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Certified Ranger Nutjob
Joined: Sat Oct 21st, 2017
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First, while gathering pictures I found the last picture I took before the crash and got very sad....
I know you're mostly interested in the cluster... SO I will leave that for last!
First, I'll talk about my new interior!
The original plan was to swap my interior with the black FX4 interior for a better look, an undamaged dash, and all power options. Since I have been working to make my truck road legal again I had time only for the dash swap.
First, I pulled my dash out.
When doing so I realized just how bad my flooring was, So I cleaned it up a bit.
The next step was putting the new dash in, which is a little easier after you have pulled 2 dashes.
Then I put everything else in minus the cluster which I still had to solder together. Truck started (without putting in the clutch which turned out to be a bypass plug that autos have) but threw a code, most likely from the crash. Fuel level sending unit error, I'll fix that when I have time to.
Now to the next section... The Cluster!
So, this is what I started with.
And this is the lighting I was using, only one of which even still worked:
Next, I got the parts and it was ready to work!
First up was a LED strip from SuperBrightLEDs.com, I spend big money on this to ensure that it would not burn out and that if it did I would be covered. I layed it out sort of where it would go and lit it up just to see what I was working with... wow was it nice!
Next, I put in another light. Can you guess what it is? I'll say at the end of this post!
I spent a lot of time laying things out trying to get them perfect, about an hour and a half total! used some spare parts to ensure everything lit up evenly.
Eventually I settled on a layout I liked
So I tightened everything down just how I liked it!
Trimmed everything up, put on the final faces, and put it all together!
I really am sorry about the pictures upsidedown by the way, I keep trying to fix them but nothing works.
At this point, I put it in the truck to make sure everything was done right and it lit up beautifully! No hot spots at all, everything is nice and even. The picture looks bad because my camera is broken. Also, see how that bottom light is off? thats because it is a Gas light! These clusters have the hookups but not the light itself.
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Past:
Baby Girl: 2006 XL 3.0 ~RIP~ 1/26/2015
Current:
Penguin: 2002 XLT 3.SLOW 4x2
River/Kaitlyn: 2003 EDGE 3.GO! 4x2... For now?
~Aspiring Mini Level 2~
The Duck: 2003 Ford Ranger FX4 Level 2 - TWIN STICKS!