This will work for all these LED Diodes for any vehicle. so I am posting it in my section but it can be moved as needed to get to as many of you as needed to help you make these more successful.
OK guys and gals, I'm sure that you will all agree that this is a simple thing to do. Plug and Play.
BUT its not that easy with the type that I used. I reached out to our friends at LMR and purchased a set of "Diode Dynamics 194 Led smd2 60" these are the white housings not the green ones. I purchased them back in May of 17 and had quite a time putting them in. You see the product is GREAT do not get me wrong, but the design could be better when it comes to the contact wire. The surface area is just not that large and causes a need for some MUSTANG Improvisation.
WELL DON'T BE AFRAID, because there is a simple solution here.
What you need:
1 Pepsi Can
1 Bottle Super Glue
1 Pair Scissors
1 LED Bulb
1 Socket
1 roll Masking Tape
As you can see the surface area is sorely lacking and that is why I ended up destroying three of these little babies while trying totroubleshoot why they begain to fail after a week of use. I was driving at night and suddenly half the dash went out on me and I was not too pleased. Come to find out that single wire these have coming out of each side is not enough to stay in contact with the interior of the socket. I did my best to move that wire around so it would stay in contact with the interior metal of the socket but ended up destroying some of them in the process. I am here to tell you now, once that wire comes out of the housing, its done, you are not getting that diode to work again.
So, I reached out to our friends at LMR and let them know what was going on and that I needed to get another set sent to me. I asked if anyone else had the same issue with them but they didn't recall any feedback noting the same things that I was describing. (Possibly me just being a moron) About a week later though, a bran new pack arrived at my door free of charge and I UM UM got lazy and went for about a year and well until this weekend without replacing them. Recap: Purchased May 17, Installed day they arrived, broke a week later, Called LMR, New Pack showed up a week later, Got Lazy until January 2019. NOW....... WOW....... We have Light.
SO this is a little tip for those of you who are about to do this upgrade.
1. Drink the Pepsi while taking the dash apart and getting the sockets out of the back of the cluster and heater/AC controller.
2. Clean all metal surfaces on the back of the cluster, heater/AC controller, and the sockets to make sure the years of whatever is gone.
3. Cut up the can into strips and remove as much paint as you can on both sides of each. I simply used a knife to scrape it off.
4. Test Fit the Strip, it should fit on one side flat so you can smooth it around to the other and make contact with the wire on the opposite side. Each LED Diode will take two of these strips so make sure they wont tough each other.
5. Apply the Superglue to the side that does not have the wire and then wrap it around so that it will have maximum conductivity.
6. Insert it into the socket.
7. Plug it into the back of the cluster. Since Ford did not create a stop on the cluster itself, you have to make sure that once it is in tight, stop turning because it will spin right out again.
8. To Help out Ford overcome its flaws. Use Masking tape to keep the socket in place, we all know that these things will move unexpectedly on us once we have it all installed and are proud to show our great work, then the thing wont light up.
Before Inserting into socket:
Below: OEM VS LED, This is the one I posted on LMR's Site with my review before I had all my troubles with the socket shifting and the wires breaking. Worked for 1 week before I had the issues. (May 2017)
FULL DIM LED: 01-06-2019
FULL BRIGHT LED:
SO, there it is. Just a little thought behind the upgrade will make it a success for a long life.
OK guys and gals, I'm sure that you will all agree that this is a simple thing to do. Plug and Play.
BUT its not that easy with the type that I used. I reached out to our friends at LMR and purchased a set of "Diode Dynamics 194 Led smd2 60" these are the white housings not the green ones. I purchased them back in May of 17 and had quite a time putting them in. You see the product is GREAT do not get me wrong, but the design could be better when it comes to the contact wire. The surface area is just not that large and causes a need for some MUSTANG Improvisation.
WELL DON'T BE AFRAID, because there is a simple solution here.
What you need:
1 Pepsi Can
1 Bottle Super Glue
1 Pair Scissors
1 LED Bulb
1 Socket
1 roll Masking Tape
As you can see the surface area is sorely lacking and that is why I ended up destroying three of these little babies while trying totroubleshoot why they begain to fail after a week of use. I was driving at night and suddenly half the dash went out on me and I was not too pleased. Come to find out that single wire these have coming out of each side is not enough to stay in contact with the interior of the socket. I did my best to move that wire around so it would stay in contact with the interior metal of the socket but ended up destroying some of them in the process. I am here to tell you now, once that wire comes out of the housing, its done, you are not getting that diode to work again.
So, I reached out to our friends at LMR and let them know what was going on and that I needed to get another set sent to me. I asked if anyone else had the same issue with them but they didn't recall any feedback noting the same things that I was describing. (Possibly me just being a moron) About a week later though, a bran new pack arrived at my door free of charge and I UM UM got lazy and went for about a year and well until this weekend without replacing them. Recap: Purchased May 17, Installed day they arrived, broke a week later, Called LMR, New Pack showed up a week later, Got Lazy until January 2019. NOW....... WOW....... We have Light.
SO this is a little tip for those of you who are about to do this upgrade.
1. Drink the Pepsi while taking the dash apart and getting the sockets out of the back of the cluster and heater/AC controller.
2. Clean all metal surfaces on the back of the cluster, heater/AC controller, and the sockets to make sure the years of whatever is gone.
3. Cut up the can into strips and remove as much paint as you can on both sides of each. I simply used a knife to scrape it off.
4. Test Fit the Strip, it should fit on one side flat so you can smooth it around to the other and make contact with the wire on the opposite side. Each LED Diode will take two of these strips so make sure they wont tough each other.
5. Apply the Superglue to the side that does not have the wire and then wrap it around so that it will have maximum conductivity.
6. Insert it into the socket.
7. Plug it into the back of the cluster. Since Ford did not create a stop on the cluster itself, you have to make sure that once it is in tight, stop turning because it will spin right out again.
8. To Help out Ford overcome its flaws. Use Masking tape to keep the socket in place, we all know that these things will move unexpectedly on us once we have it all installed and are proud to show our great work, then the thing wont light up.
Before Inserting into socket:
Below: OEM VS LED, This is the one I posted on LMR's Site with my review before I had all my troubles with the socket shifting and the wires breaking. Worked for 1 week before I had the issues. (May 2017)
FULL BRIGHT LED:
SO, there it is. Just a little thought behind the upgrade will make it a success for a long life.
