ccman
Dodge Dakota
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11/04/2003
11:58:02
|  RE: White Gauge info
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Message:
i had a faceplate from APC and did not like it. first make sure it is for your truck, if it is manual than you will most likely have to cover up the little window where you would see your shift indicator. if it is not for your year the rpm indicator will be slightly off, that is what happened with mine. Mine was for an RT, and i have a v6 sport, and there was a big difference in rpm's. Here's how to do it
I have a 2002 so i'm basing it on that. Take your front dash piece off. remove the screws in the corners of the cluster panel. The black trim and the plastic piece will both come off now. Run your truck till it reaches normal operating temp. Draw a diagram or take a digital of where your guages are at. remove your needles carefully, they pop right off. some have said you can use a fork but the tool the faces usually come with look exactly like a divot repair tool you can get at a golf shop. Do not try with a pliers, the force needs to be equally applied. Remove the black facing, which will take a little patience, it is held on with 3m adhesive tabs. this piece can rip so be careful just in case you don't like your new face and want to put the factory back in. Put the new face on and firmly press where the adhesive tabs will secure. Try and get the new face as flat as possible cause your needles will hang up on it if it is not flat. If it sticks too far out, i would take the adhesive tabs off, the black framing for the cluster panel will hold it in place. You will probly have to remove the little needles stoppers from the factory face and put them on the new one. Mine did not fit and had to hot glue them from the back. When you have finished this, start your truck back up and let it reach operating temp again and put your needles back where your pic or diagram shows. The tach and mph needles have to be resting on the stops when you secure them back in place. Put black panel back on with plastic and put back together. Oh, you might want to where latex gloves cause it sucks if you get fingerprints on the plastic cause if you use anything to clean them off it will fog up later, trust me, i should have done this!! it looks nice when it is done, but i'm not sure truthfully if it will pass inspection. anyone know about this let me know. mine is out now so it don't matter. Well, have fun and make sure you keep the factory face!!
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