Can a cluster w/ tach be installed in place of one w/out and work? I believe I read this on the forum, let me know.

 

im not sure. i know my 97 only has to plugs that go into he back. what model truck do you have. if all you really what is the tac. I would just by an aftermarket kit and be done with it.

 

I am searching for this info as well. Maybe bumping it up after year will breathe new life into the subject. I don't think I want to go with an aftermarket tach. I have never had a tach in a rig until I bought my Jetta TDI, and now I want one, preferably in the stock position. Is the upgrade cluster Plug and play? If not, I would certainly look at other options.

 

Im sure the plug is there for it in the dash, weither the sensor is there is another thing.

They pretty much wire up every truck the same but they only install the opions requested. It makes it much simpler on the assembly line

 

I'm pretty sure the sensor would have to be there to control the rev limiter amongst other things. The tach gets its signal from the pcm, and I would bet money (along the lines of GOD RAM IT's thinking) that, on the assembly line, they don't put special harnesses on trucks that aren't going to have the tach option installed. This is speculation though.

 

business 101. don't put **** on unless it's going to be used on that specific product. aka cost saving techniques.

if you don't have a factory tach, don't expect to plug and play cause it's not there.

 

True this is a cost saving technique, but chances are, Chrysler is not gonna try to be that picky about having separate pcms and what not for trucks w/ or w/o tachs...

Gotta think of it this way, whats gonna cost more money, not putting the pcm that you can attach a tach to and fixing the **** ups on the assembly line (trucks with the tach not working) and having customers B*tch about it or just going ahead and putting that 10 dollar part on ?

Chances are, you can, just gotta find someone that did it

 

I'm a electrical/communications contractor. I never took a class called business 101, but I did take a bunch of economics and business classes. The wire that runs through the harness from the pcm, if it were say 16 or 18 awg and 10' long, to the instrument cluster would cost me less than half a penny, and I do not buy in near the bulk that DC does. I could be wrong here, but, if I'm running a production facility, I'm not going to generate a whole new part code and an assembly team to make it just to save .5 cents per unit. I'm going to make all the harnesses for the 20xx Dodge Ram the same, have one team to make them, and not leave it up to chance that some guy on the line who went to the titty bar last night puts the right harness in the one truck that runs past him that day that's not getting a tach.

 

yeah good point. i was trying to make more of a general point than a specific single wire, but you're probably right it might be there.

i've seen too many of my roommates hacked up harnesses to believe anything is where it should be.

 

Thanks mopowar for wording that correctly for me My thoughts exactly