I appreciate all the wisdom that is in this site, so here go's. Ive got the 3 gauge a pillar for my 01 SD, but I'm having trouble getting it to say attatched. The pillar came with 4 screws, but there is nothing to go into but the head liner. Any help would be appreciated......

 

I know on mine, they said to leave the original a-pillar cover, and screw into that.

 

they usually go over the factory pillar post. Mine attached with vinyl pins, had to drill small holes in the factory pillar post and the new one went over the top.

 

Mine went over factory pillar post. Put them together and drilled through both, then used the 4 plastic pin things to hold the two together

 

I had a little trouble with mine too. Just wasn't enough room for all the wiring ran between the original pillar cover and the new one. So I drilled a 3/4" hole in the original post cover right behind each guage placement. Routed the wiring and hose through each hole in behind the original cover. This allowed a better relief for the guage pillar to huck up to the original cover and the plastic nails to hold in place...

I had tried mine so many times I had to go get replacement plastic nails. They have these at the better stocked auto parts store too. Cheap too.

 

My A-pillar instructions said to drill a 1/2 inch hole behind the gauges in the original A-Pillar, but it was a tad too small, plus to get the wires thru, I had to unscrew them from the gauges which was prewired and had special wire nuts holding down the wires, which I had to "create" a tool to get them off. I also placed a gromet in the holes so that the wires going thru did not get worn down by the rough edges.

 

After many trial fits of my new A-pillar I found the best fit. Then I removed the original pillar and, aligning it with marks I had made from best fit I drill three (I believe 3) holes in the new pillar matching the holes in original pillar. Then I used stain steel wood decking screws (about 1 1/2 inches long) to fasten both of them to the post.

 

what brand gauge holder do you guys recommend buying?

 

Autometer is the only one that I know, you may find other company names, but they all seem to be using AM. Ditto on the install as well- 3/4 hole behind each & plastic pins. I used a small Molex connector for all the wires so I could disconnect if I have to get it out of the way, convenient, but not necessary.

 

Isspro Gauges work well

 

I used the Matrix brand, bought it off of Ebay, it was a near perfect fit over the stock piece. Just to keep things looking nice and holding good, I used 4 screws on either side, and on the backside where the threads pop through, I used blind retainers instead of realying on the threads just biting into the thin plastic.

I am also using Autometer gauges, so far have the boost in, tranny on the way as well as pyro. Going to pick up the steering column gauge pod for these trucks (looks pretty good) and put an intake temp gauge there, keep an eye on the charge temperature as well, post intercooler.