1979 F-150 Instrument Cluster Swap??

[cougar190]

Hey Folks; My wife wants me to switch instrument clusters in her 1979 F-150 (I don't know if the cluster in the truck now is the original or not) !! They are both D6T clusters but the cluster in her truck now has all 4 gauges (temp,fuel,oil pressure,charge-discharge meter), currently we aren't using the oil pressure gauge (we're using actual OP gauge) and the charge-discharge gauge doesn't seem to work. The cluster she wants to use has only 2 gauges fuel and temp ,with Idiot lights for oil press. and alt. I'm wandering if this swap will work without problems !?Any suggestions would be appreciated ! Thanks, ...cougar...

 

[Mil1ion]

sounds like you will using a separate harness then


lot of work
what gauge is it that she likes

 

[cougar190]

Well the problem is that her current cluster has Very dim lights even at full adjustment and the speedometer is not stable (needle bounces approx. 5 to 15 miles per hr) from 0 to 45 mph , also the speedo is not correct when judged by our other truck (I've told her that the gears aren't correct) , but she KNOWS what's UP !

 

[LEB Ben]

Sounds like all you need to do is pull the guages, swap in some new lights and take out the lenses...maybe go with the HIPO parts LED swap. As for the speedo, you're right...it just needs a new gear...waaaaaaaay easier to swap that than make the new guage panel work.

 

[cougar190]

I've taken out and checked all the lights and they are clear (not smokey) and I'm not sure about why you say (no offence intended) to switch the lenses ,they are clear and clean , I've thought about opening up the housing itself to see if it might be dirty inside ! What is the story with the HIPO parts LED swap, I work on electronics (privately)and might be able to build a conversion myself! Thanks , ...cougar...

 

[LEB Ben]

What I meant by lenses were the blue (probably green by now) lenses behind the guages themselves. Here's the HIPO LED conversion:

http://www.hipoparts.com/index.php?cPath=74_76_79

 

[Mil1ion]

www.Hipoparts.com is becoming a sponsor of this site because of the patronage from its members

http://www.hipoparts.com/index.php?cPath=74_76_79

Regarding your bulbs.
are they the correct application ?

They need to be 194's

 

[smokey]

Could be a defective headlight Switch/dimmer. If the rheostat in the switch isn't putting out the correct voltage the lights will be dim.
The Speedo cable could be bad also causing the jerky reading from it sticking.

 

[Jolly Green]

The dash lights in these trucks aren't real bright to begin with. There may be nothing wrong at all. Just my two cents.

I've heard a lot of good things about the Hippo kit Ben suggested as a nice upgrade.

You must have the rare "Friendly Gauge" package. It's waving at you!

 

[cougar190]

Whew !!

Hey guys , Thanks for the responces ! Hey UTfball68 , I'll open up the cluster and check the lenses out ,Hmm maybe I can remove these lenses to allow All the light out ?? And I've saved the link to >hipoparts< , I'll check them out later (checking Email late) ! Hey Mil1ion , Not sure if bulbs are 194's or not ,I'll look at that when I open it up to look at the lenses ! Hey smokey , I'll check the voltage on the rheostat when I get back into the dash for the other stuff , as far as the speedo cable ,I did remove it the other day when I first checked the dash and it did have a Very Minute read that Very Minute , kink at the end where it went into the gear itself at the transmission ! Hmm ! Hey Jolly Green , Hope that isn't the case here , but if it is, maybe this would be a candidate for some LED's ,at $19.95 ,that's not a bad deal!! Hey Thanks again for all the Input guys !!! ...cougar...