Gauge set recommendations?

Time to start thinking about gauges for the Dodge/Fargo truck. I like the look of Autometer Prestige gauges, but don't like the price.



Anybody have any recommendations for a nice looking, reasonably priced gauge set? Since I have a late model GM trans, it needs to have an electronic speedo and work with the tach output from a 2001 GM ECM

As the saying goes, good ain't cheap and cheap ain't good. That definitely applies to gauges. I have Classic Instruments and I'm very pleased with them. My temp gauge went bad right away but they replaced it no problem. I'm a big fan of their products, and they have both cheaper and more expensive lines.

I have heard a lot of crappy stories about the poor performance of cheap gauges, because they're just that-cheap. Since I build my stuff to last, the price of better gauges is a no-brainer imo. Best of luck figuring it out.

I bought used SW gauges for my car. The block style lettering on the SW's just fits old vehicles better IMHO. New ones are probably pricey, but I think are still quality made.

Due to the nature of my build, I am using a mix of various brands that I picked up at yard sales and swap meets.

I also bought a new set of Autometer Gauges at a pawn shop a while back. Not sure what I will do with them yet, they are really pretty.

P/N 24739-1

I'm an Autometer fan. Never buy the fancy ones & always try to find them on sale!

BoB

I like the old Stewart Warner but the new ones are crap IMHO.
I used Autometer in my '47 Dodge and I really like them.

New Vintage military series

Todd said:

New Vintage military series

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These? Have you owned a set? $499 from Summit

Yeah, thems the ones.
I have some new vintage in my 49 chevy and like them. I think they are out of Michigan.

I got Dolphin Shark gauges for mine and not totally happy.

gauges are cheap, it's the speedo and tack that breaks the bank.

Take a look at the GPS speedos out there. No cables, no calibration.

Anybody tried Speedhut?

I've used many sets of Classic Instruments, always good quality, a complete kit with decent and understandable instructions.

These cheap off brand temp gauges i usually get are junk. I am watching this thread to find one brand i can rely on. Have double gauges on the flathead and they read 20 degrees apart while the laser reads the same on both sides.

zzrodder said:

I've used many sets of Classic Instruments, always good quality, a complete kit with decent and understandable instructions.

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Classic sure makes pretty gauges, but they are more than I really want to spend. Kinda hard to justify that nice of a gauge set in front of an old steering wheel....before long it's a $100,000 car to not make the gauges out of place.

Flipper_1938 said:

Classic sure makes pretty gauges, but they are more than I really want to spend. Kinda hard to justify that nice of a gauge set in front of an old steering wheel....before long it's a $100,000 car to not make the gauges out of place.

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Won't any new gauges look out of place then?

Here's what mine look like, I think they look good against the rusty dash. It was taken while I was waiting on getting my temp gauge back from Classic, so I had a cheapo in there.

I have a set of Dolphins minus the speedo and like them for the most part. They look pretty good and don't break the bank. The people there are pretty terrible on the phone and through email though.

I have a small Speedhut GPS speedo as well. It's pretty nice. It doesn't look as "vintage" as the dolphins but whatever. You can customize the Speedhut stuff quite a bit when you order it. The GPS speedo takes about a minute to calibrate so you need to sit there that long at least to let it do it's thing or it will be way off. Otherwise its cool because it will work independent of trans/rearend/tire size so you can switch stuff out and not worry about calibration. The only real downside to it is that you have to have the antenna mounted somewhere with a clear view to the sky so it will likely be visible somewhere.

The classic ones I like