[goatman73]

was wondering if anyone has used led bulbs in dash gauges?was considering using them to brightening it up but was wondering if too bright. thanks.

[Geoff]

Yup, got mine from superbrightleds.com. They are brighter than the std lamps, which I thought were too dim anyway. I like them, but personal taste I guess. You will find the dimming function will not work with the LEDs.

[Greg Reid]

I changed mine and am not too fond of the look. I did shop price and I understand that the more expensive LEDs are far superior to the ebay cheapos I bought.

[Yater]

I did put led in my dash.
I am using aftermarket Auto Meter gauges, ultra-lite model, where the gauge is lit through the narrow gap btw the gauge and the bezel. Standard bulbs were like having nothing driving at night.
Much better now. Really happy with the change. I did put white ones.
You can see some pics in the 1st page of my build thread here below.
My camera is not great and they appear much brighter than they are in reality. I find them to be just right. And I can use the dimmer by the way.
Hope it helps.


http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...=803213&page=2

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by Yater

You can see some pics in the 1st page of my build thread here below.

Nice Formula!

[Bentwheelbob]

I tried LED's in one of my Fbody's, but didn't like the super white light. Instead I swapped in 168 incandescent bulbs which are about 50% brighter than the standard bulb.

[Tfisher15]

I've got LEDs from Superbrightleds.com in my gauge cluster also. Brighter than stock, but not too bright. They use less amps and are cooler, which can't be bad for the original printed circuit board.

[1967Tempest]

Originally Posted by Geoff

Yup, got mine from superbrightleds.com. They are brighter than the std lamps, which I thought were too dim anyway. I like them, but personal taste I guess. You will find the dimming function will not work with the LEDs.

X2!! They are prolly the best out there. They have a HUGE selection. I did install blue LED's, but one of my gauges is white, and I think that I am going to go all white here soon.

They also make dimmable ones as well.

[1966Lemans]

In 2013 I switched my dash lights to these:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-sd-1895

They're pretty decent, and brighter than the original bulbs, but I have a feeling that there are better choices, now.

[goatman73]

I guess I can try them,if I don't like can always change them thanks.

[flyingn]

I have them in my Torino and love em. They dim fine too. Much brighter then incandescent and do not get hot. Always afraid of melting old plastic which i don't worry about anymore

[FrankieT/A]

My car is red so I used red led's. They light up bright but since they are red they are not blinding. I like 'em. Mine are not dimmable either. But being red not necessary.

[GT182]

Is there any way or any type of switch to use to make automotive LEDs dimmable?

The reason I ask is..... I was at Lowes today looking at LED lights for home use. They have special dimmer switches to make them dimmable.

[Yater]

If I remember well mine were dimmable with the stock dimmer set up. I should take my car back to the shop who did the install (the same who installed my stereo) in a couple of weeks or three from now. I will ask them if they did anything special for the LEDs to work with the dimmer.

Originally Posted by GT182

Is there any way or any type of switch to use to make automotive LEDs dimmable?

The reason I ask is..... I was at Lowes today looking at LED lights for home use. They have special dimmer switches to make them dimmable.

[DOC]

Here is what I did. 69 Firebird. The gauges uses white LED and Tach uses red LED. These are non dimmable. However, they are not overly bright when driving at night either.

[FrankieT/A]

Originally Posted by GT182

Is there any way or any type of switch to use to make automotive LEDs dimmable?

I believe they make dimmable bulbs...I know they make dimmable LED bulbs for regular light bulbs, like for your house and commercial...

[fyrffytr1]

Originally Posted by GT182

Is there any way or any type of switch to use to make automotive LEDs dimmable?

The reason I ask is..... I was at Lowes today looking at LED lights for home use. They have special dimmer switches to make them dimmable.

I just bought two LEDs for the pendant lights over the stove. They are dimmable and I didn't have to change the dimmer switch that was used on the old incandescent bulbs. If you read the packaging you will notice that the newer LEDs are compatible with some of the older dimmers.

[Greg Reid]

An led will vary brightness as voltage drops or climbs similar to a regular bulb. The big difference is that as soon as you drop much below it's rated voltage it will turn off. A bulb will get dimmer and dimmer until volts reach zero. For an led maybe they're using some type of chopping circuit as used for motor speed controllers? That would allow you to vary brightness by adjusting duty cycle (on-time to off-time ratio)