[WildKat]

Take me drunk, I'm home.

how much do I get paid for that?

[ThAzKat]

I wasn't the p...pas...in....gerrrrrr of.....i....c..er!

[jax_13]

gauge lights

I ordered reverse illumiglo gauges (not here yet) and I saw someone said that they were kind of dim. So I thought I would replace the dash lights. I have a red 2005 Katana 600 and I have 3 questions. What color should I get? Are there recommended bulbs? How many do I need?

Thanks Folks!

[jax_13]

Help Please. gauge lights

Do you guys recommend replacing the old dash/gauge lights with super bright LED lights when you install illumiglo gauges? I want to get everything I need so I only have to tear out the cluster once. Is blue the best color to go with? I have a red 2005 and I thought red might look good. My gauges are on their way so I need to get cracking on LED's if I need them.

Thanks Again

[The CyberPoet]

Actually, I don't recommend replacing the dash lights if they work and you're installing the indiglo faces. It's not the gauges that are dark & hard to read (quite the contrary); it's seeing the black needle at night.
What I do recommend is scoring some flourescent orange paint at an arts-n-crafts store and painting the needle.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[raven28690]

Im not interested in doing the gauge mod now but just wanting to change the color of the dash lights from white to blue.
is there anything else involved in changing out the stock bulbs to colored leds or is it just a simple swap?

looking at the superbrightleds site, the ones i need for a 98+ kat is the #74 wedge base bulb right and i would need around 7?

[jax_13]

guage needles

My gauge needles are actually white...But I will paint them orange or red or something because white needles on white gauges will be hard to read also. Any "paint" recommendations?

[raven28690]

first thing that comes to my mind is gun sight paint.
can be bought in orange and a glow paint for night time.

[starspan]

As it goes for the LED swap in the dash. If you choose to change all of them to LED's you will need a total of 11 LED's. They are all #74 automotive bulbs on a 98+. Since you are going to go with blue, then you need 7 (Blue) of them (6 for the dash, and, 1 for the High Beam Indicator) 3 Green (2 for the turnsignals, and, 1 for the Neutral Indicator), and, 1 Red (For the Oil Pressure Indicator)

Hope this helps.

[raven28690]

thanks starspan,
exactally the info i needed

[Bigbody45]

i went to buy the bulb and im not sure which one im suppose to pick

[hardlydangerous]

Do we buy JUST the #74 wedge base LEDs and use the OE twist lock base OR
Do we buy the T1.5 (led/base unit)
OR
Do we buy the T8.5 (same as T1.5 but shorter bulb)

I ask because some of the #74 bulbs are not removable from the twist lock bases, like in my car, however in my truck they were removable.

[Astro4x4]

http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=73877&highlight=gauge+leds

[BarMatt80]

to hardly and bigbody, if you go with superbrightleds.com bulbs you need to get their twist lock bases as their bulb bases are slightly to thick to fit in the stock twist locks. post 98 you need the little bulbs i think the ones bigbody said t1.5 or something

[Imagin]

Definitly something of interest as i find the stock lighting WAY to dim.

But i will say the warning lights are bright enough as is lol.

Question is (painting the needle) how it would do since there is no real backlighting for it. Im thinking the best way is a very bright color...

I might have to ask my LED guy how he can play with doing this. I HATE resetting needles.