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Interior LED conversion

12K views 23 replies 10 participants last post by  Parkers09xB 
#1 ·
I finally finished swapping all of the amber interior leds to blue today.



The warning lights don't really look that bright, I had to mess with my camera's setting to be able to see the gauges (the amber print on the gauge face causes blue light to be fairly dull). The new gauge face I ordered will fix that.

HVAC controls


TC button


Driver-side window button


Steering wheel button
 
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#2 ·
Very nice job! Can you do a DIY on these? I need to do this now. Looks sick :rockon:
 
#4 ·
Here's a good DIY for the gauge leds:

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110488&highlight=led+diy

It seems really hard, but it's really not that bad, just takes some patience. I hardly had any soldering experience before this.

The HVAC leds are Neo-Wedge Type-B. I got mine from autoillumination.com. No soldering required for these. However, the AC, Defrost, and Air circulation buttons require 3mm leds. This means you have to completely disassemble each knob, very carefully. The two outer knobs have small plastic gears inside them, which you have to take care align properly when reassembling. Once you get to the stock 3mm leds, you need to de-solder them (make solder wick your friend) and they will pull out. Then you install the new led of your choosing (3mm), make sure the polarity is correct, and solder it to the circuit board.

For the AUTO button on the window controls, I used a plcc-2 led, but I believe a 3mm is the correct one.

I also used a plcc-2 for the TC button, I can pull it apart and post some pictures tomorrow.

I practiced soldering on the steering wheel MODE button led, before attempting everything else to make sure I could actually do it.
 
#8 ·
#9 ·
thats pretty sweet. it may be my little netbook screen, but that picture is pretty compressed. is there a higher res picture?
 
#10 ·
The needles are brighter in person, but changing to white leds will definitely improve the look. I got this gauge face from LEDmod.com, they are expensive but OEM quality. I haven't heard many good things about customxbgauges. If their gauges are anything like the covers for the passenger airbag/seat belt face they sell, its basically a computer printout that has been laminated. I've heard their gauge faces have problems with light shining through in the wrong places.
 
#11 ·
xtylerx said:
The needles are brighter in person, but changing to white leds will definitely improve the look. I got this gauge face from LEDmod.com, they are expensive but OEM quality. I haven't heard many good things about customxbgauges. If their gauges are anything like the covers for the passenger airbag/seat belt face they sell, its basically a computer printout that has been laminated. I've heard their gauge faces have problems with light shining through in the wrong places.
thanks for the heads up. i really dig the face you chose
 
#12 ·
Really (on customxbguages)?  All I've heard was positve reviews on them. 
(Edit: after some google searching, I see more of a mix. Previously, I wasn't half paying attention as they were down my list on mods. I'll ask around a bit for more info . . . -PMs on the topic are welcome. I may just add a small TRD decal or something else to the stocks.)

I'll have too look in a bit deeper to see what fits my criteria.  My intent is to look like old gauges with one altered to digital.  The idea is that it is an older small delivery truck "hot rodded" with alternate gauges, lights, etc.  I'm fine with the orange, besides it looks good with the silver/gray/charcoal/black and tartan (using a Black Watch-derivative) interior.


Yours looks REALLY good!  Had I gone with a blue accent, that would be a role-model for me.
 
#14 ·
Nice job on those guages they look ssssssswwwwwwwwweeeeeeetttttttttt!!! :eek:
 
#18 ·
Dude. said:
I really like the gauge face. I want to do this, but I don't want to mess anything up.
Same here. I don't want to end up screwing something up... Looks great though! I really like the blue inside with the red outside. I also like the black console and the TRD logo where the passenger seatbelt alert is! Very cool!
 
#19 ·
Dude. said:
I really like the gauge face. I want to do this, but I don't want to mess anything up.
Yeah, that's how I felt, but then I just decided to go for it. I started with the steering wheel button to see if the whole conversion was possible to do myself, that way if I messed it up I could stop there without screwing up anything really important.

Here's the night pics:

 
#21 ·
I used a plcc-2 for the steering wheel, same size for the gauges. The best advice would just be to practice soldering. A lot of people will say you need to use an expensive, high quality soldering iron, but I used a $20 one with changeable tips, which worked fine. You will also need a pair of needle tip tweezers, solder wick, and some solder of course. It really only takes some patience, and making sure the polarity of the led matches up. I had soldered maybe twice before I attempted this, it seems much more difficult then it actually is. Good luck!
 
#22 ·
If you use blue LED, needle is not going to light up bright..
But you can apply special filter I have that will make the needle glow little brighter with blue LED.

How did you make the white groove/line on the gauge shroud??
I like that look.. I have gold color, so I want to put like black line around it..
 
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