Gauge cluster LEDs for '04+ soldered bulbs

[Duct_tape123]

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE BEFORE STARTING. THERE ARE SOME TIPS THAT MAKE THE DIS-ASSEMBLY EASIER.

Items needed:
Small flat bit screwdriver
7mm socket and 1/4" drive screwdriver
Soldering iron
8 LEDs of your choice and proper resistors

Set the parking brake and turn the key to accessory. With your foot firmly on the brake move the gear selector down to 1. Pull the dash bezel from around the gauge cluster, radio, and A/C controls. Once the bezel is off remove the four 7mm screws from around the cluster. Pull the bottom of the cluster towards you until the connector is easily accessible. Unplug the connector from the back of the gauge cluster and remove. Put the truck back in park, remove your keys from the ignition and head inside. Once you get the cluster out of the truck pull the front piece off, not the rear(you'll see why). To pull the front, there are four clips at the top that need to be released first, then pull the top out and the two bottom clips should release(if not use the small screwdriver to release the clips). Be careful of the button that sticks through the front so you don't hurt anything. Once the front is off twist all the needles gently to the left until they won't turn easily. Use a pencil and mark where each needle points, this will help tremendously when you reassemble the cluster. If you don't do this you will have to do extra work to make sure the needles are pointing in the right direction. I forgot to mark the needles and had to plug the cluster in with the front cover off and adjust the needles by hand. It would have helped to have a scan gauge or HPTuners so I could get the gauges spot on, but I didn't. The next step is to remove the needles. I gently pulled straight out and they came off fairly easy. Remove the gauge overlay and info button. There is a clear piece of plastic sitting inside of a white housing. You don't have to remove the clear piece, but don't forget to reinstall it when reassembling. Next un-clip the white housing from the black cover on the back. Its best to let the cluster sit on the black cover while removing the white housing.

After you remove the white housing it will look like this.

Here are all the parts you should have. From left to right, top to bottom: white housing, clear plastic piece, gauge panel sitting on the rear cover, needles, gauge overlay, and front cover.

Here is the gauge panel.

All you have to do is de-solder the factory lights and solder in the LEDs. I am still waiting on parts from superbrightLEDs.com so I will update when I have my parts. After you finish soldering the lights you may want to test the cluster before you install it in the truck. Just assemble the white housing to the back cover so you don't drop the cluster when plugging it in. Plug it into the truck to make sure it works. If it does go reassemble the rest of the cluster making sure the gauge motors are turned to the left still. Lay the gauge overlay on the clear plastic(don't forget the info button!) and make sure its locked onto the little keepers. Line the needles up with the pencil marks and erase them. Snap the front cover on and reinstall in the truck.

If anyone sees any mistakes let me know so I can fix them.

Here is a calculator for resistors. You can buy resistors at Radio Shack.
LED calculator for single LEDs

[lo-lyf]

Good write up.

[mean05]

So did you do this swap already on yours?

[Duct_tape123]

No, I'm waiting on LEDs to come in. I just wanted to see how many LEDs I needed. They should be here early next week. I'll get some more pics when I'm done.

[Duct_tape123]

I forgot I had some extra LEDs laying around, so I went to Radio Shack to get resistors. From the time I opened the cluster, 'till the time I was done was about one hour. Its very tedious work because everything is so small. I need to find some really small resistors.
These are all daytime pics.







Overall its awesome, but there are some hot spots and dim spots. I guess I'll try some different LEDs next week.

[sierraman]

could you splice in more led's to make it a uniform light across the cluster?

[Duct_tape123]

Yes you can. They just need to be as close as possible to the circuit board so the light spreads more evenly.
Here are some night shots.


And here are my HIDs, just for kicks

[conekiller01]

sweet deal dude that looks hella good!

.....hope you now your inbox is gonna be full by the morning with messages from Virgil haha good work

[TonySS]

OHHH MAN.. i have been looking for this how 2 for ever!!.. thank you!!!..

questions:
- what are the stock bulb specs? i want to replace mine with stock bulbs. Mostly since i want the uniform light. I see with the LED's the light is not 100% uniform. do you know what the stock bulbs are? can i get them at RadioCrack??

- as far as the solider process, can you give more details. looks to be 4 anchor points right? how was the light removal? do you have more pics?

- Have you removed the stepper motors yet?? some say while you are in there you should do that.


dude... thank you for the how2.. i am not so scared to crack mine open now. sorry for the questions. hope you can help me!!..

[Duct_tape123]

I have some stock bulbs left over that I will send you for free. There are only two anchor points, I don't know why GM put the extra contacts in there, but they don't have any voltage. I have not replaced any stepper motors, but they appear very easy to do. This weekend I believe, Midwestss is changing one of his steppers, so maybe he will chime in. If you will PM me your address I will get the bulbs out to you. Also, how many do you need?

EDIT: I am also working on a way to get more even lighting on the speedo and tach. I will update this thread when I am finished.