Gauge needles won't come off....help please?

[Queena]

Hey guys, so I attempted the next thing on my to-do list which is an LED swap on the gauge cluster....everything was going smoothly until it came time to take the needles off. They will not come out! Me and my boyfriend both tried the spoon technique, and it felt like if we tried to pry them off even harder the needles would snap.

Does anyone have another method to do this? Or does anyone know if Scion changed the way the needles are attached for the 2011 model?

Frustrating because I already bought all my supplies from Garage1217. Emailed him 3 days ago when I had my cluster out for any advice, and haven't heard back yet.

Help!

[simmons0613]

just keep pulling straight off, they will pop off. The first time is always the hardest

[TexXBox]

It is kinda scary the first time you do it. Like Matt said, just keep pulling straight up/off as close to the center where the needle pin is and it will eventually "pop" and then come right off. Some people use forks instead of spoons so they can slide the pin between the tines. I've done so many myself that I just pull them off by hand these days. Nothin' like being fearless.

[YELOSUB]

Yep, I used a fork...

[simmons0613]

I just went beast mode on them