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1973 - 1979 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Dentsides Ford Truck
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Old Oct 17, 2009 | 02:06 AM
  #1  
clhart426's Avatar
clhart426
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From: toledo oh
tachometer

how would i go about installing a tach in my truck...i mean, where would the cable goto exactly?
 
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Old Oct 17, 2009 | 02:32 AM
  #2  
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From: Big Sky Country
Black wire=ground.
White wire=dash lighting.
Red wire=switched 12v source.
Green wire=negative side of tach.
 
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Old Oct 17, 2009 | 04:31 AM
  #3  
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Montana, I think the OP meant how do you actually measure the RPM with the tach. Like where do you hook it up to besides ground and power.

I dont wanna come off as an acehole but I'm also very curious to this as well. I'm going to install a tach a little later as well and would like to know as well.

Say your dentside never came with a tach. How does one install an aftermarket one. excluding the asthetics like mounting and tucking wires and all that.
 
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Old Oct 17, 2009 | 05:59 AM
  #4  
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My '78 has the following that I had to figure out:
From Tach --------------- other end
Red ---------------------- +12v switched (fuse box in mine)
Black -------------------- Ground (bettery in mine, after being spliced to a yellow wire)
Green ------------------- Tach Test "pin" on coil (after being spliced to a yellow wire too)
Blue ---------------------Dunno. Just has bare wire. Sounds like it should be spliced into the dash lighting circuit.
 
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Old Oct 17, 2009 | 03:06 PM
  #5  
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clhart426
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From: toledo oh
yea i didnt mean the power and grounds. i meant the line to the distributor or coil or maybe something like that? and what does "OP" mean i see you referred me to that
 
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Old Oct 17, 2009 | 03:22 PM
  #6  
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From: Edgewood, Wa
OP = Original Poster And usually green to neg side of coil.
 
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Old Oct 17, 2009 | 03:37 PM
  #7  
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From: Big Sky Country
Originally Posted by montana_highboy
Green wire=negative side of tach.
Too many beers lastnight, i meant coil not tach lol, sorry for the confusion.
 
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Old Oct 17, 2009 | 06:45 PM
  #8  
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From: Rock Springs, WY, USA
i would take pics to show you how i did mine in my 76, but the trucks in colorado, and im in north dakota, so yeah... i put it in the corner of the window and the dash, and there is just enough room between the dash and side panel to run the wires down inconspicuously and then you can run them through existing holes in the firewall and keep them all out of sight.
 
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Old Oct 17, 2009 | 08:42 PM
  #9  
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Good stuff. So the tach measures RPM by reading a signal from your coil?

I'm going to replace all my gauges with autometer stuff and make a new plate fill in where the original plastic gauge cluster is.

The PO of my truck hacked the plastic up trying to install an aftermarket stereo so it looks terrible so I'm gonna replace it with a racy looking flat sheetmetal panel with enough gauges to make you think you're in a fighter jet lol
 
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Old Oct 17, 2009 | 09:14 PM
  #10  
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From: Rock Springs, WY, USA
Originally Posted by WoodGrain
Good stuff. So the tach measures RPM by reading a signal from your coil?

I'm going to replace all my gauges with autometer stuff and make a new plate fill in where the original plastic gauge cluster is.

The PO of my truck hacked the plastic up trying to install an aftermarket stereo so it looks terrible so I'm gonna replace it with a racy looking flat sheetmetal panel with enough gauges to make you think you're in a fighter jet lol
lol. sounds bout like what im going to do. im even going to take the ignition out and make everything run off of lighted toggle switches and have a starter button. and im dead serious, there will be a guage for just about everything you can think of...
 
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