Interior lighting - maybe change?

[santanvalleydirt]

The 2nd gen has a bunch of green. Green speedo, fuel gauge, all that good stuff. Green isn't really my thing though. Is there a way to change any of that? Anybody done that with a 2nd gen before? :lookout:

 

[UnderFire]

New bulbs, you can probably get yellow halogens, or basically any color LED, or just pull everything apart and take off the little green condoms and you'll have white instead.

 

[CheifDesertYota]

Heres what i did.

Went to walmart and got some of these LED strips and just hooked them up to where the bulb use to go. Hot goes to hot, ground to ground. They worked great. Plus you can get them in just about any color.

 

[santanvalleydirt]

New bulbs, you can probably get yellow halogens, or basically any color LED, or just pull everything apart and take off the little green condoms and you'll have white instead.

But are the bulbs behind everything actually green? Or are they white and the paper in front of it has a green tint?

 

[santanvalleydirt]

Looks great! I think your front window might need some work though, just sayin.

 

[got_mullet]

But are the bulbs behind everything actually green? Or are they white and the paper in front of it has a green tint?

They have colored "condoms" on them. I think there are only like 3 or 4 bulbs that have them. You can buy different colored "condoms" on Amazon. I saw green, red and blue when i was replacing mine.

 

[santanvalleydirt]

They have colored "condoms" on them. I think there are only like 3 or 4 bulbs that have them. You can buy different colored "condoms" on Amazon. I saw green, red and blue when i was replacing mine.

Rofl "Condoms". Got any pics of your light setup?

 

[Peevedkitten]

Rofl "Condoms". Got any pics of your light setup?

My light setup:

 

[santanvalleydirt]

My light setup:

:cheers: Funny!


Not helpful lol anda:

 

[Darrie]

You can get LED kits from ebay and faceplates. I'm not convinced green, blue or red LED's are that good visually on old style dials - I'd suggest you stick to white. They do have some shadow zones, not like the OEM bulbs.
Its a bit of work to get the cluster out but nothing too hard - bulbs are simply plug & play. Search led cluster bulbs 4runner for ideas.

This is Lowrange white faceplates for reference.

1989-1991 Toyota 4Runner/Pickup Face Gauges w/ Tach

 

[santanvalleydirt]

So you mean I should switch the bulbs after I swap out the speedo and such for white?

 

[Darrie]

So you mean I should switch the bulbs after I swap out the speedo and such for white?

Maybe a bit too much explanation here, but anyway...

The instrument cluster when removed has a plastic backing with all the instruments bolted to it. The bulbs simply plug into that plastic backing plate, pass through it and backlight the instruments. The OEM instrument backlit lights are green coloured bulbs. No gauges need removing to do bulb changes, you just have to take the cluster unit out of the dash to access the rear.
The warning lights in a row on the bottom of the cluster are basically white bulbs, and a various colored film with the symbol lights is illuminated when on.

So you have a few choices with the instrument cluster removed to freshen the look up.
1) You can just replace the green cluster bulbs with white LED bulbs (Recommended) or any other color. White brightens up the instruments to be more visible, though I don't really mind the OEM green. Blue or red dial illumination bulbs do my head in, but that's me.
2) Optionally, you can also replace the faceplates (easy) with an aftermarket white faceplate at this point. This simply modernises the cluster look, both in the day and night when lit up. You just take the clear plastic cover off the front of the cluster (held by tabs) then unscrew the current faceplates that are a thin plastic, then replace with aftermarket white dial faceplates.

Nothing really to doing any of this other than the patience to dismantle the dashboard to remove the cluster - again not too hard if you follow step by step and keep track of your bolts, and reassemble in same order.

I found the most difficult step was all the plugs that go into the cluster - whilst they only fit in one slot & you can't put back together wrong, the hardest bit is that the cable lengths to the cluster are pretty short, and as you need to have the cluster almost refitted to get them back on so small flexible hands are needed.

Hope this clears things up.

 

[santanvalleydirt]

Maybe a bit too much explanation here, but anyway...

The instrument cluster when removed has a plastic backing with all the instruments bolted to it. The bulbs simply plug into that plastic backing plate, pass through it and backlight the instruments. The OEM instrument backlit lights are green coloured bulbs. No gauges need removing to do bulb changes, you just have to take the cluster unit out of the dash to access the rear.
The warning lights in a row on the bottom of the cluster are basically white bulbs, and a various colored film with the symbol lights is illuminated when on.

So you have a few choices with the instrument cluster removed to freshen the look up.
1) You can just replace the green cluster bulbs with white LED bulbs (Recommended) or any other color. White brightens up the instruments to be more visible, though I don't really mind the OEM green. Blue or red dial illumination bulbs do my head in, but that's me.
2) Optionally, you can also replace the faceplates (easy) with an aftermarket white faceplate at this point. This simply modernises the cluster look, both in the day and night when lit up. You just take the clear plastic cover off the front of the cluster (held by tabs) then unscrew the current faceplates that are a thin plastic, then replace with aftermarket white dial faceplates.

Nothing really to doing any of this other than the patience to dismantle the dashboard to remove the cluster - again not too hard if you follow step by step and keep track of your bolts, and reassemble in same order.

I found the most difficult step was all the plugs that go into the cluster - whilst they only fit in one slot & you can't put back together wrong, the hardest bit is that the cable lengths to the cluster are pretty short, and as you need to have the cluster almost refitted to get them back on so small flexible hands are needed.

Hope this clears things up.

Yes it does, Thank you very much! :bravo: