So, lets say I'm planning on making a custom dash for my truck... And i will be getting rid of the stock gauge cluster. What wire bundles should I keep? I'm planning on running a full set of aftermarket gauges, ranging from speedo to air pressure gauges. Just curious as I'm about to start tearing the dash apart so I can get a template made up for all the mounting holes to the cab. (Yes, I mean a completely custom dash!) Or should I just leave them all as they are and just see what I will need later?

Cheers!

 

Look at what one of our members did here.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...nterior-6.html

 

Thanks, Ive been keeping up with his work, but the whole wiring part confuses me! :P

 

For the wiring pretty much all the old stuff can go. the only wires I kept were for the fuel gauge and for the dash lights. The oil pressure, temp gauge come with new sending units and you run new wire to those. Keep your fuel gauge sending unit wire and hook that up to your new fuel gauge. Voltmeter just simply taps into your 12v system. Tach wiring will depend on your ignition setup. I have a msd ignition box that already has an output for that. Or else I think you wire it to the + side of your coil. Overall pretty simple, Autometer gives you wiring diagrams for everything so as long as you follow that your good.

What are you planning on doing on your dash? Just curious. Once I finish my door panels up Im gonna fix my dash that the guys who broke into my truck ruined. Need to repaint, was planing on modifying the bezel to fit a double din stereo and using a headlight switch out of a newer model car. Also wanted to carry my dash pad all the way to the window almost like a deck lid.

 

Forgot to mention that your gonna need to find your turn signal and high indicator in your old harness and wire those to some indicator lights.

 

Negative side of the coil for the tach.

Did you do an aftermarket speedo? how did that work out?

 

I used a mechanical speedo, just had to buy a new cable. I think it was from lokar. the only wire that went to that was for the dash light. On all the gauges I went and switched the bulbs out for LED lights too. $10 off ebay for a bunch of bulbs And it makes the gauges way better at night.

 

Thanks a lot for the post eh! I can do all the technical parts (physical wiring) but when it comes to understanding it all... I'm completely lost! Haha!

Well the plan for the dash is to weld up a whole new one. Basically take the one out of the truck, map out all the mounting points, and make a whole new dash assembly that will fit right in!

I'm going to toot my own horn for a sec though, so you know where I'm comming from...I'm a Materials Technician for the Canadian army. I'm trained to fix everything! From welding (TIG, MIG, Stick, Oxy-Acy) to machining, sewing, carpentry, fiberglass... Pretty much if you can think of it, I know how to make or fix it!

But when it comes to figuring out wiring, and fuses and all that stuff.... NO IDEA! Haha!

But for the truck, I've decided to turn it into a Civilian Army truck! Olive drab paint, blackout drive lights, call signs, custom interior, the whole 9 yards! So I'm going to try and replicate the old "flat dash" look of our old army trucks.... But where I get all confused is wiring up everything! From all the stock lights to aux lights and accessories, I have no idea where to start!! It'll have everything from speedo, tach, 2x voltmeters, oil temp/press, trans temp, coolant temp, x2 air pressure, and thats just the gauges! not to mention all the switches it'll need for everything else! But I'm planning on fabing up a simple overhead console that will house the aux light switches and extra goodies... So any help at all is greatly appreciated!!!

 

Well damn all your interior/dash work should be easy with all your skills. Have you thought about buying a painless wiring harness and fuse block. Or if you dont want to completely redo your wiring harness, just buying a painless fuse block will work. I have a painless fuse block and wired it into my old harness, and cleaned up a lot of my wiring that I dont need. I then bought a summit 8 terminal fuse block that I wire all my accessories to. With all the accessories you want to hook up starting at the fuse block and cleaning up your harness might be the easiest way to go.

 

I've though about it, but again, I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to that stuff! Maybe I will have to invest a bit of time researching that... Basically I'd like to completely re-custom-wire my truck. Is that what the Painless stuff is for?

 

If your looking to completely redo your harness then I would go with a complete painless wiring harness. I think maulmaul used a painless harness on his build.

 

Damn, more studying to add to the list!! :P But hopefully this is what I'm looking for. I've heard of a LOT of people using this kit.

 

Just run a long piece of wire to each sending unit etc. and use an ohm meter to check for resistance. you will now know what wire does what on the plug in the back of your stock harness.
I labeled each one so I would know what goes where on each gauge. Don't forget the one coming from the brakes.

Piece of cake.

 

With all that you can do you should really try to get some electrical background! It's not really tough just go slow and test as you go, bet you pick it up quickly. As others have mentioned "Painless" has a few solutions that may work for you.

 

You'd think so eh!! Haha! It's just never "clicked" on in the ole' thinkin' spot! Just can't seem to figure it out!!