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im on the fence about this.. need some opinions

crzybil87

C.R.A.Z.Y.B.I.L.L
Ok so im half way thru the construction of putting a Cummins in my truck and I was looking at the wiring and I know there wont be alot of wires being used. So here's my dillemma I can get the truck driveable and make the stock gauges and instrument cluster work. Or should take the time and start from scratch gauges wise and make my own instrument panel. Either way im gonna need alot of gauges that weren't on the stock cluster. So what's yours guys thoughts on this...
 

crzybil87

C.R.A.Z.Y.B.I.L.L
I was thinkin it would be easier. Cause im worried about if I start cutting the stock wire harness some stuff wont work. If any has any opinions id like to hear em
 

primetime

sawmill slave
I think you should make the OE guages work with the aftermarket. Personally, there is nothing more irritating than getting in a truck with an aftermarket oil psi guage, turning it on, and the stock guage doesn`t work, PLUS the Engine is on. It`s just a matter of a tee fitting (oil guage for example) or some extra wiring. Granted, you could pull all of your stock guages, build a panel, and put all the aftermarket stuff in their place, which looks cool by the way, but, how many do you plan to add and will there be room? Or should you build a console for them, or, or. It`s all about the details. (Hey, you asked for opinions.)
 

F 150Cobra

"Wild HoRsE" Got Torque?
3,642
104
Aruba
wich cummins do you have to swap?? a 6bt12 valve is full mechanical and easier!!

uhm other than that find a broken dodge and score the cluster?
 

crzybil87

C.R.A.Z.Y.B.I.L.L
Its a Cummins 12v its all mechanical. But if I keep the factory gauge cluster im gonna have to splice and cut into the wire harness. I can make it work im just worried about the whole computerized deal with everything. If I did go with just starting over, I would take the whole cluster out and start with a blank panel and build to suite what I want. I want to monitor every aspect of the truck and. What the temp and pressure of everything is so its gonna be more gauges than the factory clusters have
 

crzybil87

C.R.A.Z.Y.B.I.L.L
If I did make my own gauge set up which im well capable of id take my sweet time doing it. With every bit of attention to detail and doing it right
 

F 150Cobra

"Wild HoRsE" Got Torque?
3,642
104
Aruba
if its the 89' your talking about you dont have to worry..

my 1990 F150 was EFI inline six i cut all the wires to remove the engine didnt even bother to see wich wire is wich.. the guages doesnt go thru the computer it goes direct to the engine senders..

the speedo goes to the trans

aftermarked guages will be needed for boost EGTS and such...


my truck is setup like this..

stock speedo stock volt and stock fuel guage

aftermarket Trans temp water temp oil pressure
 

Truckin4life

Texas Chapter Leader
i would run the factory gauges, and keep the truck as "Ford" as possible and let the cummins rattle through people off!

I guess its personal prefference, i would keep the factory gauges if i was keep the factory dash, if i was going full custom set up, then the obvious answer is custom gauges. If your truck is equipped with a tach, maybe finding one from a diesel truck (tach) would work better...

You going to add anything more than just the A-pillar pods?
 

crzybil87

C.R.A.Z.Y.B.I.L.L
Well if i kept the factory gauges id do the a pillar and 3 gauges off to the right of the gauges where the dash slopes. Down on top of the radio and heater controls. But haven't really gotten that far yet
 

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
I left mine all stock looking, was easy to do. I haven't set up any extra gauges, but kept the motor mostly stock. It also has a manual trans, so no real need to watch the temp there. it depends on how fast you want it on the road as well, stock gauges will get it there faster. It is fun having people wonder what is going on, as it sounds wrong for an IDI...
 

LEB Ben

Arrogant A-hole At-Large
34,919
1,124
outside your house
I'm with the majority here...keep the stock cluster, and throw gauges on the A-Pillar or under dash if need be.
 

fordman76367

Texas Chapter member
426
4
I'd try to go with the stock gauges or maybe replace it w a set of oe gauges from a gen 8 7.3idi, then get one of the pillar gauge clusters and run ur aftermarket gauges in them for boost etc
 

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
For the most part, the gauge clusters between the diesel and the gas are the same, the main trick is a tach, as the wiring is different and such between them, and the IDI tach and sender would have trouble reading the Cummins, as the Cummins reads off of the harmonic balancer, while the IDI reads off the injection pump gear.
 

crzybil87

C.R.A.Z.Y.B.I.L.L
I want to use another tach if I don't want to use my stock one, as it reads upto 8000 rpm and the Cummins will never rev past 3500 I don't want the tach to look like it stays in the basement
 

godblessmud

CHECKERS OR WRECKERS
1,596
63
Moscow, ID
If you need any help with the swap feel free to post or PM me, I am currently about 2/3 of the way through my certification program from Cummins.
 

crzybil87

C.R.A.Z.Y.B.I.L.L
The motor itself is 100% rebuilt. It had 250,000 when I got it now it has 0 miles. Its being bolted to a rebuilt st 5spd from a 7.3l. Only part im gonna have a hard time with is making the motor mounts which will be done this weekend. Just really trying to figure out the dash and gauges
 

crzybil87

C.R.A.Z.Y.B.I.L.L
Ok so after sittin in the drivers seat for hours on end. I've decided im leave the stock gauge cluster make it work and just add gauges around that. Up the pillar and to the right of the instrument panel in the center of the dash. Just gotta figure out what layout will look good with all my switches and gauges
 

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