He never replied back to me when I PM'd him so I am guessing not

 

I'm late to the party, but I want to add a few things. When you do the lights, you need two things. The 194 bulbs, AND lock and twists bases. I was under the impression when I ordered that they only needed to be 5 SMD. Those are only the bulbs. I found several write ups, and youtube videos that said you NEEDED the bases, because the factory ones wouldn't work, WELL THAT IS WRONG. Apparently more regurgitated misinformation. I just swapped mine, and used the factory bases with a little work


Here you can see the factory bases empty, with my new LEDs, and the side clips. If you ever fixed the old Christmas light bulbs, you know how this is going to go.

I used the 90 degree pick to push in the little clips on the side. With some force they will go almost half way up, then you can use either a set of needlenose pliers to pull em out, or a small flathead to push them through, (that was about an hour to figure out the best method). To reinstall, the LED bulb has the little metal wire contacts, you bend those to the side, fold them out a little so they slide in the slot of the base, and push them down firm. Then those little metal clips go back in (S curve with the bottom in, and top out). The bottom locks in the contact for the bulbs and the top sticks out and makes contact / the circuit with the board. Those (board) contact tabs are also what apply pressure to secure the board. Now that I've saved you the learning phase, you should be able to do the 6 in 10-30 minutes.




My priority for swapping mine was to have a needle that was as visible as possible with my peripherals. I drive with my headlights turned on all the time, (I just think it's safer).

Here is white needles with the two left bubs blue, and the four right bulbs blue.





Here is the two on the right are blue, and the rest are white LED.



What I noticed, is that with the white needles, and no lights the numbers and needle are white, (white during the day). With the white needle and blue lights, The needle also looks blue (blue, or any other color bulbs you choose with white needles). I really liked the idea of having two completely different options. However since I drive with my lights on all the time, I didn't want the blue during the day, (because I wear blublockers). I'm sure someone else might like that option though.


With lights off, white needles.

 

I ordered new sockets when I went LED, but they aren't exactly right. They fit and work, but don't twist in like the originals do. While they were in my cluster I played with the old sockets and got them to work with my LEDs too. Only difference is I held the sockets over my trash can and took my needle nose and crushed the old factory bulbs out of the sockets and cleaned em out. Working great! 😏

 

1. BUMP don't let this dream die.

2. I've seen videos, and write-ups that say when you pull the back cover off, to use a flathead screwdriver to pop off the tabs. Well, I say use TWO. Not sure if those clips will break, but this definitely makes them easier to come off.


3 A. If you decide to replace the needles, GOOD LUCK. My best suggestion is to take out the cluster, take off the front and back covers, put some tape under the needles such blue painters tape. Plug the cover back in. Then mark where the needles are, pull the needles off, and with it still all plugged in, put the new needles back on as close as you can. 03-07 use stepper motors which can be reset. 99-02 use air core motors which can not. There might be a better way to do this by locking the motors in place from the back if you take it apart farther, but I've been trying to get my needles set right, and still having trouble.
3 B The needles I bought look great, but the speedometer needle rubs and sticks when I installed it all the way down. The 03-07 needles sit farther off the face (earlier post). You MIGHT want to consider using those, that's all the help I can provide on this. On mine, I just pulled it up a little so its just not seated as far down as it could.

4. Probably the best part of this post, the sockets. So if you have tried to just buy the black T10 bulb sockets you see everywhere on Amazon or ebay, they are all the same. When you install them the contacts don't sit correctly. With where the factory lock is, the "handle / body" sits vertical. With the aftermarket ones, they sit at about 1:30. Well there is a gap on the board for the contacts from about 1 - 2 o clock. The aftermarket lock right in where there is no contact with the board.





They need to lock in just before 90 degrees to work, and the aftermarket all lock in just after 90 degrees. The aftermarket sockets frankly have a better design. On the factory ones, there is a small contact portion, and you either need to break the bulbs and dig in to clean em out, or pull the tabs. It's possible, but a PITA.

I found the factory bulb socket that works. The LED bulb fits in and looks like the aftermarket, but it is clocked the same as the factory connector.
PART # 88860432 ac delco # LS130. If you want you could spend $5-$10 on a different colored set of lights and with these sockets swap them out as easy as pulling them out and back in. The factory sockets work, but the design could be improved. The funny thing is, these sockets were in almost everything from the 50s-90s made in America. They are about $4 each (need 6). I bought two to test. They work and mount vertically like the factory, and lock in at the same angle. The rest of my set is on the way. I don't do things like most people, but I'm going to buy a bunch of colors and try them out. With Amazon, I'll probably even return them after I test them.

 

I always take the black thing off with my fingers lol

 

Now that's a great way to break a nail

 

It just hurts my finger tips a bit I try not to use the nail lol

 

Be careful bro, we wouldn't want you to damage those.

 

I did get an 03-05 cluster to work in my 2001 RCSB truck. Doesn't have the fancy DIC info since it's not available but I was able to reprogram to 7k tach and 140mph speedo. Everything works as it should. You'll need to wire up the 03+ oil pressure sender and do some custom PCM tuning to make the volt gauge work on class2. Finally the IPC plug needs to be repinned. The IPC needs to be programmed as a base level truck so it doesn't have all the fancy DIC info or it will throw random messages since the other modules are missing.

It is a little work but it does open up options for 99-02 guys who just want a better looking IPC and the 7k tach and 140mph speedo option.

I can get some pics if you guys want to see. and I need to see what I can do about making the tuning fix public for the volt gauge.

 

Sounds like fun! I'm still trying to score a 03-05 Denali or Escalade cluster from a parts yard so I can play around with it. I know... there's some on eBay, but I'm not paying hundreds of dollars for one. I've seen stock ones listed $150-$300 or more! No sir. Not when Pick n Pull or Wrench a Part is $35ish. Soon I'll find one and get it. Then it's game on!

I'm also still waiting on that magical 99-02/03-05 plug-n-play adapter a little birdie told me about...