Thread: '04 gauge needles on 97-03's

Well this is just a pain in the ass. In case anyone reads this and thinks hmmm those needles look nice. Yeah just leave it alone lol. It ain't worth it.

But yeah. I guess I'll try to match mine up then and make it shorter so it'll fit instead of gettin another set of needles.

You can tear a whole engine apart but cant install some damn needles.

Trim the back down a little shorter than stock. If it still hangs up, sand it down a tad more with high grit sand paper so its also very smooth.

Yuuup. I just hate tedious work like this.

Which part exactly were you sanding down? I don't really have sand paper either

The back part of the needle, that slips into the tach.

After i cut it down a little shorter than stock, i just sanded the tip of it so it was oh so smooth and now it hardly ever hangs up.

Oh so smooth? LOL. Miss ya guy. Ha.

But yeah, I dont know. I just took wire cutters and snipped that part down and then took a pair of pliers and made the hole nice and round so it would slip onto the speedo. Apparently I didn't trim it low enough. I mean what does sanding that part of it down do? The reason it catches the plastic is because the thickness of the round part that faces you sticks up too high, right?

Sanding it probably does nothing, its just what i did. Its like a placebo, if i think its going to fix it, then it will, when it really doesnt.

And to be honest, im not so sure what keeps making it catch, ill have to look at mine tomorrow and see what i can find.

I mean I just assumed it was the round plastic piece that faces you. Because the original needles are flat and very low. They weren't made for the creative lumpyness of the 04 needles lol

Heres a solution for you...

















































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Come to Michigan and ill fix it for you.

promise?

I promise.

LOL. sounds legit....

This has probly been asked and answered more than once. But is it possible to swap the entire gauge cluster?

No. Won't work

I wish

Yea dont worry about where the needles sit with the ignitio off.
Heres how mine sit.

so im not reading through three pages of this, i didn't trim my needles because i didn't want to and i like it better at night, here is part of a write up on another forum and my solution to the sticking situation, i haven't had and issue since.

If you dont want to trim the mph needle use a washer that has a large enough whole to go around the guide pin and the hole for the screw, this way the lens is up enough for the needle to work properly (not hit the lens and get stuck). Then life is good and if you ever need to resell the needles you stand a better chance, anyway that's how I did it. When you put the trim piece back, the washer is not visible.

Well I be damn you just solved my problem

Not sure if serious.... But it beats the hell out of sanding something you need to be precise and what if you break it? Lol i have been running mine like that since February no issues, even when i take it above 100.

Oh no I'm very serious. I never thought of that.