I'm getting ready to have a APS transmission put in. Do I need to have a gauge put in at the same time? I don't mine spending the money on one although I don't want to if not needed my biggest concern is I think they just look horribly tacky on these trucks. I really don't want one as I don't know where to mount it without it looking bad. I for sure don't want it on the pillar as I 1 don't want to drill holes in it and 2 it's already hard enough to see around it.

I saw the thread where he had it mounted behind the steering wheel and to me that seems like the best option so far but I really don't like how it blocks part of the speedometer. I also don't want to drill holes in the dash or anything like that to mount one. I really just don't like how they look in these trucks or even know where to put it if I do get one.

I don't do much towing although every once in a while I might tow light stuff like dirt bikes. I might tow more every so often but it will probably be rare. I don't race it hard. I have been to the drag strip once to see what it would run for fun on a test and tune night and ran it once. I might do something like that again but it wouldn't be very often or for very long. I really don't plan to do much that should be hard.

Will I be able to get by without one or should I just pony up the cash and forget about the looks and get one?

 

If you're not gonna really be hauling with it, or beating the crap out of it, I don't think you'll need one.

 

I wouldn't bother.

 

Well, you certainly don't have to have one (my truck came stock without one), but it seems that you have invested a lot in that new APS trans. If it were me, i'd want to protect that investment by being able to keep an eye on temps so that you never risk overheating it. Just because you don't tow or drag race, doesn't mean your trans might not overheat someday. In a perfect world, nothing would ever break when it's used under normal conditions, but that just isn't the case. Even with just daily driver usage, anything could happen, and your trans could still have issues. I personally think a trans temp gauge is as important as a coolant temp gauge. I don't expect my engine to overheat under normal driving conditions either, but if something should go wrong, I would want to know about it before I ruin my engine. I feel the same goes for my trans, so that's why I have the trans temp gauge.

If you don't want the gauge to be visible because you think it looks tacky, you could mount an upward facing guage down near the floor at the bottom of the dash. Or mount it up on the ceiling in the overhead console. Or you could mount it in your glove box or center console to make it really invisible (though seems less useful that way). As you know, I have the steering column gauge pod, and it does not block the speedo much at all. It looks like it blocks it some in my pictures of it, but that's just because the camera is still. The only thing it really blocks is the "4x4" indicator light, but just tilting my head slightly takes care of that too. What little bit it blocks, you get used to, and it is not an issue.

 

i wouldnt really bother, but like silver said its a nice transmission and you want it to function properly. go on a couple websites (like summit) and look around for a gauge that you like, and mount it where you want it to be. they arnt that difficult to install, and it could save you some hassle in the future. but if you dont do much towing, i wouldnt worry about it too much.

 

unless i was doing heavy towing, i would just put a cooler on it and not worry about it.