getting the right ones. right now half my dash is dark, i just want it to light up. IIRC i need five for the dash.

Go with the 168 bulbs, but get the green or blue colored ones...they look great at night and are easy on the eyes...

 

[towcat]

imho, the difference between the 194 and 168 is noticeable in the OBS trucks but really kicks up the slantnose dash lights to where the gauges are readable for once.

 

[94f450sd]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk1MpWFtteU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[Jake_IN]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk1MpWFtteU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

You took the words right out of my mouth

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

That's funny; when I read the title of this thread, my mind instantly brought up that song.


Even with every bulb brightly lit, the dash-lights in my 1985 were never anything to brag about; I often resorted to shining the flash-light at whatever gauge I needed to see.

I found some little aim-able LED flood-lights at Walmart; the kind that come pre-wired to a cigarette-lighter plug.

I bought some singles, some two-to-a-bars, and a three-to-a-bar.

I destroyed one set finding out that the little lighter-plug contained some mysterious very important part of the equation.

I hid auxilliary lighter-plugs under the dash to power these LED flood-lights.

With these little light-platforms double-stick taped along that flat shelf immediately under the instrument panel, my dash is now lit up like a jet airplane.

 

[dgr]

Can anyone share the "direction" the light shines from the factory bulbs? I'm going to try some leds. I'm guessing the bulbs are mounted front to back and most of the light is coming out of the sides.

 

[icanfixall]

In my 89 dash I feel the lights are dimming over time but can't prove that. I have the 168 but still need the flashlite trick to see what I want to see most of the time. I find it odd that both the dash lites and the head lites are dim on our trucks... I know why the head lites are dim... Its the lens and mostly the way they are wired thru the headlite switch.. I fixed the switch issue by installing the harness and relay mod.. That helped but now the lens are yellowed and I have so little lite shining down the road its kinda scarey at nite...

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

It is my understanding that the dash-lights get power from contact with a printed-circuit.

The bulb holders push in and twist to make feeble contact with this little painted-on ribbon of current.

Age, dis-similar metals, oxidation, and a weak connection to begin with, all add up to the filaments receiving at best 20% of the current they should.

I bet if a man hard-wired those same bulbs in a decent holder that he would need a welding-helmet to look at the gauges.

 

[icanfixall]

It is my understanding that the dash-lights get power from contact with a printed-circuit.

The bulb holders push in and twist to make feeble contact with this little painted-on ribbon of current.

Age, dis-similar metals, oxidation, and a weak connection to begin with, all add up to the filaments receiving at best 20% of the current they should.

I bet if a man hard-wired those same bulbs in a decent holder that he would need a welding-helmet to look at the gauges.

Now this sure has me thinking... I feel so old when my wifey asks me why I'm using the flashlite to see the dash... I do understand where and how the dash lites get their power thru the reostst part of the head lite switch... I may look into har wireing them. Then just the switch will be the issue.

 

[The Warden]

Can anyone share the "direction" the light shines from the factory bulbs? I'm going to try some leds. I'm guessing the bulbs are mounted front to back and most of the light is coming out of the sides.

I've never taken a close look at the OBS instrument panel, but I'm going to hazard a guess that it's similar to the brick-nose instrument panel. On the brick-nose trucks, you have it correct...the bulb is aiming towards the front of the panel, and there are clear plastic pieces on the side that channel the light from where the bulb is to where the lights need to go.

On the slant-nose trucks, the bulbs are essentially on the perimeter of each gauge, with a blue/green dome covering the bulb, and the light basically comes out from the edge of the gauges...

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I forgot to mention the crappy dimmer-switch business also being a weak link.

I never use the dimmer function on anything I have ever driven.

A simple ON/OFF toggle-switch serves the purpose much better.

 

[Fordsandguns]

It is my understanding that the dash-lights get power from contact with a printed-circuit.

The bulb holders push in and twist to make feeble contact with this little painted-on ribbon of current.

Age, dis-similar metals, oxidation, and a weak connection to begin with, all add up to the filaments receiving at best 20% of the current they should.

I bet if a man hard-wired those same bulbs in a decent holder that he would need a welding-helmet to look at the gauges.

Considering that my plate light uses the 194 bulbs and is bright enough to see the plate clearly (when I keep the texas dirt of of it, lol) you are probably right about that printed circuit losing lots of voltage.
If they were redone using wiring they most likely would be way too bright for me. Mine are actually decent when the dimmer is on the brightest setting.