Dakota Digital Instrument Cluster
- Thread starter 1962fj40
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- Thread starter
- #3
Yep as in cool or Yep you have one in your FJ40?
- Thread starter
- #5
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.
Green Bean
SILVER Star
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.
middlecalf
SILVER Star
Do you get new sending units that fit the existing motor/tank?
Green Bean
SILVER Star
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.
StinkyPig
SILVER Star
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.
Curtice
SILVER Star
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.
I do like the 80mph version. Didn't know that was an option when I got mine. Fits better than the default 120mph.
Green Bean
SILVER Star
A good discussion of the differences between early and later fuel sending units appears here:
forum.ih8mud.com
Post number 10 by @Engineer8000 is helpful.
Bench Testing Fuel Sending Unit
I'm trying to bench test a new OEM fuel sending unit PN 83320-3520. From what I've read, it should test 110 ohms empty and 3 ohms full. Using a digital multimeter, I'm getting around 24 ohms at various positions through the arch. I guess it is possible that I got a defective unit but it is...
forum.ih8mud.com
- Thread starter
- #14
So are all of you using the VHX model?
I have 4 in use. RTX is the only proper looking one.
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.
The RTX looks like a cruiser. The others are too custom looking
StinkyPig
SILVER Star
RTX all the way.
We bought ours before the RTX was available and had them match the 40 font and bill the analog tach down to 4k.
