Changing gauges
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Junior User
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Changing gauges
Hey everybody!
I was wondering how hard it would be to change my 91 custom gauges to add the trip and rpm guage from another factory truck set... what years will work and can i make all the stuff work pretty easy? my truck is f-150 4x4 4.9 and 5spd
thanks
I was wondering how hard it would be to change my 91 custom gauges to add the trip and rpm guage from another factory truck set... what years will work and can i make all the stuff work pretty easy? my truck is f-150 4x4 4.9 and 5spd
thanks
Lead Driver
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,670
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From: Sand Lake, MI
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think you need one from a 90 or 91 model, a speedo assembly that has the stock tach and you can just plug it in.
You can't use any other model years, at least not without the need to change a few wires around, even then it would be questionable as to it would work or not.
You can't use any other model years, at least not without the need to change a few wires around, even then it would be questionable as to it would work or not.
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,532
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From: Wendover, NV.
Do you have the manual (ie. gear driven) speedometer or the digital speedometer?
If it is the manual (being '90 it should be) '89 to '91 should work if you are only changing the speedometer. If you are changing the whole cluster....
If it is the manual (being '90 it should be) '89 to '91 should work if you are only changing the speedometer. If you are changing the whole cluster....
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Junior User
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ya...its not digital, and i wanna change the whole cluster to add the trip and the tach is the hookups already there and what all do i need from the doner truck under panel?
thanks for such quick replies
thanks for such quick replies
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,532
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From: Wendover, NV.
You should be able to take the whole cluster from the doner truck and swap it into your truck. That is the case on the '93 to '97 trucks anyway. Providing they both have the exact same features anyway. Best bet is to get one from the same year truck.
Pull out old cluster
unplug wires
Plug wires into "new" cluster
Install "new" cluster
Now the question is going to be this. Were all trucks from your era wired for the tach? In the case of the '93 to '97 trucks the answer is yes.
If the answer is no for your era truck then all you will be able to do is swap out the speedometer. But then you will still have your trip odometer. And you can get an aftermarket tach fairly cheap. summit racing has some good one in the low price range.
Pull out old cluster
unplug wires
Plug wires into "new" cluster
Install "new" cluster
Now the question is going to be this. Were all trucks from your era wired for the tach? In the case of the '93 to '97 trucks the answer is yes.
If the answer is no for your era truck then all you will be able to do is swap out the speedometer. But then you will still have your trip odometer. And you can get an aftermarket tach fairly cheap. summit racing has some good one in the low price range.
Lead Driver
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,670
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From: Sand Lake, MI
Wiring diagram shows a tach lead to inst cluster for the 90 and 91 model years so you should be able to find one and it should work just like the newer model years I'd have to say?
Only way to know for sure would be to try it, if everything else worked right but not the tach you could just run a wire yourself for it. That'd be easy enough to do.
You'd probably do better to by one from a truck with the same motor, the inline 6 so the tach reads right, may self adjust for cylinder number but I'd just get the same one to be on the "safer" side.
Only way to know for sure would be to try it, if everything else worked right but not the tach you could just run a wire yourself for it. That'd be easy enough to do.
You'd probably do better to by one from a truck with the same motor, the inline 6 so the tach reads right, may self adjust for cylinder number but I'd just get the same one to be on the "safer" side.
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Der Postmeister
Joined: Sep 2006
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From: Long Beach, Calimexiforia
For my 87' f-150, I switched in the full set out of a 91' Lariat. So it's not model specific so much as speedo type which changed in 92'. The harnesses are pre-wired for a tach, just waiting for one to be plugged in, but the oil pressure gauges are resistance matched to their sender units so grab that also. Here's an article on 92's+ https://www.ford-trucks.com/article/...Or_Bronco.html
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Junior User
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i got the guage swap done today! it worked perfectly i took the guages from a 89 with a v8 and it all worked just as it should... so any one wanting to do a similar swap the guages between 89 and 91 will work for sure and you dont have to take them outta the same motor since the computer tells the tach what to read unlike an aftermarket tach. thanks everyone for your replies and help!
Elder User
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Please check to make sure your alternator is putting out power.
Use a multimeter and test voltage at the battery, should be about 12.5 with the engine off and close to 14 with it running. More than one person has done the swap and found out a couple days latter the battery is dead because the alternator is not putting out any power. The circuit for "turning on" the alternator runs thru the instrument cluster, and the circuitry is different on some model years. There is a way to make it work, but in my opinion, not worth the work.
Good luck Frank
Use a multimeter and test voltage at the battery, should be about 12.5 with the engine off and close to 14 with it running. More than one person has done the swap and found out a couple days latter the battery is dead because the alternator is not putting out any power. The circuit for "turning on" the alternator runs thru the instrument cluster, and the circuitry is different on some model years. There is a way to make it work, but in my opinion, not worth the work.
Good luck Frank
Lead Driver
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,670
Likes: 12
From: Sand Lake, MI
Please check to make sure your alternator is putting out power.
Use a multimeter and test voltage at the battery, should be about 12.5 with the engine off and close to 14 with it running. More than one person has done the swap and found out a couple days latter the battery is dead because the alternator is not putting out any power. The circuit for "turning on" the alternator runs thru the instrument cluster, and the circuitry is different on some model years. There is a way to make it work, but in my opinion, not worth the work.
Good luck Frank
Use a multimeter and test voltage at the battery, should be about 12.5 with the engine off and close to 14 with it running. More than one person has done the swap and found out a couple days latter the battery is dead because the alternator is not putting out any power. The circuit for "turning on" the alternator runs thru the instrument cluster, and the circuitry is different on some model years. There is a way to make it work, but in my opinion, not worth the work.
Good luck Frank
The models are separated in the manual by years that are common with each other, wiring diagrams pin out locations,
1980
1981 tru 83
1984 tru 86
1987 tru 89
<b>1990 tru 91</b>
92 and up. (book ends at the 96 model year)
If/when you cross over from one year group to the next things like gauge cluster pinouts tend to be slightly different. Do all or most of the same things, just different locations.
Hopefully you're alright and everything works, I'd double check everything though to be on the safe side.