White Gauges For A Ram
#1
White Gauges For A Ram
Saw this site while looking for goodies for my Nova.
http://www.whitegauges.net/whitegaug...oductsID=50839
Looks pretty cool. I would like to do it to mine - but I dont know if I have enough 'nads or knowhow to disassemble my dash........
http://www.whitegauges.net/whitegaug...oductsID=50839
Looks pretty cool. I would like to do it to mine - but I dont know if I have enough 'nads or knowhow to disassemble my dash........
#2
RE: White Gauges For A Ram
Its not too bad. Go for it, if you get stuck or need pics give me a shout.
On my 96 I had to disconnect the steering shaft from the dash to remove the gauge cluster and the connectors on the back were a bit tricky to get my big hands back there to disconnect. I took pictures of my gauges with the truck fully warmed up at both idle and 1000rpms to use as references when reinstalling the needles so things were accurate.
Oh yeah, shifter indicator has a white plastic adjuster screw on the back side of the steering shaft. Loosen the white screw to release the shift indicator cable.
On my 96 I had to disconnect the steering shaft from the dash to remove the gauge cluster and the connectors on the back were a bit tricky to get my big hands back there to disconnect. I took pictures of my gauges with the truck fully warmed up at both idle and 1000rpms to use as references when reinstalling the needles so things were accurate.
Oh yeah, shifter indicator has a white plastic adjuster screw on the back side of the steering shaft. Loosen the white screw to release the shift indicator cable.
#3
RE: White Gauges For A Ram
The conversion is not too bad, as they are really designed to slip over your needles and sit on top the original. I did it on my 2001 RAM 1500.
However, the aftermarket guages you get aren't always the best. They just aren't exact when it comes to the letters and symbols showing up when turned on.
That being said, I removed my guages a second time and removed the old guage's faceplate (the factory black). This did improve how the white set appeared. But that introduced a whole other set of gotcha's. Then I realize the seperate idiot lights where no longer seperated (the lights, when lit, would bleed over to other indicators). This was because the original faceplate had foam strips that seperated the light for each indicator. Thus it sectioned off each indicator when lit.
So.... I cut up the old faceplate, glue the foam seperators to my new white guage faceplate. That helped. Then I didn't like the way the normal incandescent light bleed thru around the needles pivoting point. Remember how I said these are designed to slip over your needles? Well that means the cut outs for this to happen are over-sized. To remedy the problem, I mask around these openings with black electrical tape.
Finally, I bought a metal bezel and painted it black to give the gauges a seperated look from each other. As most after-market white faceplates come in just one piece. In 2001 Dodge, did not have anything that masked/blocked off each guage to seperate them. The original faceplate was designed to allow light to be emitted from behind.
Last thing to keep in mind, most after-market faceplates (white) are generic. Meaning they are all printed with every option available for the model and year. In my case, my truck was a 2 wheel drive, no trans temp, no shift pattern (5 spd manual). But the faceplate I purchased had all those options imprinted in the faceplate itself. Small detail, but enough to annoy me. I hated being reminded that I didn't have 4-wheel drive.
Good luck. Didn't mean to discourage anyone, just hoping to lend some advise to help them plan this out. As I wish I had a second chance.
GP
[IMG]local://upfiles/35703/A38F4001473E4A69AFE2D73E7B029119.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/35703/00025475C09A46ACBD0E99517970E2DB.jpg[/IMG]
However, the aftermarket guages you get aren't always the best. They just aren't exact when it comes to the letters and symbols showing up when turned on.
That being said, I removed my guages a second time and removed the old guage's faceplate (the factory black). This did improve how the white set appeared. But that introduced a whole other set of gotcha's. Then I realize the seperate idiot lights where no longer seperated (the lights, when lit, would bleed over to other indicators). This was because the original faceplate had foam strips that seperated the light for each indicator. Thus it sectioned off each indicator when lit.
So.... I cut up the old faceplate, glue the foam seperators to my new white guage faceplate. That helped. Then I didn't like the way the normal incandescent light bleed thru around the needles pivoting point. Remember how I said these are designed to slip over your needles? Well that means the cut outs for this to happen are over-sized. To remedy the problem, I mask around these openings with black electrical tape.
Finally, I bought a metal bezel and painted it black to give the gauges a seperated look from each other. As most after-market white faceplates come in just one piece. In 2001 Dodge, did not have anything that masked/blocked off each guage to seperate them. The original faceplate was designed to allow light to be emitted from behind.
Last thing to keep in mind, most after-market faceplates (white) are generic. Meaning they are all printed with every option available for the model and year. In my case, my truck was a 2 wheel drive, no trans temp, no shift pattern (5 spd manual). But the faceplate I purchased had all those options imprinted in the faceplate itself. Small detail, but enough to annoy me. I hated being reminded that I didn't have 4-wheel drive.
Good luck. Didn't mean to discourage anyone, just hoping to lend some advise to help them plan this out. As I wish I had a second chance.
GP
[IMG]local://upfiles/35703/A38F4001473E4A69AFE2D73E7B029119.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/35703/00025475C09A46ACBD0E99517970E2DB.jpg[/IMG]
#4
RE: White Gauges For A Ram
eh.. i'm not a big fan on the white face gauges... reminds me too much of my mom's ford escape...
if you do it though it seems pretty easy by the way steve's christmas present shows or even haynes has a good layout for it.
if you do it.. show us some pics would be cool.
good write up gphil.
if you do it though it seems pretty easy by the way steve's christmas present shows or even haynes has a good layout for it.
if you do it.. show us some pics would be cool.
good write up gphil.
#5
#7