I posted this over on NAXJA and decided to share it here as well, since a lot of people still have questions about LED's in the dash. Most of you know how to remove the dash trim, pull the cluster, and replace all the bulbs with LED bulbs from places like www.SuperBrightLEDs.com, so I'm not going to go into that process. In all the LED threads I've read, no one seems to address the worn-out bulb sockets that seem to be common in these vehicles, nor do they compare different types of LED bulbs and their relative brightness. I've had LED bulbs in my cluster, console, and buttons for years and I recently decided to change it all up. I figured I might share my experience here, just in case someone else was interested in the process.

Here was my original setup:



While this wasn't nearly as dark in person as the cell phone photo looks, it was a little too dim for my liking. The blue LED bulbs behind the gauges in this setup were these ones:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...rofit-car/197/


In addition to the gauges being too dim, the bulbs behind the defrost button and the HVAC panel wouldn't stay lit because the OEM bulb sockets were trashed from years of having a hot incandescent bulb, breaking down the integrity of the plastic. Here's what almost all of my bulb plugs looked like:



This plug is for the tiny, type 74 bulbs that illuminate the switches, the ring around the ignition, and the HVAC panel. Here's what the bulbs looked like that I originally had in there:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more.../attributes/14


After a few years of straining my eyes to see my gauges at night, I decided to switch out the blue cluster LED's for white LED's, just in the gauge faces themselves. In addition to switching to white, I bought some more powerful bulbs like this:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...rofit-car/206/


While I was digging around on the site, I found that they sell replacement 74 bulb sockets. Best part: $0.99 each. Sold.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...red/1151/2738/


The stock bases have a black and an orange wire. After splicing in these new bases (black to black, orange to blue wires) they worked perfectly. They only needed a tiny trim to twist into the various parts of the Jeep dash. Here's an example of how I trimmed each new base:



Notice how the tab on the left is sliced at an angle, toward the center. The one on the right is how they come from SBL. I left the one on the right side unmodified here, just to show the difference between the two. You will need to trim both tabs on each base, in order to make them fit the Jeep dash. Be careful not to trim off too much; these new plugs will just fall out the back of their respective places if the tabs are too small. Just trim a little off at a time until you get the perfect fit and use that as your template moving forward. Each plug took me about 30 seconds to trim and about three minutes to splice into the factory wiring. This is super easy.

While I had all the old 74 bulbs out, I also replaced them with more blue LED's, but of a higher output:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...rofit-car/227/


Here's the result:



Since the entire HVAC panel only gets one, tiny, 74 bulb, I bought the brightest one they make (in white):

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...rofit-car/228/


This little thing is really, really bright.



Here's the final setup:




The end result is pretty good. The difference in the gauges are like night and day, quite literally. Maybe even a little too bright, honestly. These bulbs are amazing. I even put LED bulbs in the turn signals and high beam indicator. I just used the cheap 194 type for those, since the brighter ones would be overkill (https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...rofit-car/197/, blue for high beam, green for turns). You guys let me know if you have any questions about the process. I've yet to redo a 97+ dash, so I'm not going to be able to tell you any bulb differences between the two. All of the bulbs I've linked to should work for all '84-'96 XJ's and MJ's.

In total, I used ten 194 bulbs and five 74 bulbs. I replaced four of the type 74 plugs. The one in the steering column, for the ring around the ignition is a different type of socket. That one still looks and functions perfectly in my jeep, so I just swapped in a new 74 LED bulb.

 

It's sad that the HU manufacturers don't offer any option to dim that
● stupid bright
● obnoxious chinese blue hue
● visible from outer space on a cloudy day
● who gives a flying ****
face panel.

Display, yes
Panel, no

 

It's an older Sony unit. Obnoxiously bright since day one. It's become super buggy in the last year or so, too. I'm going to replace it with a Pioneer head unit in the next few months, hopefully. The one I want is completely customizable, from the colors of the buttons and display, to the brightness level of each. I'll be able to match the dash lights in color and brightness.

 

I replaced the dash lights with LEDs in my 96 last year and while I was back there I didn't see one for the HVAC so I ignored it. Im not sure if the bulb burnt out before I got my jeep or if it never came with one for the HVAC but where is it located?

 

If you unscrew and pull the HVAC panel forward a couple of inches, the bulb is located in the upper right corner of the backside. It's common for them to burn out or quit working because of the socket melting. I'm sure you had one back there at some point.

 

I love that new bright white dash, really great job!

I'm going to get on that mod shortly.. I've been replacing all of the bulbs in all of my vehicles with LED, just a little at a time.. I've been getting my bulbs from wish.com.. SUPER CHEAP but so far great quality.. They are a clearing house though, so you get what you get when they happen to have it..

 

Thanks. I've been buying bulbs from superbrightLEDs.com for years. They're really good. Not always the cheapest, but shipping is great and the bulbs have been great for me.