Ive got an 89' truck and I'm trying to get some creative ideas on placing some gauges. I thought about building some kind of console to go between the seats and moving the radio to free some space in the dash. What did you guys do? Pics would be nice.

 

a buddy gave me a second dash i had drilled 3 holes for the cluster to go in
it looked good but the drill bit i used was a little too big, so the gauges did not sit right in the dash,
also i did not want to take out the old dash to do this at the time after making the holes to big,
and i did not want to drill into it and find that there was somthing blocking a gauge in the dash.

i have been looking for a piller mount one

 

http://www.well.com/user/mosk/gaugepillars.htm

 

i think the guage pod the dabigwigg just showed would be nice
my dad had one in his trasn am and it looked kool

 

I'm thinking of getting it myself, but I don't know what to stuff in there. What can I say, I'm a nerd who likes gauges and switches

 

yah this one kid at my skool has somthing like that
but the guages where for like temp and like one was a clock and i think the other humidity but i am not sure

 

I'm in the same boat. I know I'm going to put a boost gauge, and a turbo temp gauge in...but I need to have 3 gauges!!

I was thinking an LCF gauge (look cool factor)

 

What are you monitoring with these guages? For a cool retro look you could mount at least two gauges in a box under the radio stack and behind the tranny like toyota did on the first gen [pre 84] pick-ups. I think it might look better and be less distracting too. all the ricers have their pillars covered with guages and it can be ugly. Another idea would be a low doghouse in front of the driver on top of the dash but towards the front of the truck at the base of the window like. This could look cool also just remeber a seperate rheostat control for the illumination would be needed as you might want to keep these dimmer then the rest of the dash for night driving.

 

They sell 2 gauge models on that site. Basically its identical to the 3 except the top most one isn't there. The only drawback is having to color match it, but that's not all that hard.

 

I'm not into the ricer thing all I care about is oil and water. I might put a small tach in the corner by the pillar but not one of those 8" ones that the ricers have that always say 0rpms. I saw that link with the pillar mounted pods, but $80 for a piece of plastic with some tape on it seems a bit much. Your idea seems the best so far I might try that.

 

I have a triple A-pillar gauge set on my 3rd Gen. Painted to match interior!

 

That looks good but I can't find one that will work on the 89', I like how it's srewed in instead of twosided tape. Did that replace the factory molding or go on top of it?

 

If all you are looking for is oil and water then you might consider looking for the 'sport' or SR5 gauge cluster there are usually a few for sale on here or you can try yotayard.com. I switched my old 87 gauges to get the whole set up with a tach and it was a straight plug and play conversion all the connectors where already there behind the dash, just had to work out which was which, was pretty easy everything was more or less in position already.
I don't know if it the same with the newer trucks but I think it should be the sensors are already there to trigger the idiot lights all you are doing is hooking up a gauge to the feed.

 

I think there is a thread on pirate showing some gauge placements.

 

I put a sunpro 3 gauge set in the din slot under the radio.

 

Here's a Perrin 2 gauge pod:

 

i like that... where'd you get it? and do they make it for an 86 toy?

 

I found it on ebay, I think they are actually made for a Subaru, but I was able to fit it fine on my 93.

 

Where do you get the paint? Pretty happy with the match?

I've got a guage pod set in my 1st gen also. Bottom gauge does oil pressure or fuel pressure via switch.

I don't really like the red, but it's in great shape.

 

I know this thread is a tad old but....before you start chopping into your plastic...take a look at PLX Devices. They make some sweet gauges....1 gauge can handle 4 sensors (yup..its digital). They have a neat setup. Give em a look.