Installing new aluminum guage face

[pnukkles]

I just recently purchased new aluminum guage faces for my 04' TB. The look is great but the instalation did not go as planed. The big problem i now have is the MPH and RPM needles are not moving. THe fuel,oil,volt,temp guages all work fine and came off and went back on fine. When i went to take the needles of the MPH and RPM guages, the shaft came off with the needles. I tried my damnest everything to get them back to normal, But the MPH won't even move and the RPM is now stuck on 1000. :mad: I have them quite loose and still nothing. I even used the little tool that came with the new faces. Please, anyone heard of this. I need help. :cry: I definately don't want to have to pay to have this fixed.

[jallshouse]

i had a similar problem when i installed my white guages with my temp needle. some of the needles came out with the medal coupling pin in them and some came out without, try pushing (not forcing) the needles as far in as possible, then hook the harness up to the cluster. start pulling straight out on the RPM one and it should start to move freely, that is what i had to do with mine to get it to function....i cant stress enough to be easy, i actuailly used my fingers on the round part instead of the puller, then i could tell how much pressure i was applying to the needle. if it starts to work you may have to do the speedo while moving...so be careful......let me know if this works.

P.S. when you push them in i remember feeling a 'click' when it bottomed out, and started pulling out from there

[pnukkles]

Thanks for the reply. I just about tried everything. From holding the needles and shaft in my hand in the dash, while driving, trying to feel for a notch or something they are supposed to be in. I even pushed the pins back in with needle nose and tried to put the needles on ever so gently. The rpm i think i can get eventually. The mph i thought might work after i put the dash all back together. It didn't. Won't move at all. I'm lost :confused:

[jallshouse]

i am not sure now :duh: all i can say is keep messing with it, you cant hurt anything now, maybe it will work out

[alg0317]

I had the same problem you are having except mine was only with the tachometer. I took the gauges out and put them back in five or six times. I finally got so fed up with it I just left the gauge alone. I drove the truck for about two hours and all of a sudden the tach started working properly. You might want to just leave it alone and drive the truck, see if you have the same luck I did.

[OurZoo]

Put up some pics when everything is working ok.

[pnukkles]

I really hope that some of that Trailblazer luck rubbs off on me. ;) I am going to attemp one more thing this weekend. I am going to take it all apart again and go through the back door. Once you take the gauges out and the needles off, you can take the circuit off the bach and i am going to see what that does. :undecided I must say, I want something to work because the new guage faces look bad a$$. :yes:

[sloe77]

what brand are your gauges and please post pics when done

[Envoy Fan]

Here are a couple of clusters for sale.


http://chevytruckworld.tenmagazines.com/forums/topic.ten-id-120210-s-2_trailblazer_clusters_for_sale

[pnukkles]

Good looking out Envoy fan. :yes: I am going to try what I said this weekend and then if that doesn't work I am going to just purchase another used cluster and try again. They are the NR guages. I will put a pic in my gallery in day and try to get one tonight.

[pnukkles]

Well alg0317, my next question is what is your suggestion to take away my truck payments. :rotfl: I went out today(saturday) and started to pull the dash apart for about the sixth time. I said"let me drive and get a pack of smokes so I don't go crazy" and the damn gauges started working. :duh: A little adjusting and the only thing is that the MPH is about two MPH off, but i will adjust myself before I take it apart again. Thanks for the good luck. Maybe you should pass it on to someone else in the club who needs help. :laugh:

[jallshouse]

Glad to hear they are working....and you will never have a problem explaining how to take the dash apart if a member needs assistance ;)

[Envoy Fan]

Well alg0317, my next question is what is your suggestion to take away my truck payments. :rotfl:

Not alg0317, but you might consider buying some lottery tickets :laugh:

[alg0317]

I would have to win the lottery to afford an '06 TB SS!!

[tb_ky]

I've got the same guage faces...heres the pic.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y295/trent_ky/DSC00819.jpg

Sorry it's not the greatest pic...

[ScarabEpic22]

Looks good Trent, but do you happen to have any night pics with it illuminated? I like the looks, but I do a fair amount of driving on trips at night, so it needs to be easy to read.

I dig the silver! :D

[Jman423]

Is it just the pics that I have seen, or are the numbers on the tach cover by the plastic? That would drive me nuts!!

[tb_ky]

Is it just the pics that I have seen, or are the numbers on the tach cover by the plastic? That would drive me nuts!!

Yes they are very slightly. It is a problem with the guage faces not the installation however. The angle of the picture makes it look worse than it really is. It doesn't bother me.

[tb_ky]

Looks good Trent, but do you happen to have any night pics with it illuminated? I like the looks, but I do a fair amount of driving on trips at night, so it needs to be easy to read.

I dig the silver! :D
I am out of town right now but as soon as i get home I will take some night pics. There may be one on nrauto.com.

[OurZoo]

NR is like 20 minutes from me. I'm gonna call them tomorrow and make sure the aluminum is in stock. If so, I'm gonna pick it up and should install it within a couple of days. When I'm done, I'll post pics providing I do a good job. :D

[Envoy Fan]

NR is like 20 minutes from me. I'm gonna call them tomorrow and make sure the aluminum is in stock. If so, I'm gonna pick it up and should install it within a couple of days. When I'm done, I'll post pics providing I do a good job. :D

Sounds like a good plan. FWIW, make sure the aluminum is not too reflective, or you will get more glare than you probably want. :undecided

[jallshouse]

Sounds like a good plan. FWIW, make sure the aluminum is not too reflective, or you will get more glare than you probably want. :undecided

i had a conversation with the owner of NR gauges about changing my backlight color, and he mentioned to me his aluminum faces are not actual aluminum, they are just a grey material that looks like it is under the clear plastic. he said they did this to keep the glare from being a problem but i think the USSpeedo ones are real aluminum. i havent seen one in real person, i bought the white ones

[OurZoo]

The US Speedo ones are nice...........Damn........more choices I didn't know about...... :duh: Which one do you guys like more, the NR or the US Speedo?
http://www.autoanything.com/category.aspx?c_id=50422&se=gauge_faces
http://www.nrauto.com/sub_index.asp?spage=Gauges

[tb_ky]

The US Speedo ones would blink the hell out of you. They do look nice though. They are also much more expensive than the NR faces.

[rtay2000]

WoW, those NR's look nice. I have another question that can go with this.
Do they sell replacement trim also? on my TB there is black plastic around the gauges, I wanted to know if someone sells chrome/aluminum trim for that.

Sort of like this but for the TB's
http://www.stylinconcepts.com/alerts/popup_image.aspx?partfamilyid=1336&imagenum=0

[OurZoo]

The US Speedo ones would blink the hell out of you.
Wha? :undecided

[OurZoo]

More $$$ yeah, but that SS kit with a blue backlight. I think that :x would look tight! :cool:

[tb_ky]

Wha? :undecided
:rotfl: I meant to say *blinD the hell out of you*