Do I need guages if I do not tow???

[DPohl]

I was wondering if I need to get guages if I do not tow? I may a couple of times a year but not like a 5th wheel or horse trailer. I am planning on getting a performance chip, exhaust, and cold air intake if that changes whether or not I should get the guages..... If the general concensus is that I should does anyone know if a clean looking set that go onto the pillar.



I appreciate the feedback.



Dave

 

[IC Smoke]

get gauges before you do anything to your truck!!!! I had my gauges put on for a little while before one morning my fuel pressure was down to 3psi!!!! not good!!! so already that saved me a injector pump! yeah 180. 00 lift pump but thats alot less than a 1200 injector pump! And you will get alot of comments about them too!, you should put ur truck stats in your signature so we know what you have. here is a pic of my 01

EGT

BOOST

Fuel Pressure Trans temp

 

[KYLE4]

Gauges are mandatory for all diesel pickups stock or not excellent investment best one on the aftermarket market. Maybe one day the manufactures will step up and supply some with trucks

 

[PJ]

FYI, the servive manager at my dealer was test driving my truck and I asked the same question. His reply was that it was TOO MUCH INFORMATION. I feel the same way. My truck has a 7 year 100k warranty and I highly doubt Ill own it that long. I tow and really dont care what is going on as I rarely exced the speed limit and I have no mods. The factory gauges are plenty for me. Hot/Cold Oil pressure and fuel. Im good to go. If it blows up for no reason at all, Dodge will fix or replace it. Why waste my money on sonething that will take my attention off the road or the 9 inch DVD TV Im trying to watch on long trips :-laf

 

[Punkineater]

You've got to be kidding me. Since when is TOO MUCH INFORMATION a bad thing. That Service Manager should lose his job simply for lack of an IQ.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

I wish I had more money than brains...

 

[coobie]

FYI, the servive manager at my dealer was test driving my truck and I asked the same question. His reply was that it was TOO MUCH INFORMATION. I feel the same way. My truck has a 7 year 100k warranty and I highly doubt Ill own it that long. I tow and really dont care what is going on as I rarely exced the speed limit and I have no mods. The factory gauges are plenty for me. Hot/Cold Oil pressure and fuel. Im good to go. If it blows up for no reason at all, Dodge will fix or replace it. Why waste my money on sonething that will take my attention off the road or the 9 inch DVD TV Im trying to watch on long trips :-laf

WOW you really don,t care whats going on with a $40,000 plus truck. I do,give me as much info as I can get. coobie

 

[tschwab]

FYI, the servive manager at my dealer was test driving my truck and I asked the same question. His reply was that it was TOO MUCH INFORMATION. I feel the same way. My truck has a 7 year 100k warranty and I highly doubt Ill own it that long. I tow and really dont care what is going on as I rarely exced the speed limit and I have no mods. The factory gauges are plenty for me. Hot/Cold Oil pressure and fuel. Im good to go. If it blows up for no reason at all, Dodge will fix or replace it. Why waste my money on sonething that will take my attention off the road or the 9 inch DVD TV Im trying to watch on long trips :-laf

I totally agree with PJ. If you have a stock truck and it is under warranty, no need to waste money on gauges. I also agree that it is too much info, just one more thing to take your attention off the road. I've had gauges in my 12V and it is a much more enjoyable drive/tow when you can give your full attention to the road instead of monitoring your gauges, this is one major reason I plan to leave my '05 completely stock.



Now - If you turn up the power, gauges are mandatory.

 

[DPohl]

get gauges before you do anything to your truck!!!! I had my gauges put on for a little while before one morning my fuel pressure was down to 3psi!!!! not good!!! so already that saved me a injector pump! yeah 180. 00 lift pump but thats alot less than a 1200 injector pump! And you will get alot of comments about them too!, you should put ur truck stats in your signature so we know what you have. here is a pic of my 01

EGT

BOOST

Fuel Pressure Trans temp

Thanks for the info, sounds like I am better off getting them. I like your setup, what is the manufacturer of the whole set including mounting pillar?



Thanks again,

Dave

 

[jsimpson]

Dang! Nobody responded to the comment about watching the DVD while on long drives???? What color is that truck: I want to be on the lookout for it when I'm driving. Naw, what's the use? If he does it, others do - that made up my mind - it's time to give up my motorcycles... . first cell phones, and now DVD watchers!!!! Sheeeeeeshhh!!!!

 

[JLafferty]

I have a 2004 (2500) quad cab short bed 4x4 and it has an Automatic do I need gauges too?

I have a Meyers snow plow for it and that is it.

I traded in my 2001 (1500) quad cab short bed 4x4 because it sucked up to much gas on the highway.

I don't tow anything right now but my fuel milage has gotten better with this truck on the highway I am doing 20 to 23 miles per gallon!

This is my first diesel.

 

[IC Smoke]

DPohl-



Auto-meter 3 pillar pod and steering column pod

Auto-meter "pro-comp ultra lite" gauges (silver backface with green led lighting to match the stock green tint)



Geno's garage has different gauges and mounting pods along with factory paint and the whole works



www.genosgarage.com



Yeah it is alot of info to keep your eye on but its no worse than changing your radio station, checking your mirrors etc... . Im just a punk 20 yr old so im not financially set enough to buy a truck for 4 years then trade it off. But I purchased mine with the intent to drive it till it dies 400,000+ miles from now. Also having the gauges now helps you see what your truck runs stock then if you put a box/injectors ect. . you can see what your dealing with



JLafferty- I plow snow commercially and it helps keeing an eye on the trans temp! my next mod is going to be a Mag Hy-tech deep transmission pan! those temps are getting up kinda high even when the truck has the "plow prep" package and again if your goign to keep it personally I would but if your goign to trade it off in 4 years its your opinion

 

[PJ]

Dang! Nobody responded to the comment about watching the DVD while on long drives???? What color is that truck: I want to be on the lookout for it when I'm driving. Naw, what's the use? If he does it, others do - that made up my mind - it's time to give up my motorcycles... . first cell phones, and now DVD watchers!!!! Sheeeeeeshhh!!!!

First off, I dont watch DVD's while driving. I was just proving my point. There are much more better things to do than watching 20 gauges that tell me the temp of the valve stems on my tires or the frost on my trailer hitch. Now, I would like one that will tell me how many bugs are on my headlights :-laf . . All I can say is there are way too many touchy people here that will flame you for nothing at all. I choose to run my $40k truck with the gauges Dodge provided. If they felt we needed more info to keep us out of the warranty station, Im sure they would have installed them. Thus, I stand again behind my first statement, TOO MUCH INFORMATION. . Hey, it would be nice to have a gauge to see how much my $40k truck is polluting with the famous WHITE SMOKE problem it has had since the TSB flash! . Radar detectors could be a plus for the guys that keep claiming they are getting 27mpg at 80+mpg! with that in mind, D/C should provide a calculator for those same gusy that clearly cant figure out the real mileage they are claiming to be getting. Anyone that has a bone stock truck is wasting their money on any aftermarket gauge. That is fact! Like I said, If it breaks, I get a new one on D/C. If I had a dash board lined with gauges and I happened to pitch a rod, It would seem to me that D/C would seem to find a way not to pay the warranty claim. Ok guys, start throwing the flames again! Im very board today. My wife even got a laugh out of some of the ignorant replies :-laf :-laf :-laf For the record, My 1972 Chevy 4x4 Cheyenne is hitting the 500k mile mark with the orig motor and trans. Ive never had to walk yet and Ive owned it since new. I can't say the same for any new Dodge Ive ever owned. I bought it for the Cummins and that is it. Cummins didnt require extra gauges, nor do I!

 

[Forrest Nearing]

what if your bone stock truck isn't under warranty? my buddy's 04. 5 600 has about 125k on it...



Forrest

 

[PJ]

I wish I had more money than brains...

Hey Forrest, I assume that slam was thrown at me. . Uncool and totally uncalled for. On that note Mr. Gump, keep your negitive remarks somewhere inside your empty mind :-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[Forrest Nearing]

hey man, you can have more money than brains and still be smart...



if I had more money than brains, I'd be pretty damn wealthy, because I'm pretty damn smart



do you put electrical tape over your tachometer so it doesn't "distract" you while driving too? :-laf



BTW, the "Gump" thing is pretty original... never heard that one before! LOL!



Forrest

 

[LightmanE300]

I think gauges are necessary if you tow really heavy or if you modify your truck for more power. Third gen trucks run pretty hot stock - with 3500lbs towing in the mountains I was able to hit 1100 just doing 65mph up the hill. I'm sure with 10,000lbs you could melt something if you were really getting on it. .

Even for stock trucks, an EGT gauge is nice to judge when you can safely shut your truck off as far as protecting the turbo is concerned. . For those that intend on keeping their trucks a long time, it's nice to have.

 

[DPohl]

Thanks to the people that responded with some good information. It is nice when you really are looking for information. If everyone responded with personality and not information, this would not be a good site.

 

[coobie]

hey man, you can have more money than brains and still be smart...



if I had more money than brains, I'd be pretty damn wealthy, because I'm pretty damn smart



do you put electrical tape over your tachometer so it doesn't "distract" you while driving too? :-laf



BTW, the "Gump" thing is pretty original... never heard that one before! LOL!



Forrest

I agree Forrest,This fella has more money than brains. If he wants to Pi$$ his money away than let him. We just tryed to help him. Sounds like a rich yuppie to me. coobie :-laf

 

[PJ]

I agree Forrest,This fella has more money than brains. If he wants to Pi$$ his money away than let him. We just tryed to help him. Sounds like a rich yuppie to me. coobie :-laf

Right and wrong. Im fairly well off but the only tools I feel I should ever need is a Cell Phone and my AAA card. THe tow truck can tow my truck to the nearest 5 star and AAA pays the hotel and meals. Now that is what I call smart. I didnt spend $43k fopr my truck as some of the smarter guys did. I happened to get that $43k truck for $32,800 out the door! That is good business. I refuse to spend more of my time worrying about my truck when I have better things to do.

If I was to ever buy a used CTD, I would walk away from the one that has a dash pad covered with gauges. That would tell me that someone traded in his hot rod and it most likely been used hard with all the high school mods. I bought my truck to go from point A to point B. Not to tear into it and throw another 200hp into it , just to see if the transmission can take it. That is just plain stupid. About as stupid as a few here that choose to slam and flame me for giving MY opinion of this thread.

If anyone has ever noticed, 99% of all dealers remove trailer brake controlers, hitches, and gauges as they know that most people know that when they are on a car or truck, it means it has most likely been abused.

I tow about 10k pounds and never worry if Im going to get there. The guys that haul my horses across the country drive mostly Dodges and none of them bother with any mods or gauges. They just load the truck and trailer to the max and put 400k + miles on their truck and then trade it off and get a new one. They even state that it just a waste of money and not worth it. Too much information! (and Im not the first to say it)

I see that some of you have no sence of humor and are way too attached to your trucks. It a hunk of plastic and metal. To each his own, I choose to keep my trucks stock. That way there is never a warranty problem when you are out on the highway and don't have to worry about re programing the computer back to stock before the tow truck arrives to save any warranty you may have left.

To the guy that already has 125k on his 04. 5, Im happy for him. I will never own a truck, (except my 72 Chevy) longer than the factory warranty. Life is just too short to have to wake up in the morning and worry about my gauges on my ride! :-laf :-laf Enough of the negative remarks. I don't need them and Im sure other guys think the same. Calling people stupid along with flaming their opinions to any thread only shows the level of, or should I say, lack of, intelligence you may have. Lets all be nice and keep our sence of humor