this is for all the members who have changed thier gauges. bout how long does it take to do this. gauges
i was lookin at gettin something like these. not necessarly the flames but some thing along these lines. thanx for the help

 

it just depends on how long it takes you to pull apart the dash and get to the gauges and put it back together...........i've gotten to mine and done what i had to do in there and had it back together in less than 30 minutes......MAKE SURE YOU KEEP ALL YOUR BOLTS AND SCREWS SEPERATE AS THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT SIZES!

 

I tried doing mine on the 97....and when I popped off the speedo needle...i messed it all up. It never worked right again so I had to buy a new cluster off ebay. Not a big deal, just a heads up. I'm honestly not sure how to pop off the needles without messing them up lol

The 01 was easy...the guages just came out of a Sport Trac.

Don't let me scare you from doing the mod...theres alot of guys that have done it without an issue...just be careful popping off the needles.

BTW, those are the gauges I wanted. I like them alot....even with the flames.

Good Luck!

 

i kan get em in 4 ya! team work buddy!

 

I got mine from truckperformance.com. Their alot ceaper there. it doesnt take that long.

As for the needles i have removed mine twice. and they all still work fine. just be very careful when removing them. If you buy a gauge face from NuImage it should come with a needle remove tool, which works very well/

 

there is a special tool i believe to take the needles off without damaging them. most places like summit racing has them

 

yeah i used to have the nu image flame gauges, they were pretty cool, good quality.. but like others have said when you take the needles off it messes things up sometimes. My oil pressure gauge, tach, and speedo were all off after doing them.. i changed the whole cluster out for a sport trac one a few months ago and love it!

 

I have a stick on face like that. It takes no time once you unbolt the whole dash. To take the needles off I used a fork, and had no problems. And to help with putting your needles back in the right position, I turned the truck on and let it worm up then took a piece of paper and marked where the needles were before i took them off, and did the same when putting them back on.

 

I had the gauge problem with the 97. i guess i just didnt remove them right...oh well, lesson learned. The needle removal tool woulda been a nice trinket to have at the time lol


I put the sport trac gauges in my 01.

 

This "Needle Removal Tool" is actually a golf divot-repair tool. I've got a method for re-aligning the needles that has worked well each of the 10 or so times I've been into my dash.

 

I get sketched out with the spedo stuff. i wanted to do those gauges b ut im afraid im going to mess the needles up plus my dash is a pain to pull apart because i dont know how to!!

 

those are the same gauges that i want to put in my truck, let me know how the installtion goes and if you cna get a pic of what they look like all light up. if your deffently gonna do it good luck man

 

Do those just sit over the stock gauges?

If so, you only have to take one needle off and you can slide the glow gauge over the remaining needle.

Hope this helps.

 

I can't believe they're selling overlays for 100 bucks. They must be making a killing, I can get a sport trac cluster for less than that!

Yeah just watch the needles. Good luck!

 

Brief How-To: Change the Gauge Faces

This information is from memory, so the numbers of screws may be off a little…but you get the idea.

• Remove the knee-board. (4 torx screws – two on ends and two under hood latch)
• Remove metal knee-board (6 bolts…10mm maybe?)
• Remove the radio bezel (two bolts above HVAC controls)
• Remove the gauge bezel (3 bolts above gauges on black panel, two at bottom between it and the knee-board location)
• Auto-tranny* – turn Key On (engine off), depress brakes, and shift to 1st gear.
• Work the gauge bezel out from between the dash edge and the steering wheel.
• Disconnect the two wire-connectors for the headlight switch and dimmer ****, and set this panel aside
• Remove the gauge cover (clear plastic) (6 torx bolts…some are pretty well hidden right above the steering column)

Now you can slip the new gauge faces over the factory ones by working the needles through the opening first, then carefully sliding the overlay into place and securing it (electrical tape works best in small squares around the perimeter, where the gauge cover will hide it)

If you must remove the needles, go grab your digital camera or a piece of paper before you touch anything.
Make a diagram or photograph the needles with the truck on. You’ll use this as reference for putting them back on correctly.
FOR THE SPEEDOMETER: The best way to replace the needle without distorting your speedometer calibration (IMHO):
With the stop-pin (needle rests on it when truck is off) removed, measure the distance from the 10mph mark to the 20 mph mark.
Use this distance to place the needle back on at an imaginary “0mph” mark (below the 10mph mark)
Lift the needle slightly with a finger and replace the stop-pin

Edit: Figured I'd throw in a picture of the results, just to entice some of you to GET BUSY AND QUIT BEING AFRAID OF A LITTLE MODIFICATION!!!

 

update: well i ordered the guage kit. just got it in today. now for the pics


now i just need it to stop raining for a day and i can install these things. i post pics of the install also, when i get to it

 

sweet.......

 

this will be fun!

 

I'm planning on either switching the gauges out for the sport track one or doing something like you are doing here. I found this page here that had a really good write up on what screws to take out and how to get to the gauges for those of you that may be wondering how.

 

that is extremly nice! aught to put that in the how to's

 

i want lvl 2 gauge faces..... or, white on black...

 

ebony, ivory. lol. yeah im tired. hurry up and get that thing installed man.

 

Where can you get them cheap, a local junkyard wanted 100 bucks for one out of an Explorer Sport.

 

where'd u get those? i want white gauges

 

Those are off an Explorer Sport Trac