ok. thank you so much for the info, ill definitely look into that. Incase anyone in the future comes along this thread with a similar problem, I did some physical inspection and tested the gauge by taking the single wire off of the temperature sending unit and running a wire from that wire to the negative battery terminal. When I turned on the ignition, the gauge pinned to the max, so it looks like the gauge works and I have a defective sending unit.

 

They are cheap. Replace it, and see if things start working the way they should.

 

I noticed this on my truck as well. I didn’t think anything of it until I saw this thread. I was going to check the temperature sending unit to see if it was the issue but I can’t find specs on the resistance. I can find the specs on the coolant sensor that goes to the computer, but not the cluster.