Gauge swap (warning: pic)
Thread Starter
|
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 8,462
Likes: 4
From: Durant, OK (SOSU)
Gauge swap (warning: pic)
Figured I'd show this to you guys.
Due to some issues with the speedo in the old cluster, I did a gauge swap a while back, though you Ranger guys might like to see the results.
For anyone interested in things like this, let me know, it's not too difficult, especially in this era of Ranger.
Autometer 3 3/8" mechanical speedo
Sunpro 2 5/8" tachometer
Autometer 2 1/16" fuel gauge (Ford)
Sunpro 1 1/2" oil pressure
Sunpro 1 1/2" water temperature
Sunpro 1 1/2" voltmeter
The bulbs are:
-between speedo and tach - bright lights annunciator
-between oil pressure and speedometer - check engine
-bottom left corner - brake warnings
and of course the blinker lights around the top of the speedo.
The mount/faceplate is 1/4" thick MDF, custom cut and fit into the dash. The plastic sheild over the stock gauges can be maintained, but I chose to trash it.
<img src="http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n167/RangerPilot/truck/P1010022.jpg">
Due to some issues with the speedo in the old cluster, I did a gauge swap a while back, though you Ranger guys might like to see the results.
For anyone interested in things like this, let me know, it's not too difficult, especially in this era of Ranger.
Autometer 3 3/8" mechanical speedo
Sunpro 2 5/8" tachometer
Autometer 2 1/16" fuel gauge (Ford)
Sunpro 1 1/2" oil pressure
Sunpro 1 1/2" water temperature
Sunpro 1 1/2" voltmeter
The bulbs are:
-between speedo and tach - bright lights annunciator
-between oil pressure and speedometer - check engine
-bottom left corner - brake warnings
and of course the blinker lights around the top of the speedo.
The mount/faceplate is 1/4" thick MDF, custom cut and fit into the dash. The plastic sheild over the stock gauges can be maintained, but I chose to trash it.
<img src="http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n167/RangerPilot/truck/P1010022.jpg">
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,533
Likes: 1
From: Dexter, MI
Did you make your own panel to mount the gauges? If so, would you provide some detail? Where did you get the speedometer? I'm really interested in doing something like you have done. Did you keep the old socket board and wire lights from it?
Thread Starter
|
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 8,462
Likes: 4
From: Durant, OK (SOSU)
Yep I made my own panel.
When you disassemble the stock dash, the big trim peice comes off, then the clear plastic cover, then the black trim peice, then the gauge faces sit on a big white "bucket".
I removed it all (it comes out as a unit once you get the clear cover off), then disassembled it and removed the gauges themselves.
I took the black trim peice and laid it over that peice of 1/4" MDF. I traced the inside, removed the trim peice, and drew another line 1/4" outside of the aforementioned line. I then cut the peice of MDF using the outside line.
I took the circuit board and lights out of the plastic "bucket" and modified it extensively using a dremel tool and cutting disc to accept the faceplate. It was tedious, but not hard. The stock warning lights could be re-used if you were feeling adventurous, but I was not.
Once the "bucket" mods were complete, I took the faceplate and laid over a cardboard template I had made of the gauges. As you can see, the fit is tight. I started with the tach, drilling a 2 5/8" hole which came out perfect, just tight enough to hold the tach in place (which did not come with a bracket). I then moved over to the speedo, again using the 2 5/8" cutting circle (biggest size I had) then a dremel tool to enlarge the hole. I constantly re-measured to make sure I didn't screw up and waste the MDF. Those were easy, as was the fuel gauge. The 1 1/2" gauges all took effort, they didn't actually fit in a 1.5" hole except for the voltmeter, so I had to Dremel those out (and that's why they sit so tightly). I drilled three 5/8" holes for the warning lights and two 9/16" holes for the blinkers, and done.
I took the MDF faceplate, used the Dremel to clean the holes up really nice, smooth and round all the edges, etc.
I then mounted the gauges using their brackets, dropped the MDF back in the "bucket", made a couple of minor modifications to it so they would fit, then removed them. Now....I had been intelligent, I woulda done the rest of this with the gauges and faceplate mounted to the "bucket"...but this is how I did it:
I removed the gauges and faceplate from the bucket, flipped it over, and started wiring it up. I brought the wires together where possible to achieve the following:
-one common power wire
-one common ground wire
-two illumination wires (one for speedo/tach, one for rest of gauges)
-one power wire for the warning lights/blinkers
-tach signal wire
-fuel level signal wire
-blinker signal wires
-warning light signal wires
The wires for the blinkers and warning lights just ground out 12V positive, so if you run out of 12V wires, you can run them all to one. I did my best to keep the wiring as organized as possible.
After wiring the gauges, I got in the truck, cut the appropriate wires out of the stock plugs, and added female connectors onto them (used male connects in the gauge panel, female throughout the truck to make removing the gauges feasible if need be). This part was annoying, I used the stock circuit board to lay out the plugs. The Ranger has a V8 tach signal wire and a V6 signal wire according to the circuit board. I still had the 4.0L so the V6 wire worked, I assume the V8 is for the Explorer, I've no idea what you four banger guys do.
I hooked up the vinyl line for the oil pressure, then I then put the faceplate complete with gauges and wiring into the "bucket", put the black trim peice over it to hold it down, and slowly installed it in the truck. Hook up all the wires, slide it back, slide it back some more, you should have disconnected the speedo cable to remove the stock gauges, so pull it out and connect to the new gauges, then push them back further. Actually getting them in the dash is a wrestling match, I ended up kinda going in from the side I believe. I just dropped the oil pressure line and water temperature sender through the back of the dash where I could get them later. After that was done, I mounted the gauges, ran the oil pressure line and water temperature probes through a hole above the top of the accelerator covered by a square rubber grommet, attached them to the engine as appropriate, then replaced the dash trim, radio, ashtray, all that, and started it up. Test drive to let the engine warm up, let the oil pressure gauge start to purge the lines, ran the tach from idle up to redline, speedo from 0-100, load the electrical system down to check the voltmeter, check all the warning lights, etc.
Worked great for me. If I can be of any more help, let me know. I couldn't have been happier.
When you disassemble the stock dash, the big trim peice comes off, then the clear plastic cover, then the black trim peice, then the gauge faces sit on a big white "bucket".
I removed it all (it comes out as a unit once you get the clear cover off), then disassembled it and removed the gauges themselves.
I took the black trim peice and laid it over that peice of 1/4" MDF. I traced the inside, removed the trim peice, and drew another line 1/4" outside of the aforementioned line. I then cut the peice of MDF using the outside line.
I took the circuit board and lights out of the plastic "bucket" and modified it extensively using a dremel tool and cutting disc to accept the faceplate. It was tedious, but not hard. The stock warning lights could be re-used if you were feeling adventurous, but I was not.
Once the "bucket" mods were complete, I took the faceplate and laid over a cardboard template I had made of the gauges. As you can see, the fit is tight. I started with the tach, drilling a 2 5/8" hole which came out perfect, just tight enough to hold the tach in place (which did not come with a bracket). I then moved over to the speedo, again using the 2 5/8" cutting circle (biggest size I had) then a dremel tool to enlarge the hole. I constantly re-measured to make sure I didn't screw up and waste the MDF. Those were easy, as was the fuel gauge. The 1 1/2" gauges all took effort, they didn't actually fit in a 1.5" hole except for the voltmeter, so I had to Dremel those out (and that's why they sit so tightly). I drilled three 5/8" holes for the warning lights and two 9/16" holes for the blinkers, and done.
I took the MDF faceplate, used the Dremel to clean the holes up really nice, smooth and round all the edges, etc.
I then mounted the gauges using their brackets, dropped the MDF back in the "bucket", made a couple of minor modifications to it so they would fit, then removed them. Now....I had been intelligent, I woulda done the rest of this with the gauges and faceplate mounted to the "bucket"...but this is how I did it:
I removed the gauges and faceplate from the bucket, flipped it over, and started wiring it up. I brought the wires together where possible to achieve the following:
-one common power wire
-one common ground wire
-two illumination wires (one for speedo/tach, one for rest of gauges)
-one power wire for the warning lights/blinkers
-tach signal wire
-fuel level signal wire
-blinker signal wires
-warning light signal wires
The wires for the blinkers and warning lights just ground out 12V positive, so if you run out of 12V wires, you can run them all to one. I did my best to keep the wiring as organized as possible.
After wiring the gauges, I got in the truck, cut the appropriate wires out of the stock plugs, and added female connectors onto them (used male connects in the gauge panel, female throughout the truck to make removing the gauges feasible if need be). This part was annoying, I used the stock circuit board to lay out the plugs. The Ranger has a V8 tach signal wire and a V6 signal wire according to the circuit board. I still had the 4.0L so the V6 wire worked, I assume the V8 is for the Explorer, I've no idea what you four banger guys do.
I hooked up the vinyl line for the oil pressure, then I then put the faceplate complete with gauges and wiring into the "bucket", put the black trim peice over it to hold it down, and slowly installed it in the truck. Hook up all the wires, slide it back, slide it back some more, you should have disconnected the speedo cable to remove the stock gauges, so pull it out and connect to the new gauges, then push them back further. Actually getting them in the dash is a wrestling match, I ended up kinda going in from the side I believe. I just dropped the oil pressure line and water temperature sender through the back of the dash where I could get them later. After that was done, I mounted the gauges, ran the oil pressure line and water temperature probes through a hole above the top of the accelerator covered by a square rubber grommet, attached them to the engine as appropriate, then replaced the dash trim, radio, ashtray, all that, and started it up. Test drive to let the engine warm up, let the oil pressure gauge start to purge the lines, ran the tach from idle up to redline, speedo from 0-100, load the electrical system down to check the voltmeter, check all the warning lights, etc.
Worked great for me. If I can be of any more help, let me know. I couldn't have been happier.
Thread Starter
|
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 8,462
Likes: 4
From: Durant, OK (SOSU)
Oh...and I got the speedo and fuel lever sender through eBay for less than $100 total. I got the rest from local sources.
When you pull the "bucket", there is a chip mounted to one side that "smooths" the fuel level readings. I just tossed it. The fuel gauge reads correctly still, it's just much more dynamic (you hit a bump and it registers all the little waves in the tank).
It took me a Saturday and Sunday afternoons/evenings working really slowly, taking my time.
And I used just regular flat black spray paint for the faceplate, the same stuff I painted my air vents with a while back to get rid of that horrid blue.
When you pull the "bucket", there is a chip mounted to one side that "smooths" the fuel level readings. I just tossed it. The fuel gauge reads correctly still, it's just much more dynamic (you hit a bump and it registers all the little waves in the tank).
It took me a Saturday and Sunday afternoons/evenings working really slowly, taking my time.
And I used just regular flat black spray paint for the faceplate, the same stuff I painted my air vents with a while back to get rid of that horrid blue.
