heads up speedometer?
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 24
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From: NC
heads up speedometer?
Hey guys,
Had the idea for my '08 F150 to have a heads up speedometer for a different look and so I don't have to look under my hand to check my speed. My buddy in college had a grand prix that had a digital HUD speedometer that shot the number up on the windshield while you're driving (pretty bad ***).
I've seen kits that do this but they don't seem have a good look. So I was thinking of getting a speedometer from auto meter and mounting in on top of the dash. Some thing like this:
My first question is if the speedometer is mechanical or electric? I'm assuming mechanical, from the stuff I've seen on Jegs it looks like our trucks have a mechanical speedo. So I was thinking of disconnecting the cable from the dash speedo and connecting to the new one molded on top of the dash.
It seems that there is also a size specification in order for the cable to attach to the new speedometer. And them I'm assuming it needs to be calibrated somehow.
Anyway this seems like it'd be a pretty cool project however I know very little about it so I hoping some one could educate me on the subject. Thanks for the help!
Had the idea for my '08 F150 to have a heads up speedometer for a different look and so I don't have to look under my hand to check my speed. My buddy in college had a grand prix that had a digital HUD speedometer that shot the number up on the windshield while you're driving (pretty bad ***).
I've seen kits that do this but they don't seem have a good look. So I was thinking of getting a speedometer from auto meter and mounting in on top of the dash. Some thing like this:
My first question is if the speedometer is mechanical or electric? I'm assuming mechanical, from the stuff I've seen on Jegs it looks like our trucks have a mechanical speedo. So I was thinking of disconnecting the cable from the dash speedo and connecting to the new one molded on top of the dash.
It seems that there is also a size specification in order for the cable to attach to the new speedometer. And them I'm assuming it needs to be calibrated somehow.
Anyway this seems like it'd be a pretty cool project however I know very little about it so I hoping some one could educate me on the subject. Thanks for the help!
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 2,068
Likes: 2
From: So. Cal.
Nope, cable's been gone for a while now, dash is ALL electronic. All needles on the dash are run by little flat "stepper" motors soldered into the circuit board that makes up the entire back of your cluster. Little motors are about the size of a nickle, or quarter and about 3/16- 1/4 thick and obviously these "motors" don't "spin" around like most motors do. All "fly by wire" now.
I'm assuming you can get a digital (or maybe even "needle" like you're showing that will tap into the speedo wire that goes to the cluster). Have you ever watched "You Tube" of police chases where it gives all the information on the screen including MPH? I did Code 3 outfitting and they had the wire but we didn't hook it up. Guess they didn't want that info on the tape. Just taps into the speedo feed wire.
I'm assuming you can get a digital (or maybe even "needle" like you're showing that will tap into the speedo wire that goes to the cluster). Have you ever watched "You Tube" of police chases where it gives all the information on the screen including MPH? I did Code 3 outfitting and they had the wire but we didn't hook it up. Guess they didn't want that info on the tape. Just taps into the speedo feed wire.
Last edited by code58; Jan 26, 2012 at 03:21 AM.