I'm finally getting around to gauging my 12V, the UPS man delivered my stuff from Geno's and the surplus place. I have an ISSPRO boost gauge 0-60psi, a pre-turbo rainbow pyro, and the $10 water pressure gauge for fuel.

So I pulled off my stock A-pillar, removed the tweeter cover, apinted it black and put it in the AutoMeter triple gauge A-pillar mount. I got to reading the instructions, and it says the gauge mount mounts on top of the stock A-pillar cover, not in place of the stock A-pillar cover. Well this might work, except the stock clips broke off while I removed the cover . Will I be able to mount the gauge pod directly to the truck sheet metal without the stock A-pillar cover? I guess the little christmas tree fasteners AutoMeter gave me will have to be replaced with longer sheet metal screws. Fitting the AutoMeter piece on top of the stock cover, it looks pretty tight under there, not much room for the tubes and wires, how does everyone do it?

 

so you got the single pod that mounts over the pillar? had a double like that few years back on my 99, if i remember i had to place the pod, mark the holes , remove the pillar drill holes, mount gauge and pod, run wires etc then put the pillar back in place, think i had to screw the pillar back in. hard to remember 4+ years ago

 

You can remove the factory pillar. I use 1 well placed screw in between a few of the pods to attach to the sheet metal behind.

My original setup used the factory pillar below. Had to cut holes in it to clear the gauges and wires.

Dave

 

nope, a triple pod. The directions say it fits over the factory A-pillar cover.

Exactly what i wanted to hear. I don't see how you could place this pod on top without cutting clearance in the factory cover. Maybe if the factory cover didnt have a tweeter, but it still must be tight.

 

have you tried to put the tweeter in yet? I just tried mine and it looks horrible. it warps and twists and wont fit tight. I need to make a backer or spacer plate for it. does anyone else have a good fix for this.

 

The tweeter cover popped right in the pod, it looks and fits great. The tweeter itself is still dangling from the truck though, maybe I'll run into the same problem.

 

Sorry, but I have to laugh. Not at you, but at all of mankind that tools around in the garage.

.....after I broke it, I read the instructions....

If I only had a nickel for every time that I did that.

I feel your pain, brother.

 

Installing thhe pods with the tweeter is a real PITA. It says you may want to go buy a non tweeter pillar to do the installation. This may be the easy thing to do, since you broke your clips. I had to hack the heck out of my stock tweeter pillar to get it to fit. I also had to extend the tweeter wires, I think.
The entitre job was a royal pain. Taping the exhaust manifold was a pain by itself. getting all the fittings from variuos places, also a pain. They sure are nice installed, but getting there is a rough trip at least for me.
If I had to do this for a living, I would starve.

 

I installed mine by cutting off the factoy pillar just below the top clip and epoxying the little part of the org. pillar with the clip on it to the gauge pillar , it then just snaps in like the factory one , no screws or anthing and looks factory.Of course your factory pillar is no more good for future use with this method.

 

Thanks for the replies. My previous truck, I used the 3 pod cluster that mounts on the center of the dash. That was a pain to install, I swore if I ever did it again, I would go with an A-pillar, thinking it would be easier. Maybe it won't be...
I didnt think tapping the manifold was too difficult.
and on my current a-pillar cover, I "only" broke 2 out of 3 clips , maybe can cut it up and still mount the pod cover to the factory cover.

One more question...
what is the preferred order for gauges on the A-pillar? I was thinking fuel pressure up top because it is least of a concern to me, and I won't be monitoring it as much while driving. Then the boost would go down low because that gauge moves the quickest, and it would be eaiser to "watch" while driving if it was down low. That would leave the pyro in the middle. Thoughts, opinions, etc...?

 

hi
i installed mine right over the original but i did break the top snap in ancor so i used a screw to fasten the pod to the original pillar and it is all prety much heald in by the dash cover pressing aginst it ?

i ran all the wires and boost gauge out through the original tweeter spesker hole .
no holes were drilled into the original pillar i just took my time to get it right .
came out good but was time consuming !

 

Had to drill my original pillar for the wires but it just pulled off, pulling from drivers front to passenger rear motion.

As for gauge order I see the middle gauge the most while driving so EGT or boost your choice, second I see the bottom gauge more than the top so the Fuel on the top. Like you I don't look at the fuel pressure gauge much, mine is mounted on the steering column and I have at trans temp for the 3rd pod in the pillar. The only problem I see with the FP gauge on top is running the line up that far. The reason I used the column mount for my FP gauge is I am running 3/8 SS braid hose into the cab, I don't trust plastic for fuel.

Good luck.

 

use electric fp gauge, that is what i am doing, cost is a little more but then you just got wires to deal with on the colum, has anyone had problem with instection with the colum or pillar gauges?

 

I put the FP on the bottom, because it is the most important. NO FP= VP going south, $1k bill minimum. Mine is mechanical and I have a copper line going to it.
I put the others, Pyro on top, boost in the middle. I seldom stress over 1,000.
I more interested in the boost. More boost= more fuel consumptiom + power, for what that is worth.

 

Well, I didnt get it installed this weekend. Besides entertaining my 3 kids and all that family stuff, I was only able to sneak a few hours in for this job. I think I can salvage my original A-pillar cover. I used a sheet metal screw hold the 2 broken clips to the plastic factor cover. It looks like it will hold, especially with the weather stripping helping. Then I can use the suppled christmas tree push pin thingies to hold the pod cover on the factory piece.
The bump in the factory cover for the tweeter was interfering with the backside of the middle gauge, so I cut most of that area out and ran the wires and tubes thru that hole.
I've ran out of time and patience this weekend, here's some of the issues I'll have to deal with.

I discovered my O'Reilly's "oil pressure gauge tubing kit" only came with 6' of tubing. This is for my FP gauge. I didn't notice it was considerably shorter than the 10' section I had for the boost until after I connected it up and made a neat little bundle of wires/tubes. I have the brass and another 4' section of tubing I can splice in, but that would introduce a lot of potential leak points. Most likely, I'll use this instead of going out and buying another 10', then re-running the tube. Should have measured first

What is really gonna be a pain, is the pyro connection. Why is the pigtail on the back of the gauge only 6" long?

Now, I couldnt quite find a good place for the wires to route thru. Any tips here? From the base of the A-pillar, there seems like there is a rubber cover above the steering column all the way to the fuse box, and I don't see a nice way to get the wiring down. I put fuse taps on #5 fuse for illumination and #16 for the pyro amplifier. I'm thinking about shoving a coat hanger down and seeing where it comes out.

And where does everyone poke thru the firewall? I've done this once on my old Ram, I just don't remember drilling a hole. It will be 2 tubes and the pyro wire.

Thanks for your help. Sucks I have to go back to work tommorrow and I didn't get it done this weekend.