One piece.
Dakota Digital Instrument Cluster
- Thread starter 1962fj40
- Start date
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Where did you place the DD plug in terminal ? Does it fit behind the cluster?
Do you mean the control box? I placed it underneath the glove box - velcroed to the underside of that.
TreadingLight
"Overlanding is Sh*t"
The brain/control box can also fit cleanly behind the cluster.
One thing I would recommend is to treat the wires before putting them into the DD "brain" screw-down terminals. If you stick bare wires in they work themselves loose. I see a lot of Dakota's that are trying to unwire themselves.
You can treat the wires by tinning them if you're a caveman, but even better is to crimp wire ferrules on the bare ends.
If your 40 is an early one with the ammeter in series, you'll need to cut the ring terminals off and splice them together so your fuse box stays powered.
You can draw const power and ign switched power from the aux terminals on the back of the fuse box without having to cut or splice anything.
Depending on the year of your original cluster, you can get many of the signals you need (dimmer, turn signals, high beam indicator, etc) from the round connector to the original cluster. Cut it off or splice into the wires there if you want it reversible.
Whatever you do, don't just start cutting and splicing wires willy nilly, and if you pay someone to install it, make sure they have done one before and have good electrical practices. I am deep into fixing a 40 right now that had a Dakota installed by a grizzly bear.
An unnecessary mess of spaghetti wires that fall apart when touched. It sucks for the owner to have it rewired.
One thing I would recommend is to treat the wires before putting them into the DD "brain" screw-down terminals. If you stick bare wires in they work themselves loose. I see a lot of Dakota's that are trying to unwire themselves.
You can treat the wires by tinning them if you're a caveman, but even better is to crimp wire ferrules on the bare ends.
If your 40 is an early one with the ammeter in series, you'll need to cut the ring terminals off and splice them together so your fuse box stays powered.
You can draw const power and ign switched power from the aux terminals on the back of the fuse box without having to cut or splice anything.
Depending on the year of your original cluster, you can get many of the signals you need (dimmer, turn signals, high beam indicator, etc) from the round connector to the original cluster. Cut it off or splice into the wires there if you want it reversible.
Whatever you do, don't just start cutting and splicing wires willy nilly, and if you pay someone to install it, make sure they have done one before and have good electrical practices. I am deep into fixing a 40 right now that had a Dakota installed by a grizzly bear.
An unnecessary mess of spaghetti wires that fall apart when touched. It sucks for the owner to have it rewired.
Don't assume that the inside of an FJ40 is waterproof.
I had my Dakota brain box bolted under the glove box, but enough of the cowl sealing was gone that it got wet and quit working after about three years. Dakota fixed it and said "That's your last freebie," so I made a waterproof box for it in the same location.
And resealed my cowl.
If I had known it would turn out that way, I would have come up with a waterproof box in the engine bay so that the only thing to pass through the firewall would be the main cable to the cluster and 3 or 4 wires for the button and knob.
I had my Dakota brain box bolted under the glove box, but enough of the cowl sealing was gone that it got wet and quit working after about three years. Dakota fixed it and said "That's your last freebie," so I made a waterproof box for it in the same location.
And resealed my cowl.
If I had known it would turn out that way, I would have come up with a waterproof box in the engine bay so that the only thing to pass through the firewall would be the main cable to the cluster and 3 or 4 wires for the button and knob.
Green Bean
SILVER Star
Just finished relocating the DD control module from behind the instrument cluster (where it was crowded and untidy) to the glove box (pocket), Made a custom shelf for the module and GPS unit to rest upon.
This is good advice. For me though, I rebuilt the 40 and I sealed it up good, so had no concerns here. I also have my ECU mounted under here (3FE) so the control box fit naturally next to it. I built an ABS cover for all of this so it looks nice and clean.
does it come with enough length to locate the terminal box this far away from the gauge?
Yes.
Yes the control box, does DD provide enough wiring to get allow this easily vs being closer to the gauge cluster? do you have pics or videos of your install?
TreadingLight
"Overlanding is Sh*t"
There is enough cable from the cluster to the controller to easily reach the glovebox. I've taken to putting the controller behind the cluster but either way works. I have seen one get waterlogged in the glovebox.
Sorry don’t have much. A couple pics on this post here:
Post in thread '78 body off restore (cruiser #2)'
Build - 78 body off restore (cruiser #2) - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/78-body-off-restore-cruiser-2.1107592/post-14232932
VHX and Velcroed to the side of the glove box. I purchased the sending unit from Tanks Inc. I went this route after reading that certain year models the OEM sending units are compatible, but after half a tank they drop like a rock to empty. I can't provide any info on this, since I went with the Tanks Inc. unit that has a p range on the DD presets. I also purchased an adapter ring for the bolt pattern of the new sending unit. I installed NOS tank and did not want to modify by drilling.
nabbasi
SILVER Star
I need to build a shelf! That’s clean. Mine is in the glovebox.
I made a sub harness for the Dakota digital. My old cluster plug plugs into the sub harness, and then connects to the Dakota digital. I wanted to make it 100% reversible with relative ease. I didn’t splice any wires.
Only thing I haven’t figured out is the tank sending unit. I put a brand new 73-78 sending unit in but it doesn’t not read correctly.
I made a sub harness for the Dakota digital. My old cluster plug plugs into the sub harness, and then connects to the Dakota digital. I wanted to make it 100% reversible with relative ease. I didn’t splice any wires.
Only thing I haven’t figured out is the tank sending unit. I put a brand new 73-78 sending unit in but it doesn’t not read correctly.