ok. lets start from the top and say my information is based upon my experiances that i have has with my 2004 DAKOTA. My information will only apply to the 2001-2004 trucks. now lets begin.
First you need to decide what color you are going for in your dash. I went with the basic blue. Now inorder to achieve the blue that i have (Pictures are at the bottom of this post) you are going to want WHITE leds. For a darker Blue color you would want blue leds. I only recomend doing blue as a change as I do not know how the different colors of leds, such as red, would turn out.
I got my leds off of Amazon.com because I am a cheep for i look for good products at good prices however there are many other reputable dealers such as superbrightleds.com and V-Leds.com. (here is what I ordered) These leds are ONLY FOR THE GAUGES,...to ensure this guild helps you completely. Leds can http://superbrightleds.com then hover your mouse over the banner where is saysbe found on the site by going to "Car Bulbs" ....
Your should now b... here is a video to learn how.
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSY9FpnZV4g
1. Remove the Dash Cowl inorder to expose all the locations leds will be going
I recommend unhooking all of the cables that are connected as the truck becomes rather cramped.
2. On the back of the HAVC controll you will see Three circular pieces of plastic with slots in them. These are the 5mm bulbs that you will be replacing.
Use a straight slot screw driver to remove these (turn counter clockwise). They may be difficult to get out after turning, carefully use a knife to pry it out if needed. Attempt to insert the new leds into the slots after removing the old ones. If they do not fit at first, like mine did, then you will need to slightly trim the led inorder for it to fit. Use your best judgement as to what needs to be trimmed and do it carefully. What needed trimmed what the parts shown in the picture below.
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3. On the back of the light switch, remove the bulb shown in the picture below and replace with the new (4mm) one. Should fit without a problem.
4. Now for the gauges. I couldn't find a how to remove video for this so i will tell you quickly. To remove the gauge cluster you need to back out the 4 screws that are holding the WHOLE THING in. Don't just remove the plastic cover as this will get you nowhere... Keep in mind that doing this will reset your TRIP METER so if you have something important such as miles till the next oil change then you should write that down. Now pull the gauge cluster out, it may take alittle effort to manoover out. (you will get good at that) On the back you will see this.
![Image]()
To make access to the bulbs easier you can remove the cardboard backing. If you cant figure out how to do that then.. well. yeah. anyway. Remove the bulbs shown by a simple twist counter clockwise. Now for the fun part, removing the bulbs from the sockets. This part may take alittle effort inorder to accomplish, but it is possible i sware. I found that using the end of a pen makes it quite easy. Be careful whall removing not to break the bulb.
Now that the bulbs have been removed simply slide the new bulbs into the sockets. And then put them back in the cluster and put the cluster back. NOT ALL THE BULBS ARE GOING TO LIGHT UP. but try it first by pluging the light switch back in (easier to just remove the unit, also very easy to do) and turning the key to the ON POSITION, don't start the truck. If all the bulbs do not light up there are a few solutions to this. (I had to figure them out
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TROUBLESHOOTING THE BULBS NOT LIGHTING UP
Make sure the truck is off and then remove the cluster again. remove each of the bulbs or just the ones not lighting up. pull the led out alittle so that it isnt in the socket ALL THE WAY. If that does not fix the issue then take the led out and turn it around and put it in the other way. leds only work one way. If that doesnt light the bulb up then it is likely that the bulb has gone bad (2 out of 12 of mine didnt work at all), which is common among cheep bulbs.
6. Once all the lights are working we can move onto the tinting over the ODO and Gears. On the front of the cluster, yes you have to take it out again, you will see where the places needing to be tinted are. you will need to remove the clear plastic cover as well. DO NOT REMOVE THE NEEDLES UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING AND HOW TO RESET THEM IF YOU FUCK THEM UP. Get a piece of clear, not fogged clear, tape an cut it to size. Now color the STICKY side of the tape with a blue sharpie (doesnt work with any other brand that i have found) and allow to dry. TAZ DID THIS TOO-
"I just wanted to say I tried your 'tape method' on my overhead computer, and it came out decent. I actually improved on it a little though. After I colored the sticky side of the tape, I dipped my finger in rubbing alcohol (91%, not regular) and rubbed the ink. This blended out all of the scribble marks and made it look a lot clearer. As long as you let the alcohol evaporate and don't rub too hard, the stickiness returns to the tape as soon as its dry. Give it a good 5 minutes to dry before you apply it, otherwise it'll bubble up as the alcohol/water try to evaporate."
Now that the tape is dry with whatever method you choose- I only colored it
Lift up the black piece and carefully, making sure not to leave any fingerprints, apply the tape over the ODO and gears. Put the Cluster back together, Test. See that everything is working and reassemble the truck.
:clap2: :banana2: DONE DONE DONE :banana2: :clap2:
My end results
To answer any other questions that might ensue... no these lights are not going to dim as much as the originals but they will dim slightly. MY needles do look alittle different than what yours will because i shaved mine in this process, but like i said i DO NOT RECOMEND YOU TO REMOVE THE NEEDLES UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING AND HOW TO RESET THEM.
I hate to sound like a newfag by asking but please give me rep for this.
This writeup has taken me 2 hours to do. It is now 2:30 in the morning.
HOPE THIS HELPS EVERYONE. ENJOY
