my gauges are lazy

I have a 98 4.0 5speed, and from time to time, the gauges stop working. The tach and speedo drop to zero and the odo stops cranking up the miles. Its becoming more frequent and its very annoying. No particular situation sets it off, but it seems the most reliable way to get it working again is to turn it off, then turn it back on. Any help would be very aprectiated.

Do a search under 'gauge panel' this is a common problem. You need to pull the gauge panel and either replace the plugs in the dasboard with some new ones from the dealer or clean them up and put it back after tweaking them just a hair, no bends or it won't self dock again.
The airbag light coming on is also part of it...