So after using the search, I came up with threads that pointed to threads that no longer exist, probably a db move at some point for the forum? At any rate I went ahead and tackled the 04+ needles, what I knew was you needed to trim the needle for speedometer since the 04+ needles are quite a bit longer. unless you happen to grab two tach needles. Another pointer was to have the car in the "On" position while doing the swap for fuel and temp and to use painters tape and mark the position of the needle (where the needle is pointing). This whole process took me 45 minutes, and that is including sanding down the plastic gauge cluster cover to get rid of some heat spots, then buff it out with polishing compound, and the 60mph set of the speedometer needle. I took the whole cluster out as I wanted to do that process once as I want to change the lights out soon and just because I can.
Tools that you need
Flat head screw driver
phillips screw driver
torx bit t10
patience
xacto knife or razor
04+ needles
What you will start with
First you start by removing the plastic around the stereo and gauge cluster, I lower the steering wheel to the lowest position, be mindful that the hazards will probably be set off, also be mindful as you pry the plastic away from the dash, it is held on by metal clips. Watch out for the fog light switch, have the flathead available to push the clip on and remove the connector from the fog light switch.
Once this is removed you will end up looking at this
Now here if you want to just do the needles, remove the 5 (five) t15 torx bit screws, 2 on the bottom, one on the left and right, and one up top. this will allow you to take the cover off with the cluster still in the car and just allow for the needle swap. If you want to remove the whole cluster, there are two pjillips screws to remove, then some connectors, I will show that after the needles writeup. SO you have the cover off, time to turn the key to the "On" position put painters take above where the needle is for the fuel and coolant temp, I recommend doing this after having driven the car so the coolant temp gauge actually has a reading, if you do this cold I found my gauge was off a lot.
Now turn the car off, remove the old needles, I put the new MPH needle against the old one to see how long I needed to trim off. I trimmed mine to just a tad longer, like a hair longer, then using my straight edge razor I rounded it as best as I could. At this point too, turn both MPH needle over and note the length of the shaft of the old speedometer needle (this is the shaft that the needle mounts to the gauge with), see how the 04+ is longer? Well you need to trim that down as well, be careful not to damage the hole that the pin in the gauge goes into otherwise you might not be able to get the new needle on. I though I had taken pictures of this, but I did not, I failed this time.
Now go ahead and turn the key to the "On" position and mount the needles pointing to where the others did on your tape. Once you have lined it up to your satisfaction (It took me a bit to get it perfect I have some big bear paws for hands), I also adjusted my temp gauge as I have my torq app reading 182 degrees and my needle reading 210. I turned the car on and while my torq app was getting the rpm reading I placed the tach needle and verified it was correct.
Now comes the fun/dangerous part (Warning, you doing this next part is at your own risk and if you do not have the driving skills to perform alone, have a passenger there who is able to place the needle or hold the steering wheel, any damage or harm to you during this procedure is strictly your own fault, I am not liable for any damages or injuries you may incur or cause), go ahead and drive to the closest interstate or high speed road where 60 mph is safe. Set your cruise control for 60 mph (use torq app, heads up display, or gps from any gps app). While cruising at 60mph set the speedometer needle at 60 mph, this took me a handful of tries so don't get frustrated and expect it to be perfect on your first try, if it is, then excellent, good job now go celebrate, if you need to spend some time getting the needle just right, celebrate after.
Once you do this you should have the needles on and you are good to go, I would now also suggest putting the plastic cover over the gauges to see if the needles hit the plastic cover, if they do, push them in some more till they no longer hit the plastic, but not all the way down. Once this is done you have now updated your car with 04+ needles, go have a beer, or for you kids go have a root beer float.
Here is what it looks like
Alright to continue if you are following along to take the cluster out, once you remove the two screws holding the cluster in and you do not need to worry about the torx screws, you will need to lift up a little then pull the cluster forward to get it out, there are two electrical clips in the back of it to release. Below are what they look like.
It is the white plug and the black plug you see in the picture, be careful removing them as you do not want to break them, they send the signals to the gauges, so breaking them means you get no reading for one of your gauges.
Here they are just sitting, also try to remember how they were oriented, they have certain contact points on the gauge cluster.
Here is your cluster removed from the car to do what you like with
