Gauge panel

[NorCal510PSD]

Has anyone on the board ever taken apart the gauge panel on their trucks? I wanted to change the bulbs to LED's...heres what I did to my silverado i used to have and I wanted to try to do somthing simalar. Here a pic of my old gauges.

[sprayed98z]

if you do it let me know how it goes i would like to do the same

[XPLOSIV]

Subscribing. Need to take my TPMS bulb out.

[Rattlesnake18]

Originally Posted by NorCal510PSD

Has anyone on the board ever taken apart the gauge panel on their trucks? I wanted to change the bulbs to LED's...heres what I did to my silverado i used to have and I wanted to try to do somthing simalar. Here a pic of my old gauges.

Check this thread out bud, I know it was done a 6.0, but couldn't imagine it would be much different on a 6.4.... *PICS* Blue LED interior and dash light conversion

[NathanScott]

It is not hard at all. First take a picture of where the gauges are pointing when the truck is on!! Remove the dash trim around the cluster. Remember there are 2 screws (7mm) on the top part of the trim. There are 2 screws holding the cluster (7mm). There is one plug on the back right side to unplug and then it can be removed from the truck. Once removed there will be a few small torx (T15) screws on the back that hold the cluster together along with some clips on the side. Once the screws are removed and the clips are pulled out some the 2 pieces of the cluster can be pulled apart. The needles of the cluster just pull straight out. Be careful because the shaft the needle is attached to is very thin. I used an interior trim tool to pull the needles off, but 2 screw drivers on each side of the needle should work to pull them up evenly. Make sure you have a piece of tape on the ends of the screw drivers to protect the gauge and needles. Once the needles are removed the inlay for the gauge can be removed. There is some glue holding it down, but not hard to pull back with a little finess from a putty knife. I put a piece of electrical tape on the back side of the inlay where the TPMS light is so it will not shine thru. When you are ready to assemble everything back, a little trick to get the needles in the correct position is to plug in the gauge cluster before you put the needles on and the 2 halves together. The gauge will make a noise for a couple of seconds, but after the noise is gone, just install the needles on the shaft pointing to "0", "C", or "E" and gently push them on (I would not push the needles on all the way in case you have to adjust them). After that, then turn the ignition to ON (no need to start the truck). Check the position of the gauges to make sure they are correct with the picture you took earlier. Once everything is pointing correctly, push the needles all the way down and finishing putting the cluster back together. I would recommend doing all of this when the truck is completely cool so the temp gauges are on the "C" when the ignition is "ON".

Here is a picture of the trim tool I used to remove the needles...