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

Ok, so i've seen this swap a few times, and everything works fine and dandy. looks great yaddayaddayadda..
except...

I keep having issues with the speedometer needle..
before i put it in the car, i trimmed the tip of it because it overshot the numbers..

now, i'm not sure if the needle does not have enough counter weight on it, or if it keeps getting hung up on something, because the problem is that the needle won't go past 25mph.
i fixed that once already by putting the needle on, (@30mph) and went 0-40-0 and it worked no problem. hour later, go to drive the car, stuck at 25 again.

how do i make it not do that anymore.

will post pictures if someone can help me...

Word

when i did it, i got up to 60mph on the highway as per the aeroforce...installed the needle and it has been good ever since..believe me, there is nothing you can do to the weight to tweak it....i spent an hour just messing with the weights to see if that would work until i realized how to get it calibrated right.

Someone should do 110 and put their needle on.

so basically what youre saying is just go to 60 and put the needle on, and itll be fine for forever? because i did that at 30 and it worked for all of 5 minutes.and youll get your pictures when it works properly.

Doesn't anyone mark the position of the needles at idle anymore

I just did these today. Still need to trim the MPH needle down.

my speedometer needle still sucks.its not smooth in going up or down, it just like jumps up or down.and when im going over 60, its consistantly 5mph behind..-_-did the 60 trick, but will i have to do like 100 before it will actually work?

are you pushing it in too far?

Ive never done this to a gp, but when I modded the gauge cluster on my ranger I pushed it down to far and had the same issue

YOUR PROBLEM IS THE OVERLAY! If you look carefully, I'd put a lot of money on it that your needle is catching the face of the overlay.
with the slightest change in temperature these cheap overlays expand and contract causing them to buckle and warp. One way to combat the situation is to remove the overlay and use double-faced tape anywhere you can to avoid the overlay lifting from the OEM face. The CF overlay doesn't help with the situation. trim your needle!

Yeah my problem with the tach needle swap was it catching.. But it must have fixed itself.

Just make sure it isn't pushed in too far

Originally Posted by triebenbach07

YOUR PROBLEM IS THE OVERLAY! If you look carefully, I'd put a lot of money on it that your needle is catching the face of the overlay.
with the slightest change in temperature these cheap overlays expand and contract causing them to buckle and warp. One way to combat the situation is to remove the overlay and use double-faced tape anywhere you can to avoid the overlay lifting from the OEM face. The CF overlay doesn't help with the situation. trim your needle!

Why so hostile? And I plan on trimming the needle or finding another RPM needle. And mine isn't hitting the carbon fiber overlay at all.. so calm down yo.

jeremy did you do yours at idle?

Yeah I put mine on while the car idled and looked at my Aeroforce to find the correct RPM, and the remembered what my gas gauge was at and also checked my coolant temp as well. the only one that is off right now is my MPH, but thats coming off to get trimmed or changed anyways so ill fix it then.

didnt mean to come across as hostile. I was at work with the caps lock on, I am a drafter

Originally Posted by 99pgpgt

Yeah my problem with the tach needle swap was it catching.. But it must have fixed itself.

Just make sure it isn't pushed in too far

you sir. just fixed both problems i was having with them

thank you very much

pictures will be posted tomorrow.

Originally Posted by BoostenGTP

I just did these today. Still need to trim the MPH needle down.

That is absolutely amazing. I wish i had the time and patience to do that. Also, which exact headlights are those? Thats exactly what i want.

no more stickerbombed dash?

Originally Posted by GTLGDP

That is absolutely amazing. I wish i had the time and patience to do that. Also, which exact headlights are those? Thats exactly what i want.

Retrofitted black crystal housings.



And Ray, I still have that dash, it's sitting in the garage. I want to get it professionally clear coated before it goes back in.