Opinions wanted on gauge placement

So here is the hypothetical:

I am installing all new autometer gauges in my 96 (old style) XJ. I am getting rid of the original gauge cluster, and making my own instrument panel (probably out of some matt finished carbon fiber, or anodized aluminum) with these new gauges installed where the normal OEM gauge cluster was.

Why? Because I can, and because I want to. I dont like anything about the stock XJ dash/instrument panel area, and want to be a little different. I have the knowledge, skill and equipment to make it happen with good results, that is not the issue. The issue (granted its not earth shattering) is what arrangement to install the gauges? Big ones (speedo and tach) on the top with the smaller ones on the bottom? small ones on the sides? some combination of these?

I have this gauge kit, as well as a matching trans temp guage of the small size. So, 2 big gauges, and 5 smaller gauges.




If you were doing something similar, or have seen something similar, please share your thoughts.

I have searched a bit for this type of modification, but havent seen any pics or even write ups on it. I know some buggy/truggy creations have their own versions of dash's, but not on a relatively stock interior XJ

Thanks, James

It doesn't mater what we like
its your jeep set it up the way it works for you

what i would do is use the stock setup kind of. 2 big guages in the center and 4 on the outsides (2 on either side). for the fifth one what i did was go to auto zone and picked up a single gauge pod for the a pillar and put a guage there. idk if yours are mechanical or electric but IMO i would put the trans temp right there because all the other ones came stock. this pic is right after i just put the white gauge overlays on with blue indiglow

Cool idea, so clearly you want to do something different. Think of your data aquisition priorities. Speedo is usually the most important (unless its just a trail rig). In reality, if you have an automatic trans, the tachometer is mostly useless. Then, what is your next priority? Not running out of gas? Overheating? Obviously oil pressure can be a critical issue that you want to notice immediately. Stock set-up is very logical, but you want something different if your going to all this work.

So, I'll throw this out. Speedo, central. Tach to left. Other 5 small gages to right with 4 in a square and fuel gage in the middle of the square. Logic is that the four corner gages should aways read straight up and down, while the fuel will vary. A quick glance at the fuel gage will let you see if the others are indicating problems. And small gages are toward vehicle center where you will look more often or your passenger might also notice a problem if you are focusing on the rapidly approaching terrain.

Couple thoughts.

1) Put them in whatever location makes the most sense to you. It it, after all, your rig.

2) I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I'd like to see the finished product. Not so much for arrangement details, but just to see what someone else has done.

3) (and most useful to me personally...) I'd like to see how you managed to set the mounting plate for your gages. I've got a similar idea in mind, but I want to use aircraft gages instead (I had a pilot's ticket before I got my driver's license, and I do like the way aircraft gages look. And, they tend to be FAR more reliable than anything automotive...)

ocean_jet said:

Couple thoughts.

Click to expand...

I like that first one a lot

ocean_jet said:

Couple thoughts.

Click to expand...

Top one is cool and unique. Bottom one is more logical, but too much like stock.

I personally would look into the locations the steering wheel blocks most of the time for you when you drive, and put the less important things there. And I'd maybe look into putting gas between RPMs and the Speed like in the arrangement above...as those three things are usually what I look at most. But honestly...I've gotten used to where everything is located on the stock cluster, and wouldn't change the arrangements, but I like the idea of swapping in nice gauges.

~Scott

ocean_jet said:

Couple thoughts.

Click to expand...

I do like the first one.... I was thinking it would have to be symetrical to keep my OCD from kicking in, but that looks pretty darn cool.

I will do some cardboard templates and see which fits the best. Thanks for the ideas. I know its my jeep, but like I said, I was curious as to how others might set them up. If nothing else, forums are usually full of opinions, and that what I was looking for.

Will post pics of the progress.

Thanks, James

If you want more input, what is the design purpose of the rig? Street driving, or trail crawling?

Using that thought, and an inversion (top-to-bottom flip) of the asymmetrical layout, you will then determine the location of the speedo and tach (if street, the speedo in the centre. If trail, then tach in the centre.)

Fuel and transmission temperature in the two smaller spots at the centre (top centre, with the flip.)

The other three gages can then go in whatever order you happen to prefer in the other three spots, bearing in mind the importance of the information and the location of the steering wheel (as long as you're rigging a custom panel, you may want to put a large pilot in as a "low oil pressure" warning, and use a Hobbs switch set for 15-18psig or so. Typical idiot lights for oil pressure use sensors for 3-5psig - if the light goes off, you've already got trouble...)

With that note, the water temperature can then go somewhere fairly visible, and the other two (coolant temp and voltmeter) don't get checked terribly often - although you can use a second coolant temperature switch to drive a pilot for that as well. The pilots should be fairly bright (or large and dim) so you spot them straight away, and that would allow them to be behind the steering wheel. Make them red or amber - blue can be confused with the full beam pilot, and green with the turn indicator pilots.

As an alternative, the pilots for "Master Alert" status can be put in the flat panel to the right of the IP - make them obvious enough to get your attention there, since you won't look there often, but that's also where the old Systems Sentry indicators where, ca. 1984-1987 or so. Don't forget to label them.