Pillar gauges made simple and Glowshift product review.

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CarolinaOBS

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The purpose of this thread is for basic install, fit /finish, and glow shift product review for those of us who want/need aftermarket gauges and can't afford to be Autometer fanboys. Granted i wanted colored backlit gauges as well.

Alright guys, i recently had the need for some gauges in my truck, Voltage and coolant gauges on the dash were quite inaccurate as well as me just spending over $2000 to rebuild a transmission i wanted to add a trans temp gauge. That being in mind i wanted to make this a semi budget project, i could have easily gone with the el-cheapo 10 dollar amazon special gauges but i wanted them to last a little while and look decent.

Parts list:
Glow-shift Trans temp gauge P#: GS-T712-SM --> $53
Glow-shift water temp gauge P#: GS-T706-SM --> $53
Glow-Shift volt gauge P#: GS-T705-SM --> $48
Glow-Shift Triple Pillar Pod P#: GS-330 --> $37
Dewael 36mm inline water temp adapter P#: MG36BK --> $10
Random brass hardware to install tans temp sensor --> $10
Stuff i already had: wire, transmission line, trans cooler, split loom, etc.etc.
Total cost for this project to me was only $211

INSTALL:
Sensors) When in installed the trans cooler in the front i put the trans temp gauge before the cooler as to pick up the temp of the fluid coming out of the pump flowing to the cooler. This will show me the hottest temp the fluid is. I know most suggest putting it in the transmission test port, you could also do that but i opted for a simpler install and it will still give me an idea of any trouble going down. Also note if installing in the transmission, you may need a test port extender to keep the sensor from bottoming out in the shallow test port, and in my case it wouldn't fit behind the gear selector attached to the side of my 4l80e. For the water temp sensor i just used a neat little inline sensor adapter and spliced it into the upper radiator hose to get the temp of the coolant flowing out of the block. Put plenty of teflon tape on sensor threads and i didn't have a single leak. Note: all sensors were threaded in 1/8 pipe thread.
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Pillar Pod) The pod had the general form and shape of the a pillar trim but you will definitely need a heat gun when trying to install a glow shift pod as well as be prepared to do trimming. At first i didn't want to damage my original pillar, so i tried running the wires under the trim and using adhesive backed velcro to mount the pod, WILL NOT WORK haha. Drill a small hole in the a pillar trim to run your wires in and use the included thick cap screws and black screw caps to drill into the pillar trim and the pod snugs right up (with allot of heat gun and trimming adjustment). I will probably color match the pod to my red interior later down the line.
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Wiring) The gauges come with decent instructions for how to wire these. Basically, you ground the sensor to the frame and run the other wire off the sensor to the gauge. Each gauge had a specific wiring harness that plugged into the back with a pigtail to wire in. The harness does come with a provision for a dimming function, to use this, splice into your headlight switch or the dimmer function wire going into your radio head unit (most likely an orange wire). You will definitely have to run a ground, a switched 12v positive (ignition), a fused 12v positive, and the sender wire from the sensor. For best results solder every splice connection and shrink wrap etc. blah blah blah. I ran all wires inside of split loom as well to prevent rubbing anywhere.

Review: After all was said in done it took me a Saturday to install working on and off. So far i am very pleased with the glow shift product. I heard off the horror stories about glow shifts dying and all that good stuff but i wasn't going to fork up $400 for gauges. For the price its really hard to beat because the gauges and sensors seemed very well made. Only issue i had was getting the pod to fit right. Ive been running them for a while now and they work flawlessly and decently accurate. I think these gauges are the best bang for your buck if you want a killer look for not the killer price. IF I HAVE ANY ISSUES I WILL UPDATE THE THREAD.
 

laidbackbigun

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I too have the Glow Shift Gauges in mine. I have voltage, water temperature, and the tachometer. They are very well made for the price and look great. i did have to use the dremel tool to take a little bit of the material away from the gauge pod to make it fit right and i used my own screws to hold it onto the pillar trim piece. I did have issues with the water temp gauge ******* out and found it to be the plug shorting when i turned my lights on and it dimmed out. after Nicholas at glow shift sent me a new water temp gauge kit with wiring it works flawlessly now. Not really a gauge fault but a piece that might have been damaged in production. No biggie and they took care of me even threw in the HEI filter for the tach free of charge for my troubles. I recommend them and have been running them in my truck now for 4 months.
 

CarolinaOBS

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I too have the Glow Shift Gauges in mine. I have voltage, water temperature, and the tachometer. They are very well made for the price and look great. i did have to use the dremel tool to take a little bit of the material away from the gauge pod to make it fit right and i used my own screws to hold it onto the pillar trim piece. I did have issues with the water temp gauge ******* out and found it to be the plug shorting when i turned my lights on and it dimmed out. after Nicholas at glow shift sent me a new water temp gauge kit with wiring it works flawlessly now. Not really a gauge fault but a piece that might have been damaged in production. No biggie and they took care of me even threw in the HEI filter for the tach free of charge for my troubles. I recommend them and have been running them in my truck now for 4 months.

I think most of these problems i read about when choosing these were probably defective parts like in your situation. Good product still.
 

BerHntr

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Either of you running their wideband or know anybody that is? I'm about to order hptuners and want to log afr but also wanted oil pressure and water temp but want all gauges to match.
 

laidbackbigun

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I have read their wideband isn't that good, but i don't have one to say its good or not. i do like their products and can get over the one screwup because the customer service was amazing.
 

skylark

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Nice job with the install! Unfortunately my experience with glowshift is less than stellar. Hopefully yours is better.
 

CarolinaOBS

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Either of you running their wideband or know anybody that is? I'm about to order hptuners and want to log afr but also wanted oil pressure and water temp but want all gauges to match.

For something like a wideband i would probably opt for a very high quality gauge for obvious reasons. I do not have a GS wideband so i can't really give a better answer than that.
 

BerHntr

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For something like a wideband i would probably opt for a very high quality gauge for obvious reasons. I do not have a GS wideband so i can't really give a better answer than that.

That's my thoughts on the matter but my ocd will not let me run different brand gauges in the same pod. Either way nice install and thanks for the response either way
 
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