2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Gauge alternatives

[sgf]

I just hit 60,000 on my 2001 3500 dually. I have been back and forth way too long trying to decide between gauges vs. the computerized devices. I contacted Edge twice to ask this question but never got a reply, plenty of spam though.



Common wisdom here and elsewhere seems to be that the three critical gauges are fuel pressure, pyro, and trans. temp. I have no intention of modifying this truck. Does anyone know if these computer style monitors like the Edge Juice, etc. will monitor these three things? Considering the cost of traditional gauges and how much more these computer monitors do, they seem a good choice to me, assuming they can monitor what I need. If you have device preferences I’d be interested in hearing your experiences.

 

[DNDracing]

I have boost and pyro on a Bullydog Outlook programmer, and trans temp and fuel pressure gauges. I like the gauges better, but I think that is just personal preference, as long as you are getting the data.

In my opinion, with no modifications, the trans temp would be the most important for you. A fuel pressure gauge would tell you if your transfer pump is about to fail, but I'm not sure that's a huge problem on the 2nd gen trucks?

With your truck being stock, as long as you keep up on maintenance, you should be fine. But as an engineer, I think you can never have too much data.

If I were you, I would go with a few gauges and skip the digital / computerized ones. Genos garage has lots of gauges and gauge mounting accessories available.

 

[BDaugherty]

I had the Edge Juice with Attitude monitor on my '01 and loved it. In fact, it's still running around town with all the same mods, just a different owner to some tacky wheels. The edge attitude monitor will read boost, egt, fuel psi, oil psi, coolant temp, rpm, trans temp, and more. I was very happy with it and further really liked the programmable alarms to let me know if something was getting outside of the comfort range. That said, if you plan to keep power levels stock, manual gauges would probably be better. No sense in paying for a tuner you won't be using. You can do a 3 gauge A pillar set up like I did for a customer with a 98. 5 model dually about a year ago. I used a boost/egt dual gauge at the top, engine coolant/trans temp dual gauge in the middle, and electric sending unit fuel psi at the bottom. It takes a little time to set it up cleanly, but 5 parameters in 3 gauges is a sweet setup and covers everything you would need to worry with on a stock truck.

 

[mwilson]

With a 2nd Gen you can't beat the gauges. That is what I have in the '97.



The Edge units or anything similar really shine on a 3rd Gen because the trucks are more electronic and easy to manipulate.



The '06 has an Edge with Attitude and I love it. But it would be in paperweight mode in a 2nd Gen. :-laf



Here is what the Edge will read on a 2000 to 2002 CTD. I don't know why Edge couldn't take 5 seconds and do it for you...

Mike.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Edge is really starting to slack on customer service. Really tripping my switch at times, too. I've sold a ton of their products, but they really don't work to help thier customers. They want their dealers to do all the work for them. Nothing like a corporate owned business..... that's traded hands several times in the last few years..... BAH! And now that they've bailed on the customers that own 6. 7L, I'm really ticked... .



Anyway, the info Mike shows is good. They're fairly decent on the 2000+ trucks, and do a good job with fuel economy. Their later models of Juice with Attitude come with an array of adjustable parameters and screen options.



If you just want the guage options with no fueling mods, there is the Edge Insight, a standalone monitor screen, Part #83830. It only reads the operating parameters, displaying them on a color screen wherever you want it. Here's the link on Edge's sight: http://www.edgeproducts.com/product.php?pk=145&pvk=405 If you go down midway, you'll see the (Click Here to Supported Vehicle Parameters), and you can click there and scroll down to the 2000-2002 Dodge, which will show you the parameters you can read.



Now, IIRC, I believe you have to have the Juice w/Attitude to get the fuel pressure readings but, all in all, for the price, the Insight's not a bad deal. Much easier than installing guages. I believe the EGTs are an option, but you have to have the EGTs read seperately through a probe, though, as that parameter is not read by the PCM on the Dodge until '07. That's gonna add close to another $150 to it's cost, which retails around $415. I'll try to get ahold of someone in corporate and check on the fuel pressure reading. It may be available through a seperate sensor... ... Wish me luck. As a MVP dealer, I still don't get much respect.

 

[jeepit]

I just prefer guages. I have a two pods on the door pillar. Look great for the 2nd gens. I have boost,egt and fuel pressure.

 

[HHhuntitall]

With a 2nd Gen you can't beat the gauges. That is what I have in the '97.



The Edge units or anything similar really shine on a 3rd Gen because the trucks are more electronic and easy to manipulate.



The '06 has an Edge with Attitude and I love it. But it would be in paperwight mode in a 2nd Gen. :-laf





Mike.

NO DOUBT!! :-laf I've got a '96 in my yard at the moment that has the fuel solenoid wired up..... I went to get it, and where it was sitting was on a slight hill. The batteries had died, and the owner said I'd have to winch it on the trailer, as it wouldn't start, and he couldn't get it to jump off. I wired up the solenoid and popped off the brake, rolling down his driveway. About 20ft later, it was running. Roll-started it off the trailer, too. :-laf Think I may have made a customer for life.....



They say the Insight will work with any OBDII system... ... Riiiiiiiigggggghhhhhhht... ... Then why isn't it available for the '96. 5 to 98. 5 Dodge 5. 9L Diesel?!?!?

I just prefer guages. I have a two pods on the door pillar. Look great for the 2nd gens. I have boost,egt and fuel pressure.

Ditto. I didn't really say it, but personally, I'd have to go with guages. Mechanical guages. The only electricity needed is for the little bulb in the back... ... . Only, I do like to have them on the dash below the windshield..... Too much to look around on the pillar, IMO... .

 

[ABennin]

Been running an Edge Juice with Attitude for 5 or so years and have had zero issues. When I bought mine they had just released the ones with the turbo timer(Great feature). The other thing I like is the cold engine protection. This doesn't add power until coolant temp is 140. Not big deal if you keep in the stock setting. The alerts and defueling settings are nice safety features. You can adjust the parameters of these features too. I use the milage and tow settings 99. 9% of the time. They work good with good EGT's.

 

[JR]

I run a pillar pod with trans temp, boost, and egt I picked it up as a kit through vulcan performance for around $340ish? if I remember correctly. Then I put a fuel pressure gauge in a custom bracket I made for my ashtray and tilted it so that the light in the ashtray lights the gauge up like a christmas tree when its dark. Went this route because I obtained a calibrated gauge through work and the rest was easy to piece together. If your looking for a slight power gain, an edge would be killing 2 birds with one stone. But if your happy with leaving your truck stock, gauges are the way to go. Plus, if you get enough of em in there, your cab starts lookin like the cockpit of a 727

 

[sgf]

Thanks everyone. I will need to decide soon and your input helps.

 

[HBarlow]

IMO if you want to know what your egt, boost, and another reading are at any given time install analog gauges such as sold by Genos.

If you like electronic gadgetry with tiny hard to read screens and multiple functions buy an Edge or other product.

 

[Bob4x4]

IMO if you want to know what your egt, boost, and another reading are at any given time install analog gauges such as sold by Genos.

If you like electronic gadgetry with tiny hard to read screens and multiple functions buy an Edge or other product.

Sad to say but isspro's boost gauge is no longer a simple pressure gauge it now uses an electronic sensor

 

[BIGNASTY]

Do they have any electronic read device that READS ONLY and not a power enhancer that provides info on a screen? for 3rd gen

 

[Bob4x4]

Yes,scan gauge,edge and a few more

 

[BIGNASTY]

Bob any experience with the Edge products? Just the engine monitors

 

[HHhuntitall]

Do they have any electronic read device that READS ONLY and not a power enhancer that provides info on a screen? for 3rd gen

BIG, that was what the Edge Insight is. They're pretty easy to install, and fairly simple in how they work, reading off the PCM. Their setup is not necessarily that easy to some..... But I can usually manage to make them happy. I believe you can display up to 8 guage readings at a time on the Insight's 4. 3" screen.....

Sad to say but isspro's boost gauge is no longer a simple pressure gauge it now uses an electronic sensor

Not to be argumentative, but I believe the Isspro R6743(0-100psi boost) and the R8603 (0-50psi boost) are still available, both with variant part numbers in white pointers with black background, and red pointer with black background, using black or Chrome bezels. Both are fully mechanical units, using tubing to connect to the manifold pressure. All the EV2 series guages have gone to electronic sending units, unfortunately... . :gag: The mechanical units are still available and widely used, mostly by custom builders and Class 8 repair shops.

 

[mwilson]

Not to be argumentative, but I believe the Isspro R6743(0-100psi boost) and the R8603 (0-50psi boost) are still available, both with variant part numbers in white pointers with black background, and red pointer with black background, using black or Chrome bezels. Both are fully mechanical units, using tubing to connect to the manifold pressure. All the EV2 series guages have gone to electronic sending units, unfortunately... . :gag: The mechanical units are still available and widely used, mostly by custom builders and Class 8 repair shops.

Freightliner trucks used a mechanical boost gauge that is still available, it matches the 2nd gen factory gauges fairly well. Both of these are Freightliner OEM gauges. .

Mike.

 

[Bob4x4]

Yea the ev gauges have gotten very popular because they are so easy to see for us with older eyes.
Overall I have become less than satisfied with edge quality since they have gone the big company direction. I don't recommend them the way I used to when you knew they would last for many years. I am using the juice for my monitoring in the 05.
I had some credit owed from a shop that handled Edge so... ... .....

 

[HHhuntitall]

Yea the ev gauges have gotten very popular because they are so easy to see for us with older eyes.

Overall I have become less than satisfied with edge quality since they have gone the big company direction. I don't recommend them the way I used to when you knew they would last for many years. I am using the juice for my monitoring in the 05.

I had some credit owed from a shop that handled Edge so... ... .....

Yeah, I think Edge is on their third different corporate ownership in 5 years..... They way they've treated me as a dealer has really discouraged me from selling their products. I send in more for warranty than I actually sell... . Cleaning up messes from other shops, it seems... . They announced last year that they would not longer support Race products which would allow the removal of exhaust and emission components, as they felt the general public was abusing their product and using it on the highway. Really? What made them think that? My question is,"What the heck made you think the customer would pick up 1/3 more mileage and not want to use it on the highway?!?!?!? " They knew that was going to happen, but I'd wager the new ownership wanted to reduce their liability, so they quit making it. That and their product was a bit second rate to others on the market... . Me thinks another sale is imminent, and then we'll see a little better product developement, perhaps. Maybe some better customer service, too. I don't know how many people I've talked to that state they really didn't feel like Edge wanted to help them. I get that feeling, too, when I call in for RMAs on product returns... . SOMETIMES, I'll get an actual gear-head who'll help me, but usually, it's just someone on a computer, who's just there to clock in. I've had two diffent distributors that have quit them, as they just can't get their problems fixed, and it costs them money, so they've found other companies to fill their needs... . That doesn't bode well in this economy. Their bottom line products are cheap and work well, like the Edge EZ, and that's whay they're using to stay afloat, methinks.