October 2008 Dash Light Mod!
While most of the articles in FJC Magazine focus on off road and mechanical performance, every once in a while an ‘aesthetic’ mod comes along that’s just too good to pass up!
We first learned about the LED Dash Mod from TinCan several months ago, but I knew there was no way I was taking my dash apart and unsoldering several LED’s. Luckily TinCan (BJ) came out to the FJ Summit and graciously agreed to dew a few dashes for Summit attendees. By the time he was done (ours was his last) he was functioning on about 10 hours sleep over 5 days, and did over 20 dashes – quite an amazing accomplishment!
I can’t begin to explain how cool this modification is! It completely transforms the inside of your FJ and really makes it stand out. We chose to use red LED’s to match our black & red TRD theme, but the LED’s are available in just about any color. The most popular color at the Summit was blue, but several other trucks used red as well.
When it was our turn for the mod (at nearly midnight), BJ jumped in the truck and had the dash completely apart in less than 5 minutes. It’s really not that difficult to remove the gauge cluster, gauge pod, and colored control panel; so don’t be intimidated if you would like to have your dash modified. Once he had everything apart, he began the process of unsoldering the old LED’s & soldering the new ones on. I can solder two wires together, but I don’t have the steady hand or the patience to replace such small LED’s. BJ did an amazing (and quick) job and in just over an hour, we had our new dash and were on our way.
The only orange lights now left in our FJ are in a few buttons, the airbag light, defrost button, and of course the FJammer. These items are prohibitively difficult to replace lights in, and would result in this modification costing well over $1,000 (or more) instead of about $250. As I said, this is about the coolest mod we’ve done to the FJC TRD. Everyone that I’ve talked to that’s had the LED mod done is been very pleased with it. TinCan has posted a great how-to article on FJCruiserForums.com, but if you, like me, are not comfortable with replacing the LED’s, he has offered to do the soldering for you. Simply take the components out of your truck & overnight them to him, he’ll do the work & overnight them back. Total turnaround time is about 3 days in most cases. He does charge for his time, but at $250 it’s an amazing deal. There may be an additional cost if you want pink, white, green, orange, or yellow LEDs (anything more unique is harder to find and more expensive). We guarantee you won’t find anyone that’ll do this much custom work for such a great price.
To contact BJ, simply PM him on fjcrusierforums.com (TinCan), or you can also e-mail him at Phidelt702
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