Amber gauge/climate control bulbs
 

Those that have been interested in changing out the green color of the 4Runner to amber, I think I might have found a very easy solution. I'm not sure if this was brought up in the past threads, but Toyota Tacoma's (only 01-04, IIRC) with white gauge faces (I think they only come with the TRD's) all light up amber. Even the factory radio. I believe the layout of the dash is exactly the same as the 4Runner. Hence, I am guessing that the bulbs will be the same size, but with an amber colored condom on.

If anyone's works at Toyota here, it'd be cool if they could check this out. If not, I will be ordering a couple of test bulbs to see if they are, in fact, the same size. The radio is exactly the same as the 4Runner's, too.

Tacoma
http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/20...e/interior.jpg

4Runner
http://www.familycar.com/RoadTests/T...mages/Dash.jpg

Most dash lights are either 194 or 74.

So Yer going to go 80's Mazda orange eh?
it might help your night vision... be interesting to see how it looks...

I wanna know how it goes, I went some aftermarket red bulbs and they are not doing too well so I had been thinking about checking this out.

There are a few threads on here about led conversions. That will be the route I go when I change my dash colors.

I switched mine out to red as it is much easier on the eyes than the factory green. I didnt change a single bulb, just changed the covers.

Sorry for the terrible pics. The clock is getting replaced with an exterior temp gauge that is red as well.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y87...r/DSC00870.jpg

:hillbill: Ha Ha thats great!! I had an '86 mazda pickup with the orange guage/instrument lights. I actually really liked that color because nobody else had it. Glad to see its come back in the Tacomas.

Come on, now. I had amber in my old Integra, S2000 and E30 BMW. I really liked it. :D

The reason why I want to go factory is just the quality. In the past, I have had aftermarket bulbs go out on me and even change color (fade). The factory replacements will be much more reliable. I just hope that they fit. Also, for my 02, I couldn't find any aftermarket bulbs that fit in the climate control. The bulbs must come in a specific base to fit in there, but haven't found one that does.

Mtriple - Good job on the gauge covers. What did you use?

I would also like to know if anyone makes amber colored minibulbs
that go behind my climate controls. I have
a 1999 limited and just replaced the minibulbs behind the climate
control, and they have a lil green condom to make the light green

wondering if I should just paint the bulb, or does someone make
those covers ? they are 1/2 the size of instrument panel lights

painting the bulb is dubious, as it may not be enough to begin with, and then
fade crack or peel....

edzo - I know people have painted the bulbs, but the results were very inconsistent light output, fading, etc. I wouldn't recommend it. I'm thinking Toyota must have put those same bulbs in the newer models. If your local dealership has some of the 03+ model bulbs in stock, you should take yours out and bringing it in to compare. Even if the bases aren't the same, perhaps you could just reuse the condom. (okay, no jokes about that one. :D)

www.superbrightleds.com

you can buy replacement bulbs for your gauges and for your climate control.

the dash takes 3x 194 bulbs, and the climate control/key ring/mostly everything takes type 74 (this includes turn signals and CEL and ABS etc if you want to change those) Some bulbs are a neo wedge size, but I don't remember which.

There are a lot of people who have changed the color in their gauges, do a search and you should find lots of pics.

I think it might be good to note that I have a 2002. I believe the gauge cluster lights are the same for all of the 3rd Gen years (not 100% sure, though), but the climate control lights are different. I found this out the hard way.

my climate control is not knobs, it is
the automatic pushbutton that came on 99 limited,
with backlit lcd display. the
bulbs are unique to the circuit board