I ordered Glowshift gauges and i have a few questions about the wiring..

Where is a good place to ground the wires? each gauge has its own black grounding wire.

Can i plug the gauges into the fuse box for power? It says i should find a 12v and attach it. It also says i can connect it to the battery.. But the fuse box sounds easier and cleaner if i can do it.

I need to find an ignition wire, so the gauges turn on and off with the engine. I dont know what to look for.

 

I would run a single wire and connect all the grounds to it and then put a ring connector on the end of that wire and screw it to the metal in the door pillar ( I assume these are pillar mounted gauges) with a self drilling/ tapping screw. Then the power end assuming they arent fused tie together on a single hot lead and possibly fuse that line to protect your gauges but then got to the fuse panel with a voltage meter and simply check fuses to see which ones are hot all the time and which ones are hot when only when the key is on. Most of them should be hot only when the key is on. Assuming this is true there is a slot in the lower fuse panel that most of our trucks dont use because its for the air bags which the majority of our truck were built without as they were an option then. Either way the fuse slot for it is there now there is only one side of the fuse port that would be assembled in the fuse block if you dont have an airbag as they didnt wire it. That side that is there will be hot when the key is on and I think its only hot with the key on, you should be able to put a spade connector on the wire from thee gauges and plug it in there just a like a fuse, and be totally running.

 

I just installed some gauges last night and asked where to get power. I have diesel power mag and had an article and they said they got it from the radio fuse. I couldn't figure out how they did that so I asked and BlueMule responded with a picture of metal leg that slides down next to one of the fuse legs to extend above the fuse so you can slide a connector over it. If you do a search for my name it should come up. I ended up running a wire to the small leg of the glow plug relay.

I grounded mine to the emergency brake bracket. I didn't have an eyelet end large enough for the stock bolt so I drilled a smaller hole and used a metal screw for the size eyelets I had.

 

I used the factory ground just below the emergency brake release. You'll need to remove the kick panel, wire all grounds together, and use a ring connector. I used fuse taps to power the lights from fuse #10, and power for the pyro and tranny came rom fuse #17. Boost didn't need power as it's mechanical. Here's a link for the rest: Gauge Installation - 1994-1997 Power Stroke FAQ

 

I tied my 12v+, illum, and ground straight into the radio adapter harness. Works great. I had to pull off the instrument surround to route the wires behind, but it was no sweat.

Aaron