The guage's in my truck have a good amount of dirt/dust built up behind the plastic cover that covers them. so the other day i tore apart the interior to try and clean it up, only to discover the plastic peice doesnt want to seperate from the guages themselves. does this make any sense? so it looks like i would have to take out the whole guage cluster to just get it clean...has anybody else had this problem? i also dont have a tachometer, and i was wondering if i could buy a new set of guages,and hook up a tach, then do it all at the same time. cuz it was a pain in the ***...

 

note: i dont want a fatty ricer tach, just a new set of stock guages with a tachometer

 

I'm not sure what year truck you have but my 03 has alot of dust buildup behind the plastic gauge cover. If it wasn't such a pain in the butt, I'd probably clean it.

 

Ive got a 97...im working on my sig lol
but yea 9years of build up. its nasty back there

 

mine does also, i thought that when i bought it from the dealership, they guy who owned it before me rolled back the milage or something and thats why there was dirt back there, and the fact that my milage numbers arnt all strait....On my car it was easy to remove the clear plastic but i havent takin my trucks out yet...probably will someday, but not now...im guessing you have the older guages that just have the speedo and battery and stuff on it, and your wanting a newwer one? with the tach on it? Im not sure what years will fit in yours...

Rocky

 

i hope my miles werent rolled back, i have 73k

yea i have that set. just the speedo and other stuff. but i want the new cluster with the white background...i like those

 

You guys are turning something very simple into a big deal... It is very simple to remove the dust, flys, or anything else you may have in you guage cluster. Use a air nozzel off a compressor, the air will get in the same holes that the dust and other stuff did and blow it away. It may take moving the nozzel around a bit, but it will work and everything that does not belong will be gone.

 

Yea but its still a pain in the *** to tears apart the interior to get to the guages...the dirt comes in from behind, therfore it comes out from the back, and its a b***h to get back there..

 

I took my dash apart to get at my gauges. It was nasty. I took some of those lint free clothes with the armor all in them and used it to clean it up. it looks great now. The only problem is that my tach needle still sticks. I know its not reading correctly. The black back ground really shines. The needles on the gauges are clear with a white line going down the middle. The bottom of the needles are colored alight blue color. Before I cleaned it you wouldnt have known the blue was there.

 

I Dont have to worry about a stcky tach needle....and the way it is now, they glow a greenish color

 

I have a 96 Ranger and just today installed a guage cluster from a 97 Explorer that was in the local jy. The Newer Cluster had a tach which my older did not. I was very pleased it was a perfect swap as in bolt patterns and harness plugs. Im thinking most Explorer guages 95 and later will fit your truck. As far as dirt.. I used compressed air to blow out dirt thru the little holes at bottom. It did a fair job but didnt get the embedded dust thats been there for years. Im going to paint my guages as my next project and ill get it cleaner then.

 

The dust or whatever else you may have inside you guage cluster can easily be removed using a simple nozzel and a compressor. It may take you all of 30 seconds, but it will remove all the dust, ect... There is no need to remove any part of the dash or insturmant panel like some have mentioned. No reason to make something so simple seem so difficult. It is very easy and takes all of 30 seconds or so.