What gauges would you consider essential?

[strider3700]

My 97 F350 crewcab has a critical lack of cup holders. So I've decided to build a center console to put cup holders in. This will give me a bunch of extra space and I figured I should put a bit of that to some additional gauges.

The dash does have meters but they let me know things like that I have oil pressure, that the engine is between C and H and the voltage is half way up the battery...

I'm just wondering what most people figure are necessary? I have an Auto so I figure transmission temp is a good addition, and I wouldn't mind real temp and pressure gauges. Any thing else I should really consider? I'm not wanting 15 gauges like a race car but since I have the space and can probably come up with a few extra bucks I figure it's a worth while undertaking.

[Life_in_4Lo]

is your truck OBDII?
buy a scangauge or similar and get all the info on one unit.

[strider3700]

nope It's not odb2. apparently it's heavy enough to be exempt from that requirement.

[Stan the Man]

Just an FYI those gauges all mean nothing in our Fords. At a bare minimum get water, oil, and transmission temperature gauges. Throw in a 4th oil pressure and call it a day.

[corax]

Look for a gauge that has an "idiot light" built into it, something that will light up nice and bright when the needle goes somewhere it shouldn't be. I put extra sending units on the engine and lights on my instrument panel for oil press and engine temp, if something happens I'll see the light come on before I notice the gauge.

[dieselcruiserhead]

gasoline or diesel?

If diesel you may consider one of these. I just got one and am very happy. EGT, boost, and trans temp in one gauge rather than 3. It is the only additional gauge I plan to have personally.. Temp sensors will work for trans, coolant, and oil temp (your choice but I would say trans temp is probably best). You can change the lighting with push of button to match one of 12 styles designed to mimic different factory styles. My 1999.5 Ford is spot on.



Here is a link to the vendor I got it from [[Paul Rutledge of Complete Performance in Texas who also has a very neat restored vintage Ford Bronco with a diesel]]. I also found he has the best deal going on them AFAIK, $150 shipped instead of the usual $170 everyone else is promoing them at as they just came out. Most comments I have heard about glowshift are generally positive including general google results.
http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11928

[SunTzuNephew]

I'd put the gauges on the A-pillar, so you don't have to look down to see them.....

[cruiser guy]

As Andre says, if it's a diesel you want an EGT gauge as a minimum and a boost gauge is also a good idea.

[strange]

another vote for the glow shift. just got 3 of them a couple months ago, was Leary at there very cheap price, but they have been working great.

[ntsqd]

Gene Berg's take on gauges:
http://www.geneberg.com/article.php?ArticleID=239

I loosely follow that, I prefer an indicator light over a gauge. Buy the switches at the pressure or temperature threshold that would concern you and hook a light to it.

Where I work we instrument our testing of turbochargers and engines for data acquisition. We have no automotive aftermarket type gauges. They simply won't do the job. We do use mechanical gauges on some variables. Those are supplemental to the D/A system and are only for by-stander reference. These we generally source from McMaster-Carr and only buy their liquid filled, small tolerance versions.

For EGT's on a turbo diesel I would look into using a Type K thermocouple with Swagelok or similar fittings, and find a decent thermocouple reader.