Truck Dash

[jcalisi]

Finally getting ready to start working on my truck. I'm getting ready to redo the dash and was wondering if their was any advice floating around about what works best. I'm debating on either replacing the stock meters with Phantom Auto Meter guages or going the digital route with dakota Digital. If you have any pics of your dash and would like to show it off I would love to see what you come up with. The digital appealed to me because I have a TPI setup ready to go in and I thought it would go with the theme. However, I think the white faces give it a classic look. Anyway, thanks in advance for your help.

[Longhorn Man]

White guages all the way, leave the digital crap for the Barbie Vette. (Just my opinion)

[68LSS1]

I say go with the Dakota. I agree with the theme idea. I've bought my Dakota setup but am not that far along yet (putting in a LS1 also). There is a lot of features that you only get with a digital setup. Change tire size or gears-no problem. Put it in a mode go drive and it calibrates the speedo. Has provision for check engine light. Built in adjustable warnings for oil pressure, temp, etc. If your running an auto trans you can have it built to show which gear tranny is in (I'm using 6 speed manual). I love the look of my truck and I'm building it to be a daily driver so I want the ride, performance, fuel economy, etc. of a new vehicle. I went as far as the Fatman Fabrication crossmember set up (Mustang II suspension and rack) which got some of the same response as you got from longhornmail. And no offense to longhornmail he has his opinion, is entitled to it and I can respect that. Ultimately you will have to decide which you like best and go with it no matter what is said. Make it YOUR truck. You'll like it a lot more in the end. There's a company making carbon fiber dash bezels now too. You can get them with or without gauges and they sort of offset the bottom ones. You can get a blank from them too. Of course this is all coming from a guy whos truck when it finally hits the street probably won't have a part on it that isn't modified or aftermarket. Good luck.

[Longhorn Man]

68LSS1, thanks, you remind me I need to watch how I word things, I don't mean to sound rude.
let me rephrase my opinion to I don't care for them myself. Analog guages are easier to read at a glance which is better for real word situations. If your brain knows where the H is on the guage then you can just glance at it and know without taking too much attention from the roat, or the track, or the guard rail if things are going wrong. I know that even after 6 yrs of driving my wife's S-10 blazer with the digital inst panel, we both admit to having to take a double take to see what the speed is, while in my truck you can tell from the corner of your eye.

[72CustomCamper]

My $.02,

There are many custom trucks out there that look great, but before long, there won't be any originals left. I went as original looking as possible without sacrificing quality. VDO gauges all the way around, about $200 for the set.

If digital is so great, how come very few manufacturers use them in anything form a Geo to a Winston Cup car?

[1969 GMC]

I know that its a little different than the aftermarket stuff, but the first car I ever drove on the road was a 1989 Ford Aerostar minivan and it had a digital dash. It constantly changed and would catch my attention, making me look down a lot more than normal- which isn't too safe. My buddy has an 80's Caddy w/ a digital dash and its the same way. That's just my preference, though.

[pissonNOS]

I ahd a terrible experience with DAKOTA DIGITAL and will never buy from them again i dont think they liek dealign with canadians

[68LSS1]

72CustomCamper, I know you started off your reply with "My $.02" but I'd like to clarify some things.

There are many custom trucks out there that look great, but before long, there won't be any originals left. I went as original looking as possible without sacrificing quality. VDO gauges all the way around, about $200 for the set.

So, your saying that the stock gauges aren't any good? Or have no quality, is a better way to put it. Your set up looks nice and if I was going for more of a restored/lightly modified truck that would be the way I would go.

If digital is so great, how come very few manufacturers use them in anything form a Geo to a Winston Cup car?

So if it's not in a Geo or Winston Cup car, it shouldn't be in our trucks, huh? Reread my post. Did I say digital is superior other instruementation? No. In my particular application it is. Transmission has no speedometer cable. Need a check engine light for the PCM. Etc, etc. Point is not everybody that visits this forum is in to restoring their truck or keeping it some what original. Mine is the only 67-72 I've ever owned and probably the only one I ever will. I don't care for fleetsides, long or short. I do love the look of a lowered stepside. So much that I want to be able to drive it everyday. And to me that means reliability, performance, handling and fuel economy. Hence, my choice of engine/trans/suspension. Some guys here love everything about these year trucks and have a whole flock of them. My reply was, of course, in favor of the Dakota set up. And I gave reasons why. Yes all this was in MY opinion. I wanted to provide as much helpful information as I could. Even if you don't like digital stuff, look at longhornmails' two replies. The first didn't offer any info. The second, still not liking digital gauges, gave some reasons as to why he doesn't like them. Maybe I brought up something that jcalisi hadn't thought of. Maybe longhornmail did. And the last thing I would want to do is to convince somebody to use/buy some thing beause I did. I may tell them how much I like it or the positives and negatives but primarily give them info. But at least there was something more to the reply than ignorant statements or roll eyes.

[68_Step]

72CustomCamper: How are those gauges attached to the dash? Did you have to modify the dash to install them? I too like the original look of the needle style gauges. Last question: Where did you buy them?

[jcalisi]

Thanks for the input so far. Everyone has brought some very valid points for using each. I would like to see a pic of your dash 68LSS1. Also, I would like to see the back of yours 72CustomCamper.

Thanks so far for the information and keep the pictures coming.

[smokekiki]

I don't think I will put dakotas' in my truck only because I like the looks of analog gauges.My Nephew has dakotas' in his 57 belair.It"s cool jumping into a 46 year old car with airride,plush leather interior and digital gauges.Rides,looks,and feels better than most new cars.

[Ackattack]

Here's mine. Autometer ultralite.

I have since recessed the tach a little, so it doesn't stick out as much. I'm looking at getting silver decal cover for the speedo until I can afford the matching autometer speedo.

Also, you can calibrate the autometer guages to different gears and tires sizes also, so that's not a problem.

[O'l Buck]

I personally prefer the look of the stock guages to anything else......to me there's nothing that looks better than the dashes in these trucks (except for the dash in a Peterbilt 359) I like the black bezel with the chrome trim, black guages with nice bright needles. Many people like many different things, and different guages are needed for different applications.

[minibike]

This pic has been on the board before, but it is similar to what I'm doing. This is a glovebox door with holes drilled in it for the guages, and notched for the steering column. I got a glove box door that I am mounting a 94 Z28 instrument cluster in.

[Shane]

If digital is so great, how come very few manufacturers use them in anything form a Geo to a Winston Cup car?

Winston Cup cars may not use digital gages ... But REAL race cars do.
Check out the gage pod, mounted on the steering wheel no less, in any CART, IRL, or Formula 1 car ... they ain't analog. And these cars monitor a lot more data than any stock car gage system and require the drivers to be able to very quickly look/glance at the pod and see alot more than just MPH ... at much faster speeds than we drive on the public roads.

I also agree that digital gages may not "fit" our style of trucks, but to say that digital gages are not GOOD gages, just because they aren't in Winston Cup cars, is plain ol' bull. Don't get me wrong here, there is plenty of technology in stock cars, but just because they, Winston Cup car builders, don't use a certain item doesnt make it worthless ... they don't use turbo chargers, methanol, fuel injection, data acquisition systems and TONS of other items used on other race cars either, but then again, thats an entirely different topic.

[XXL]

Originally posted by 68LSS1
There's a company making carbon fiber dash bezels now too. You can get them with or without gauges and they sort of offset the bottom ones. You can get a blank from them too.

Got a link??

Kenneth

[68LSS1]

XXL, here's the link:
Carbon Fiber Dashes
If I wasn't using Dakota's that's the set up I'd probably be going with. I'm still going to try and use one of their "blanks". I think they have wood grain and aluminum stuff too.