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An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting To LED

94K views 135 replies 26 participants last post by  Seakir 
#1 · (Edited)
Why upgrade to LED you say?

LEDs have several advantages over conventional incandescent lamps. For one thing, they don't have a filament that will burn out, so they last much longer.

The main advantage is efficiency. In conventional incandescent bulbs, the light-production process involves generating a lot of heat (the filament must be warmed). This is completely wasted energy, unless you're using the lamp as a heater, because a huge portion of the available electricity isn't going toward producing visible light. LEDs generate very little heat, relatively speaking. A much higher percentage of the electrical power is going directly to generating light, which cuts down on the electricity demands considerably. You'll never have to worry about leaving your interior lights on over night and running out your battery as they use 1/10 of the amount of electricity as incandescents.

Per-watt, LEDs output more lumens of light than regular incandescent bulbs. Light emitting diodes have a higher luminous efficacy (how efficiently electricity is converted to visible light) than incandescents.

Ashtray (Bulb# 161) (Quantity = 1)


Cargo Area, Rear (Bulb# 212-2) (Quantity = 1)


Climate Control (Automatic - Bulbs are soldered to circuit board) (Manual, Bulb# PC74) (Quantity = 6)


Cluster ilumination (Status & Warning, Bulb# PC74 - Quantity = 12+) (Backlighting, excluding electroluminescent) (Bulb# 103 - Quantity = 5)


Courtesy Front Doors (Bulb# 906) (Quanity = 2) (Recommened Style: 360 or Forward)


Courtesy Under Dash (Bulb# 906/194) (Quantity = 2) (Recommended Style: Forward)


Dome/Reading/EVIC (Bulb# 192) (Quantity = 2) (Recommend style: Flank)


Glove Box (Bulb# 194) (Quantity = 1)


Passenger Assist Handle (Bulb# 214-2) (Quantity 2-3)


Sunvisor Vanity (Bulb# 6501966) (Quantity = 4)



(Though technically not classified as interior lights, I classify them in this category due to their part numbers being similar and/or in the same category as interior bulbs.)


License Plate (Bulb# 168) (Quantity = 2) (Recommended Style: Flank)


Underhood (Bulb# 561) (Quantity = 1) (99'-01' Only)


Color Temperatures:

Once you get your bulb# numbers and kind of LED's you will be purchasing, You will find that there are two main color temperatures that most LED's are sold as. 5K, is a pure white and a color that you will like if going for a luxury look or just want better lighting in general. 6K, is still whitish light but with a tint of blue to it. 6K is best for people looking for a custom/cool look while still getting a much needed improvement in lighting. All other colors offered do not meet the Lumen outputs of either 5K or 6K.

5K Festoon


6K Festoon


5K Interior


6K Interior


5K Interior Angle


6K Interior Angle



Load Resistors:

LED bulbs may cause some newer vehicles to indicate a bulb is burnt out (because of their low power consumption). This can be remedied with load resistors to simulate a filament bulb load. One way to test this is to pull out one of your bulbs, if you get a bulb out warning you will need load resistors. Some owners opt to ignore this problem when replacing all of their interior lights with LED's. Without a load resistor your LED's never really shut off and will stay on very dimly. While some owners could care less, If you have an attention to detail or want to properly do your setup, a lot of owners mount a load resistor inside and above their rear cargo light.

Recommended LED sellers/manufacturers:

1) V-LED's

http://www.v-leds.com/Shop/Control/fp/SFV/32481/user/velocity

2) Putco (Available through KBCarStuff)

http://www.kbcarstuff.com/Automotive-LED-Bulbs-s/317.htm

3) Auto Lumination

http://www.autolumination.com/

4) Super Bright LED's

http://www.superbrightleds.com/

Note: I just wanted to make a simple guide that would help new owner's who are interested in replacing their incandescent bulbs with LED's as well has helping them make an informed decision about which reputable/high quality sellers to purchase from. All credit for the pictures goes to WJJeeps.com, An ever growing/evolving knowledge base about the WJ (1999-2004). If I missed anything or you would like to see something added, Feel free to Private Message me. I will be adding more every so often as long as it's relevant.

(I like to think I'm pretty knowledgeable in the area of lighting so if anyone needs any extra or specialized help feel free to PM me.)
 
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#4 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

Great write up!:thumbsup:

I've done all my interior, but I'm now looking into doing the dash lights in blue, to match my gauge pod. So far I've only come up with these bulbs;



Are these correct :confused: as I'm not 100% convinced they are. I'm impatient, so trying to source these in the UK.
 
#5 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

Great write up!:thumbsup:

I've done all my interior, but I'm now looking into doing the dash lights in blue, to match my gauge pod. So far I've only come up with these bulbs; Are these correct :confused: as I'm not 100% convinced they are. I'm impatient, so trying to source these in the UK.
From what I can find, a T5 can also use a "74" bulb.

One of these might work well for you:

3 LED version

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...e-LED/BLUE-3-LED-WEDGE-BASE-p6298444-1-2.html

1 LED version

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...e-LED/HIGH-POWER-BLUE-WEDGE-p4481066-1-2.html

or maybe this last one

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...LED/SMT-HIGH-POWER-BLUE-NEO-p7661042-1-2.html
 
#6 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

great write up!! im switching to blue soon...
 
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#8 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

I reread you post about being impatient. Based on what the twist connections look like on the gauge circuit board, I would say no, those are not correct. I would go with v-leds or superbrightleds and try and be patient! haha
 
#13 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

Can't wait for my dash to look that amazing...
 
#16 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

Once you get to the panel you just take a pliers and twist the plastic connector out and twist a new one in.

Make sure you plug it in and check that the lights are all in correctly before you put everything back together! I learned the hard way... Haha
 
#17 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

I wanted to check just for that reason, learning the hard way. Knowing my luck, they'd probably light everything up like a Christmas tree and blow up! lol
 
#18 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

i just ordered blue led's for the gauges and white for the dome lights... cant wait to get these in...
 
#20 · (Edited)
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

Anyone have any pics of the bulbs? I'm struggling to match what's on wjjeeps etc with the UK names :rolleyes:

I want to order them from a uk supplier cause I'm impatient lol.
I can give you a link to each one I used in each location from V-LED. Most importantly Louis, Remember that good things come to those who wait and patience is a virtue :)

I haven't tampered with the glove box or ashtray as of yet so I don't know the orientation of the sockets.

These were the brightest options I could find for each given socket.

Cargo area, rear:

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...LED/HID-5K-WHITE-HIGH-POWER-p9454129-1-2.html

Courtesy Front doors:

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...-LED/5K-WHITE-4-LED-2W-HIGH-p8761053-1-2.html

or

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...e-LED/5K-WHITE-13-LED-LIGHT-p8804828-1-2.html

Courtesy Under dash:

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...-LED/5K-WHITE-4-LED-2W-HIGH-p8761053-1-2.html

Dome / Reading / EVIC:

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...e-LED/5K-WHITE-4-LED-2-WATT-p8825900-1-2.html

Passenger assist handle:

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...LED/HID-5K-WHITE-HIGH-POWER-p9454129-1-2.html

Sunvisor vanity:

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...ED/5K-WHITE-HI-POWER-3-CHIP-p9768538-1-2.html

License plate:

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...e-LED/5K-WHITE-4-LED-2-WATT-p8825900-1-2.html

Underhood:

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...LED/5K-WHITE-HI-POWER-3-LED-p8700746-1-2.html
 
#30 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

Is there a big difference between 5k interior lighting and 6k? I'm kicking around doing my interior and I don't want something super harsh but I don't want yellow either.5k? I'm kinda out of my element with this led stuff.
 
#31 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

Is there a big difference between 5k interior lighting and 6k? I'm kicking around doing my interior and I don't want something super harsh but I don't want yellow either.5k? I'm kinda out of my element with this led stuff.
I THINK it's just the colour Dave. I believe the higher up the range, the bluer the light. I'm not sure what "k" my ones are, but they are nice and white and not at all harsh.
 
#38 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

Great thread! I have converted my exterior lights to LED, but am having a problem with the 3157 burning out (especially the running light part). I am thinking that it may be the cheap eBay lights I have been buying, so I put the regular 3157 bulbs in for now. Hate to get stopped for something stupid! Andyone know anything about the "LED Protectors" that have been online? They seem to go in series with the ground wire and the blub/bulb cluster...
 
#39 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

Great thread! I have converted my exterior lights to LED, but am having a problem with the 3157 burning out (especially the running light part). I am thinking that it may be the cheap eBay lights I have been buying, so I put the regular 3157 bulbs in for now. Hate to get stopped for something stupid! Andyone know anything about the "LED Protectors" that have been online? They seem to go in series with the ground wire and the blub/bulb cluster...
Did you wire up resistors to the #3157 LED's?
 
#40 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

Sure did. In fact, there are THREE 6 ohm, 50W resistors in each of my taillight bays. Gotta figure a way to secure them, as they keep hitting metal when I start/stop/turn! :) The backup and turn indicators are fine, never any issues, but the running/brake lights keep going out, as do the license plate lights (no resistors there, no space!)
 
#41 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

I don't know, that's quite weird. I have the same problems with my license plate LED's going burning out after a while. One side seems to pulsate lol, I don't know what's up with that. Maybe the LED's are getting too much power and burning out or maybe you're using an inferior quality one. Did you try one of the manufacturers mentioned earlier in the guide?
 
#43 · (Edited)
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

EXACTLY the same problem I am having with my license plate lights. The "LED protector I spoke of is here: http://superlumination.com/images/auto_bulbs/protector_wm.jpg
I've never used one of those before but it looks like it hooks up just like a resistor. When I mentioned mine pulsates, it did that after a while of use. One side had burnt out and the other started that pulsating s***.

What particular LED did you use for the License plate?

I used this one: (They redesigned it recently with that heatsink on the back of it that makes a half circle. Before it use to be completely flat so I'm not sure it would fit.)

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-...e-LED/5K-WHITE-4-LED-2-WATT-p8825900-1-2.html
 
#44 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

My load resistors are wired across the LED, as if it were another buld. That is the way everything I have seen said to do it. Made no sense to me, but it does keep things from flashing fast! My personal thoughts, from over 40 years in electronics, is that it should be in series with the lights, so it cuts down on the current going through the LEDs, yet loads it up enough to make the car think it is regular bulbs. When it warms up, I may try that on my tail lights to see if my theory is right. Too damn cold outside right now!
 
#45 · (Edited)
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

My load resistors are wired across the LED, as if it were another buld. That is the way everything I have seen said to do it. Made no sense to me, but it does keep things from flashing fast! My personal thoughts, from over 40 years in electronics, is that it should be in series with the lights, so it cuts down on the current going through the LEDs, yet loads it up enough to make the car think it is regular bulbs. When it warms up, I may try that on my tail lights to see if my theory is right. Too damn cold outside right now!
That's exactly what LED resistors are for, to trick the system that they're regular bulbs and not to hyper flash because the minimum power requirement isn't being met.

You could always buy some LED tails off of Ebay. Many users like the Eagle Eye tails that came out last year.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/99-00-01-02...el:Grand+Cherokee&vxp=mtr&hash=item20bd05eccd
 
#46 · (Edited)
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ's Interior Lighting to LED

OK so my impatient ass got some cheap ass bulbs, which were the right size, yay! But a minor problem ensued...

This is what I ended up with;



Some areas are pretty damn dull. I don't think it's something I've done, as they just pop in and out.
I've ordered some more powerful bulbs, that are much better quality. We'll see how this turns out.
 
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