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davtak -> How-To: Install Glow Gauges (7/5/2007 8:00:22 AM)
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I've been asked numerous times, so here's a how-to on installation of glow gauges. Check my photo gallery for pics of the finished product.
First step is to remove the dashboard piece covering the gauges and the stereo. This piece is held on by clips. What I did first was tilt the steering wheel all the way down as far as it can go, put your truck into the accesory position and shift to 1 so you can get the dashboard peice out no problem. All you have to do is start on the drivers side and just pull as you go around to each clip. Once this peice is off, disconnect all of the wire harnesses. These are the headlights, the fog lights, the 4x4 switch(if there), and the rear wiper/rear hatch. The dashboard peice should now be disconnected and remove it from the truck. Put your truck back in park and shut it off.
[image]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x75/davtak/Pic001.jpg[/image]
Now, take out a pad and a pen, start your blazer, and write down where all the needles are while the truck is on. If you do not do this, you take the risk of putting the needles back in the wrong spot. You wouldn't want to run out of gas when the gauge says 1/4 tank, or you wouldn't want to get pulled over for doing 50 when the gauge says you are doing 35. Take the time and write it down.
Now, turn your truck off and take out the bolts holding the cluster in. Remove the cluster and unplug it from the harness. Pop the plastic cover off of the cluster by the plastic clips around the rim of the cluster(see pic). Now is the tricky part. Remove the needles by pulling on the round black base and not the needles. You don't want to break a needle. They are not cheap and save yourself the trip to the junkyard. They actually came out pretty easy for me. If need be, you can give it a little nudge with a flat head screwdriver under the base. (see pic)
[image]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x75/davtak/Pic002.jpg[/image]
[image]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x75/davtak/Pic005-1.jpg[/image]
Once all the needles are out, you have to pull out the four little black stoppers. There are two on the tach and two on the speedometer. These just pull right out. Now, you can do this one of two ways. 1. You can peel off the stock gauge panel and stick the white ones in it's place with a little glue or 2. you can just place the glow gauge panel over the stock ones. I went with number 2. Now to wire them in. The ones that I bought came witha control box and a harness. I put the control box below the dashboard and out of sight (see pic). TYake the wire and run it behind the cluster down through by the gas pedal and up to where I have it. For me, there was a bolt just almost by the center console. Now, the black wire is obviously your ground and I just wired this into the black ground wire for the headlight switch. Plug the gauge panel into one of the openings in the harness. There is a box in the wiring that fits down along with the spare wire and plugs right down into the space beside the steering column under the cluster.
[image]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x75/davtak/Pic004.jpg[/image]
The power is a little tricky. You will have to test the wires to find which one has power going through it when the parking lights are on. I found that mine is a torqouise wire behind the headlight panel. Other years might be different colors. The way I did this is I wired in the ground first, then started stripping wire by wire in the harness for the headlights and touching the power wire of the gauges to the stripped wire until the gauges turned on. This can also be done with a tester, but I found this way easier. Now, when the gauges turn on, shut your lights off and see if the gauges go off. If they do, then this is the wire you want. Just wrap the other wires in electrical tape over the exposed wire and then splice into the power wire and hook up your gauges(remember to have your parking lights on when you do this).
[im
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