So as compared to my dad's f250, my truck has very few gauges. What gauges do you wish your truck had? Or have you added them?

 

Diff temps, trans temp, fuel pressure, vacuum, and tach. (MIne's a base model with no factory tach in the instrument cluster). Transfer case temp might be nice, too, but to get one that would match the rest I'd have to open up a trans temp gauge and replace the label on the face of it, then find somewhere to mount it. Maybe I could move the transmission temperature gauge to a steering column pod and put the t-case temp between the differential temps...



Or maybe I could just blow it off. I don't need more winter projects.

 

How difficult is the install?

 

It's mainly PITA rather than actual difficulty but if you're going to do a neat, orderly, proficient job of it that involves rocking the instrument panel away from the cowl and you've got a factory original dash the dash might not survive it. I'd go so far as to say that it probably won't survive it, and then it will become a difficult job. I've heard and read of people replacing the dash without taking the instrument panel out of the truck, but I don't know that I'd try it myself. My back doesn't like staying for long in the positions necessary to do a job like that so I just removed the instrument panel completely when I installed the replacement dash. My back didn't like that, either, but it was a lot easier to get at the forty-eleven screws that secure the dash to the panel once the whole thing was out.



Also, if you're going to rock the instrument panel away from the cowl you'll probably want to have four of part number 06504485AB on hand. Those are the cute little plastic snap-in nuts into which all of the top instrument panel screws except the center one are threaded, and if you've still got the factory installed originals in place they'll probably come untogether during the job. They're the rectangular white things right under the windshield in the photo above.

There are some cute little widgets you can get to go under the heads of those screws that are shaped to fit the reliefs in which the screws are located and which might help to prevent cracking the dash plastic by spreading the load, which might be a good investment. Or they might not. I put 'em in rather than think too much about it. LMC Truck sells them, and others probably do, too.

 

I am looking at doing something with a pillar gauge pod. Could become interesting

 

The A pillar pods are easier to work with than the dash pods. If you're careful about it you can get by without trimming, cutting, or drilling any dash plastic -- just make sure that no conductors cross over each other where they sneak past the flexible trim on the end of the dash. And, of course, that you're using good wire in the first place so the insulation won't end up compromised from the light friction it'll see at that point. Stiff wire with hard insulation won't last there, but flexible wire with something like Teflon insulation will last just about forever. Also make sure that you're not going to get rub-through where the wiring pokes through the firewall, and if any of your senders are on the engine or anything else that can move relative to the body be sure to leave enough slack that a broken mount doesn't lead to an electrical fire or a broken harness.

Been there, done that, but it was a factory engine harness and not something I created myself. A trailer got wicked squirrelly on me and even with unbroken motor mounts the engine wobbled violently enough to cause the harness to rub through at the point where it passed between the firewall and power brake vacuum bell. I had to cannibalize non-vital wires out of the rest of the vehicle to rebuild the thing on the shoulder of I-580 atop Altamont Pass in the middle of the night with a flashlight held in my mouth -- it's as close to queer as I ever got, drooling on that dammed little flashlight for two hours. A CHP officer who stopped by right after got all kinds of uppity and told me that in his nearly three decades on the highway he'd never seen anyone drive away from an electrical fire so I should just accept his offer to call out a wrecker. On his third stop he got there just in time to watch me start the thing up and, a few minutes later, drive away. My big expensive stereo was silent because the first wires I cannibalized were the heavy speaker wires, but I managed to drive away just the same and break the pig's three decade record.

A few days later I hung that harness on the firewall with cable hangers so it couldn't rub on anything at all and I've been really careful about such things ever since. I learned the hard way -- now you don't have to.

 

Engine Oil Temp
Intake Manifold Vacuum
Wideband Air/Fuel Ratio

 

There is no easy answer to this question. You can get a 3 or 4 gauge pod that mounts above the mirror. Also a 3 gauge pillor pod, and a 3 or 4 gauge dash pod and then a dual steering column pod. So that is 8-10 gauges right there. What do you want to monitor? You can also install gauges in your dash or under it. And if you want to really spend some cash just do a custom instrument cluster and get all the gauges you can fit. Have a speedo that can be calibrated when you change gears or tires. Plus have real water temp, oil pressure and voltage gauges that read true. It can all be done you just have to spend the money to do it.

 

Spillage how much was your a pillar and gauges?

 

Pod = $33
Vac = $43
Oil T = $53
W O2 = $185
Total = $314