I'm in the process of figuring out how to update my dash in a S-15 GMC Pick-Up. Wondering what the census are about electrical and mechanical guages, which is better and more reliable? I looking to install all guages in the dash... Thanks......

I used to like mechanical gages, but that was a long time ago. Current electronic gages have vastly improved sensors that are far more accurate. The plus side is that you don't have any nasties (hot oil, hot coolant) inside your vehicle, and they are very easy to wire up.

Vince

Vince

Thanks for the response..I had heard that electrical guages had greatly improved, guess I needed some re-insureness..Is there a brand guage out there you feel is better than others. The more unusal the better I like...

Cecil

IMO the top names, like AutoMeter, and VDO are excellent. I have a set of street rod gages from AutoMeter, including the electronic tachometer....I love em. I have been hearing some complaints about the quality of Stewart Warner gages, which is a shame because they used to be the standard. Both AutoMeter and VDO have excellent web sites with downloadable information which helped make up my mind about what to purchase. You cannot go wrong with either.

Vince

If accuracy is important to you, mechanical is the way to go. Electric meters can have up to a 15% variance in the meter and a 15% variance in the sendor. It is not the norm but you could have a 30 % variance betwen the two

I have run a set of VDO electroic gauges in the street rod for over 6 years without a single problem. If you want to check them just have a cheap set of Mech gauges which yu can then sell at a swap meet. If the electronic gauge were all that inaccurate (15 to 30 percent) would all of the original OEM be using them, VDO is the largest supplier of OEM in the world.

The percentage ratings came from VDO

With electric gauges, you can add warning lights, set them to your preference. For about $60 from Jegs. I thought this was a bonus over mechanical so I decided to use the Electrical. Not quite out running around yet, but I can't wait.

ELECTRICAL IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO, I HAVE USED THE MECH FOR YEARS AND WITH THE NEW TECHNOLOGY, ELECTRICAL IS REALLY CLEAN AND EASY

ROB

Question for ya'll.

Who besides Nordskog makes those digital gauges .. that not only show the numbers .. but also a graph (like Nordskog does on their speedometer and tachometer as speed and rpm's increase) ?

I like em both but if you have a car with a removable dash the electric are the way to go. I like to use the weatherpack connectors so you can completely remove the dash for work. The temp guage is really the one that keeps you from doing this because you can disconnect the oil pressure guage if really needed. So I always like to install the electric ones. One big item here....Electric guages get a bad rap from improper installation. I always run a large ground from the engine block to the guage cluster to make sure that the ground (50% of the circuit) travels directly to the guage just like the SENDER wire that you just ran. This helps keep them as accuate as possible. When you have a vehicle with 27 relays and a 4000 watt stereo you sometimes get funny readings with alll the ground loops going on in the car. So first sign of trouble.....Run the redundant ground for guages.