Replacing the interior lights of your Jeep Wrangler TJ with LEDs

Hello Chris,

Great write up, very helpful.

I've got a 1997 Sahara TJ and the lights have never been replaced and the footwell 194s do not fit because I have these...

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I can't find an LED housing that will fit in that socket. Anyone know if there is an adapter or something?

Thanks!

The ones @LJ recommended above should work fine; I used the same ones that I put in for my back up lights because they came in a multi-pack and they fit. I will tell you they are really bright. Turn on your courtesies going down a dark road for any reason and you’ll blind yourself, LOL. The ones I bought a couple years back aren’t available, but these are pretty much the same:
Qoope 1156 LED Bulb White Super Bright 1141 LED Bulbs RV Light Interior Bulbs 7506 1003 1073 BA15S LED Bulb 18SMD 5050 Replacement for 12V Camper Travel Trailer Boat Light Bulbs, Pack of 6 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5GQZWM4/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
The ones @LJ recommended above should work fine; I used the same ones that I put in for my back up lights because they came in a multi-pack and they fit. I will tell you they are really bright. Turn on your courtesies going down a dark road for any reason and you’ll blind yourself, LOL. The ones I bought a couple years back aren’t available, but these are pretty much the same:
Qoope 1156 LED Bulb White Super Bright 1141 LED Bulbs RV Light Interior Bulbs 7506 1003 1073 BA15S LED Bulb 18SMD 5050 Replacement for 12V Camper Travel Trailer Boat Light Bulbs, Pack of 6 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5GQZWM4/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Thanks! So, not sure if this will work, but I know that you can dim glass bulbs (like coffe table lamps) with any color of sharpie (we did this in college because, well, we were in college and didn't have money for fancy bulbs like that back in the 90's...and if it doesn't work, a little rubbing alcohol on a paper towel will remove it. Problem, I guess if you want to call it a problem, is that the ink will fade over time, but it's a sharpie so doing it over for the floorwells wouldn't be too hard to do over.

Damn, you know what? The lights I removed and threw out (yep, stupid and I know better) worked and I guess if I wanted green floorwells I should've just tried to do that first.
 
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Thanks! So, not sure if this will work, but I know that you can dim glass bulbs (like coffe table lamps) with any color of sharpie (we did this in college because, well, we were in college and didn't have money for fancy bulbs like that back in the 90's...and if it doesn't work, a little rubbing alcohol on a paper towel will remove it. Problem, I guess if you want to call it a problem, is that the ink will fade over time, but it's a sharpie so doing it over for the floorwells wouldn't be too hard to do over.

Damn, you know what? The lights I removed and threw out (yep, stupid and I know better) worked and I guess if I wanted green floorwells I should've just tried to do that first.

I’m not sure I’d want to take a sharpie to the kind of LED’s I put in, but I could see doing to the ones @LJ linked to as they appear to be encased in a clear outer bulb of some sort. FWIW, you could always try it on the plastic cover of the footwell light itself.
Now me, I never throw anything away. I’ve still got all the incandescents I pulled when I replaced them with LED’s stashed away. Something for my family to have to throw out when I die, I’m sure. 🤣
 
I’m not sure I’d want to take a sharpie to the kind of LED’s I put in, but I could see doing to the ones @LJ linked to as they appear to be encased in a clear outer bulb of some sort. FWIW, you could always try it on the plastic cover of the footwell light itself.
Now me, I never throw anything away. I’ve still got all the incandescents I pulled when I replaced them with LED’s stashed away. Something for my family to have to throw out when I die, I’m sure. 🤣

Yeah, yeah, totally would paint with a sharpie on anything other than a glas or plastic case. I’m assuming it is plastic, but back in the day you could paint glass bulbs too.
 
Yeah, yeah, totally would paint with a sharpie on anything other than a glas or plastic case. I’m assuming it is plastic, but back in the day you could paint glass bulbs too.

I did get 4 working LEDs out of 5 this evening! Check it out! I figured I’d leave the middle bulb stock until the replacement came in.

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Yeah, yeah, totally would paint with a sharpie on anything other than a glas or plastic case. I’m assuming it is plastic, but back in the day you could paint glass bulbs too.

The ones I bought have a clear casing but I didn’t look close enough to see if it was glass or plastic, either way I’ll give it a shot and show you a follow up next week probably. Gotta go with green. Got to.
 
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The ones I bought have a clear casing but I didn’t look close enough to see if it was glass or plastic, either way I’ll give it a shot and show you a follow up next week probably. Gotta go with green. Got to.

All but a couple of my interior lights are green also, including the footwell and sound bar lights. Very happy with it.

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Hello Chris,

Great write up, very helpful.

I've got a 1997 Sahara TJ and the lights have never been replaced and the footwell 194s do not fit because I have these...

View attachment 459714

I can't find an LED housing that will fit in that socket. Anyone know if there is an adapter or something?

Thanks!

I forget who posted these but I've liked them for my 97 foot well better than the taller LED tower ones

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07VMFRPNX?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
Thanks to @nk24 for all this information!

Below you'll find a guide to replacing all the interior lights on your Jeep Wrangler TJ with LED bulbs. There's links to the bulbs you'll need, and you should find it's a pretty straight forward job.

Depending on what model of Jeep you have (i.e. Rubicon, Sport, etc.), you may need more or less bulbs for your rocker switches. I say that because an automatic Rubicon with a hardtop has 4 rocker switches, whereas a Sport model with a manual transmission and no hardtop may only have 1 rocker switch. It just depends on your model and factory options.


Parts Required (1997-2002)


Parts Required (2003-2006)

Tips
  • Rocker switch lights: You'll need 4mm LEDs for the switch light illumination bulbs, and 3mm LEDs for the switch indicators (the lights that come on when you turn the with to the on position). The number you need of each depends on how many your particular model has.
  • If you have a Rubicon model, don't bother trying to replace the axle locker switch unless you're experienced with soldering, as those bulbs require soldering.
  • Remember that the cluster and the rocker switch lights are polar, meaning that they have to be oriented in the correct direction. Make sure you test them before you button everything back up.
  • LED replacements are much brighter than the stock bulbs. If you're going to do one switch with LED, I would recommend doing them all.
  • There are a few differences for the '97-'02 models. Cluster and rocker switches are the same as above. There is only one light in the soundbar, and that is the same as the footwells/shifter as shown above. There is a separate light in the rear of the hard top, and that is the same as the lights in the sound pods as shown above.

I bought all the requirements for the Parts Required for 1997-2002 but I think I also still need to buy the hubs? When I tried to replace today, the bulbs weren't removeable from the old hubs, at least I couldn't figure out a way to do it. I started with the instrument cluster and just stopped there once I ran into the issue. Do I need a different hub or do the old lights come out of this one some how. If so, how? If I need new hubs, do I get the same kind of hub for the footwells, soundbar, HVAC lights, etc? Also, where is the footwell light on the passenger side? I couldn't find it.
 

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The bulbs just pull out of the holders, and you put the LEDs in place of them. Pull harder.
 
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The ones in the cluster should 1/4 turn and come out. then just pull bulb out of the holder and put the new ones in. the one on the passenger side footwell is underneath and about center of glovebox
 
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Installed a set of Alla led dome lights from Amazon with a dual color feature. I have seen switchbacks on fog lights and turn lamps but these are for 578 bulbs. Upon powering up , they are bright white. Once cycled off and back on again, they change to red.
Links to both white/red and white/blue:

Alla Lighting Dual Color 578 212-2 LED Festoon Bulbs, White/Red Switchback 41MM 211-2 214-2 CAN-bus Map, Dome, Door, Trunk, Stepwell Courtesy Lights
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJT6ZZ2M/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Alla Lighting Dual Color 578 212-2 LED Festoon Bulbs, White/Ice Blue Switchback CAN-bus 41MM Interior Map, Dome, Door, Trunk, Courtesy Lights
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJSGBGCG/?tag=wranglerorg-20

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Anyone else having quality issues with super bright lights in their HVAC? This is the second one to die in 2 years. (Far right)

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Here's mine I decided to switch it up a bit, and two tone mine with red/white, btw great write up.

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I have read through the whole thread. Thank you all. Very helpful. I saw a question that I did not see answered and I also had the same question. What did you do to run the footwells and NOT have the PODS come on? Mine is an 05 so on the stalk I can turn on the footwell lights but that also turns on the soundbar / pods. Otherwise I may run some LED strip bars for ambiance and leave the footwells white for egress / ingress.