Credit: SeedyROM

NOTE: This is not a custom LED wiring/replacement thread. This is an LED bulb replacement solution I found since 5.5 owners don’t have as many options as earlier models. That is, until now. Total cost being around ~$15 and a half an hour of time.

First some history. In TunerMaxima3000’s custom LED thread (link here) we found out that these later 5.5 clusters are more restrictive and only have two illumination bulbs for the actual gauges (+2 more for the odometer/trip). This means that traditional drop-ins, narrow beam LEDs, etc look terrible in our clusters. I myself tried to use various #74 bulbs from O’Reilly and the same #74 LED from SuperBrightLEDs.com that some ’00 guys used. All of these either did little or looked even worse. However, I decided not to give up and bought every version of #74 LED that SuperBrightLEDs sold, figuring if I could create a similar beam pattern to the stock bulb I might get close enough to live with it.

Well I’m pleased to report that I found one specific LED that worked and is MUCH better than stock. First off, be warned that you will get some slight hot-spotting in that certain areas are a bit brighter than others. However, if your cluster is like mine, there’s already hot-spotting with STOCK bulbs (see pic). After the upgrade, overall brightness is at least triple what my stock lighting was and it actually smoothed out some of the hot-spotting. Overall I am very happy with it for a total cost of around $15 (four LEDs).

These are the exact LEDs I found that worked the best as a pure solution. I chose the Cool White color (#74-CWHP3) which ends up being a mild blue as seen in pics below.

Model: 74-xHP3 – YOU WILL WANT FOUR OF THEM (2 for gauges, 2 for odometer/trip)
Link: https://www.superbrightleds.com/74-led-bulb-3-smd-led-miniature-wedge-base

They might be a bit loose in the bulb holder but a flathead screwdriver can be used to push the metal leads together a bit and get a good fit. Also be warned that the 5.5 has a blue film that means changing colors probably wont work well so stick with the Cool White when you choose the color. Any other color is at your own risk. (UPDATE: Warm White pics below)

Anyway, here are the results. Same camera, same dark garage just a few weeks apart. The pics are 100% untouched in Photoshop other than to reduce the image size. The pic was actually brightened a bit because the photo was darker than reality. The difference is night and day on my Max.

100% Stock ’02 cluster. Note how there are hotspots even from the factory.

After pic, 100% unmodified. Note the hot spots which are still there but actually a bit less obvious than stock and blend better. The temp gauge though does appear overall darker than the rest.

Here are a few closeups, also 100% unmodified. The bulb actually sits right behind the 5,000RPM area which is why that’s slightly brighter.

The other side. Again like above, the bulb sits behind the 60mph area causing it to be brighter. Still looks great compared to stock!

So there you have it. A possible very cheap solution to get a noticeable improvement in your stock 5.5 gauge cluster lighting. Please take note that I just finished this tonight and have no guarantees on longevity or that my results will be exactly the same as yours. I have also not tested on other year clusters. That said, you really aren’t risking much (around $15-$20) in attempting this as long as you’re comfortable removing the cluster, which is not difficult at all.

Post up any questions or concerns and I’ll do my best to answer them!

Video of the dimmer switch functioning properly.

So there you have it. A possible very cheap solution to get a noticeable improvement in your stock 5.5 gauge cluster lighting. Please take note that I just finished this tonight and have no guarantees on longevity or that my results will be exactly the same as yours. I have also not tested on other year clusters. That said, you really aren’t risking much (around $15-$20) in attempting this as long as you’re comfortable removing the cluster, which is not difficult at all.

Additional Info:

Closeup pictures of the actual wedge bulb holders. They really are easy to replace once you get the cluster out. You re-use the black holder, just pop out the old bulb and install the new LED as seen in the pic. Thanks to nelledge for the photos.

These photos may help to get a better idea. A few posts up (#238) is a picture of the bulbs you are replacing. You can see that they have a wedge base not a threaded base.

For those curious about the backside cluster differences, here are the pics from the original thread. First is what you earlier model guys have. I think these are from an ’00 that TunerMaxima3000 posted. Note the center bulbs you can change out with a much better layout.

And here’s what my ’02 cluster looks like. I removed the black plastic cover but you can see that we don’t have the same center bulbs for easy lighting. Instead we only have the top two corner black ones to light all four gauges and you need a perfect beam pattern to do it. The bottom two corner bulbs are for the square odometer/trip meter only. I don’t think you HAVE to replace those but it wont look as clean since the odometer/trip meter will be yellowish/white.

More Member Install Pics

CustomLowz