Dakota Digital Instrument Cluster (1 Viewer)

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Phoenix, AZ
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fj40bugcatcher.dyndns.org
Anyone here upgrades to this? Pretty cool looking.

Edit (forgot the link)

 
Last edited:
Correct.

I have a Dakota Digital cluster, and I like it. Not sure I'd spend the money on it if I weren't replacing the 2F though.
 
Correct.

I have a Dakota Digital cluster, and I like it. Not sure I'd spend the money on it if I weren't replacing the 2F though.
I know they have 3 different models. Top of the line is nearly $1500. IMO the added features you get with that aren't really beneficial in a vintage FJ40. The VHX is $845 and a good deal, especially if your cluster is having problems.
 
I know they have 3 different models. Top of the line is nearly $1500. IMO the added features you get with that aren't really beneficial in a vintage FJ40. The VHX is $845 and a good deal, especially if your cluster is having problems.
Don’t forget, you can customize directly through Dakota.
 
This was one of those "upgrades" that, for me anyway, just made sense. Our old stock instrument cluster on our 1970 was limping along. The oil pressure gauge and odometer were not working and the amp meter was all over the map. Moreover, the fuel gauge was not very reliable. I recognize that those could have probably been fixed to keep the truck more "bone stock." But the "bone stock" ship sailed long ago. There are upgrades for safety such as 3-point restraints and roll bar. We went with 16" steel wheels. The DD instrument cluster is one of those things that is just really nice to look at; makes driving a pleasure and provides peace of mind for accuracy on oil, water, fuel and voltage. The tach is nice as well. Night driving is much easier too. The installation is fairly straight forward. We went with the custom 80 mph top speed, 4k tach and digital compass module.

10.22.2021.Dakota Digital.2.jpg
 
Do you get new sending units that fit the existing motor/tank?
 
Yes. The DD fuel gauge has a wide variety of preset ranges that are compatible with most fuel sending units. Unfortunately the stock early fuel sending units are not able to communicate very well with the DD because the ohm readings are off. I ended up replacing the stock sending unit with this one: Amazon product ASIN B00VAGA19SThe 240 ohms empty / 33 full matches with one of the presets in the DD and no calibration was necessary. In addition to the sweep gauge, the DD also has a readout showing the percentage of fuel remaining. I've found it to be very accurate thus far.
 
I also have one in my 73. It is LS powered and made sense. Ally my 2F powered machines run stock gauging. I have had no issues with the Dakota setup and operation.
 
OEM fuel sending unit for my 1978 works with DD.
 
My 71 uses an OEM sending unit and it works fine with the Dakota Digital. There is a custom preset option where you can train it to whatever sender you have.


I do like the 80mph version. Didn't know that was an option when I got mine. Fits better than the default 120mph.
 
A good discussion of the differences between early and later fuel sending units appears here:
Post number 10 by @Engineer8000 is helpful.
 
RTX all the way.
 
I hear they are able to customize. Would love to have the font of the $1500 RTX in the $800 VHX with its analog tach.
We bought ours before the RTX was available and had them match the 40 font and bill the analog tach down to 4k.
 
I'm finally getting close to snagging one of these DD units. Can we still use our factory bezels with the RTX or is the unit basically 1 piece?
 

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