Fj40 dash lights, bulb upgrade (1 Viewer)

[Landpimp]

Well I found with the help of a nice auto parts guy a brighter bulb to replace the 168's in the fj40 clusters. Wagner 175L, no one stocks them but after 4 calls the parts guy tracked a box of em down, heck he even sold them to me at just a tad over cost, $6 for a box of 10. The cluster is now MUCH brighter and I didn't have to hack up my cluster.

BTW I tried some LED's and they were no brighter than the stock 168 bulb.

John H

 

[sambudo]

thanks i'll have to track some down. Nice find on the wagon. I saw in the trader, and before I could call I read your post. sweet find. You have quit the collection of rigs. I like your LC hauler! Did you build that? I need to get up to Gig Harbor some day, old HS friend lives up there!

 

[godzilla]

Try removing the little shrouds around the bulbs. I did and it made a big difference.

 

[Landpimp]

[quote author=sambudo link=board=1;threadid=6191;start=msg49794#msg49794 date=1065847287]
thanks i'll have to track some down. Nice find on the wagon. I saw in the trader, and before I could call I read your post. sweet find. You have quit the collection of rigs. I like your LC hauler! Did you build that? I need to get up to Gig Harbor some day, old HS friend lives up there!
[/quote]


oh no the hauler isn't mine, we spoted it at the gas station when getting the 45 wagon, I wish it was mine

let me know if you ever get up my way!

 

[Landpimp]

[quote author=godzilla link=board=1;threadid=6191;start=msg49795#msg49795 date=1065847309]
Try removing the little shrouds around the bulbs. I did and it made a big difference.
[/quote]

I did that in my fj45 pick up, it does make the lights much brighter, but it also is anoying as heck to the passanger, the bulb is now visible(and anoying) to the passanger. you can get old clusters all day long for cheap.

and have you priced a 82 fj40 gauge cluster? they are very spendy(used) and I figured if there is a way to make the lights brighter without hacking the cluster up I would do so. KInda like I didn't want to hack the dash up to mount a CD player.....

 

[tpjsooner]

Anyone had only the outside lights on the instrument panel light up while the other three stay off causing only the lower corners of the dash to light up? I've replaced the bulbs. Fuse? Wiring?

 

[Chamba]

Anyone had only the outside lights on the instrument panel light up while the other three stay off causing only the lower corners of the dash to light up? I've replaced the bulbs. Fuse? Wiring?

There are only two bulbs in a 40 series dash cluster which light the gauges. I pulled the caps off mine, got LED bulbs which are green and my gauges light up beautifully. Try superbright LED online for the globes.

 

[tpjsooner]

Ok, I'll try that. Are the others for turn signals and notifications only?

 

[Chamba]

Ok, I'll try that. Are the others for turn signals and notifications only?

Yes. Two are for lighting, two are for signals and one is for high beams.

Superbright has various colours for the LEDs, so I got green for the background and signals and blue for the high beam. I got the brightest they had, which worked out great for the background, but now my signals are actually too bright at night The high beam is now bright enough that it is distracting, so i plan to order bulbs which produce slightly fewer lumins for the signals and beam.

 

[73 Toy Guy]

I am new to the LC club and none of the cluster bulbs work on my recently acquired 73 fj40. Not sure if it is an electrical issue or the bulbs are spent but do you need to remove the cluster to gain access to the bulbs?

 

[JohnnyC]

I am new to the LC club and none of the cluster bulbs work on my recently acquired 73 fj40. Not sure if it is an electrical issue or the bulbs are spent but do you need to remove the cluster to gain access to the bulbs?

Yes remove cluster.... Unless you have miniature hands that can contort to various not natural positions lol

 

[fj401978]

And be sure to disconnect your battery FIRST...not easy to get the cluster out without something touching the dash, and being that this ain't the Fourth of July, you may not want to see fireworks just yet

 

[73 Toy Guy]

that might be pretty but i am sure the lump on my head wont be after i jerk back in shock with a little feminine yelp

 

[MJM]

Why remove the cluster. I have big hands and at least you reach up there and change out one of them most likely two without a big hassle.
The PITA is removing the speedo cable.

 

[FJsnoozer]

I used the EL wire. It takes a lot more time, but is sweet.



https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/ho...ad-advice-welcomed.486739/page-5#post-7741556

 

[FineWynsFJ40]

+1 on the EL wire and an LED for the high beam indicator. So much better...

 

[1911]

+2 on the EL wire ...

 

[TK40]

Do they have a kit for the LED BULBS for the 40? If not what is # on Bulbs I will need.

 

[FJ40Mitchell]

Do they have a kit for the LED BULBS for the 40? If not what is # on Bulbs I will need.

These are the bulbs I ordered from Superbrightleds.com.

They are all the right sizes for my 1973 FJ40, although I can't comment on if I got the brightness right, as I haven't tested them yet (truck is in pieces). Going down the list, this is where I will install them.
Blue one: High beam indicator
2 Green ones: turn signal indicator
2 Warm white: instrument panel housing lights
The three Festoon Base bulbs of varying brightnesses are for under the dash and the dome light, I got an extra so I can experiment with the brightnesses a bit.
The red one is for the parking brake indicator light.
The cool white is for the light in the headlight switch.

Again, these are the right sizes for me, but I'm not sure if they're the right brightness yet. But it's a good starting point.

 

[Adrigan]

Thank you so much for the screen grab