Speed Hut Guages

[sponge]

Anyone have any experience with Speed Hut Guages?

OEM look, fun customization, appear to be quality?

Gauges, Custom Gauges, Tachometers, Speedometers, Shift Light, Pod


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[Hedgehog]

I've got a set waiting for me to finish up a dash project. No, I didn't get the CJ style gauge. When I was looking they only offered the gauge I a GPS version. I questioned the accuracy when in deep mountains, canyons, forests and especially in a tunnel. It would have been great if they had integrated units where both mechanical AND GPS capabilities worked together.

Mine are the programmable type ... Well the speedometer and the fuel gauge are programmable. My experience has been good with them. They make their gauges right here in the US and if you order from them directly they will customize your gauge almost anyway you want it to be. They look great when ordered with domed high tempered glass faces .

So far I'm impressed. But, if you order something be specific. For example, with the tach. I wanted additional tick marks. The stock tach. came stock with 500 RPM ticks. I was foolish enough to expect "additional" tick marks would be in 100 RPM increments. What I got was a tach. with 3 ticks between the 500 RPM ticks or ticks at 150 RPM intervals. All I can say is "Thanks a lot graphics guy." I do graphics for a living, to me this was inexcusable. Either he wasn't thinking or was being a jackass. The tack really should be sent back, but I'm trying to get accustomed to the odd spacing.

 

[Belizean]

Hedge I'm wondering what you mean by GPS version,which gauge? And when you say fuel gauge programmable, do you mean for accuracy of the readings? I'm kinda interested in a new speedometer. Mine works ok, just very dark at night and hard to read in the dark. Seems like the 2 bulbs are working, just very dim. Wondering if I could use a brighter bulb. Only had speedometer out once to change out one of the bulbs an think it was the temp gauge Thanks

 

[gr8dain]

The GPS speedo uses the satellites to relay the speed you are going to the gauge. It does not use the mechanical cable. From what I have heard from the CJ8 guys who got them (www.cj-8.com), they work very well and have not had signal issues. Better than sat radio I am sure. And most out the antenna in the cowl vent if I remember correctly. I was thinking about getting them when I redo my dash.

 

[Hedgehog]

gr8dain described the function very well. Chase the link and look up CJ gauges. Warning! If you lust after one of the CJ cluster gauges you will spend some serious money, ~$500, some a little less and some more. There are LOTS of options so read the different gauge descriptions carefully.

Most of know that the stock CJ gauges aren't very good The programmable Speed Hut fuel gauge allows replacement with a high quality gauge that can be set/programmed in many different ways for different sending units. Essentially you can use any unit you want. Some are better than others. Also some read differently some have high resistance when full, some have low resistance when full. The gauge allows a choice between the two. It also can be set for "Full" and "Empty". Useful if you have a custom tank.

Be careful about using bigger bulbs. The stock gauge has a plastic cap the stock bulb goes in. Brighter bulbs are hotter and will melt the cap. Frequently the cap is melted which reduces the available light significantly. The Speed Hut Gauges have their own lighting system that uses their own transformer, but uses the stock dimmer switch in the light switch.

 

[Belizean]

Wow! Very interesting information. Think I will save my money and keep the speedometer I have. That and when my daughter is riding with me at night and I can't see the speedo very well I can get her to snap chat to figure out the speed. The fuel gauge is the most interesting gauge I think since mine is not very accurate. Well guys thanks for the explanations

 

[Bill D]

You can get LED bulbs for the instrument cluster. They generate no heat and are much brighter. They can also be different colors.

 

[Hedgehog]

B-T-W the plastic caps are blue in color. LEDs are a great option.

Bill - can the LEDs be turned down to a lower brightness?

 

[Peanut Butter]

Here is what the back of your speedometer looks like:



There are actually three bulbs that light up the gauge.



The white bulbs are covered with a plastic blue cover. If you take the bulb number and do a search on eBay for the LED version, you'll find a bunch of good replacements.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Dim dash lights is also a classic dash GND issue.
I urge you to run a dedicated GND wire from the dash panel to the battery NEG(-).
LG

 

[Belizean]

Thanks guys I will look into all that. I'm thinking maybe 1 of the lights may be out also if there are 3 lights. Been a long time since I've had that cluster out. ����

 

[Schvin]

Just to chime in about the speed hut gauges. I know a guy in Detroit who does motor swaps in wranglers, http://www.redrockwiring.com , he gave me TONS of useful info when I did my hemi swap in my TJ, and he made my wiring harness (mating the stock TJ harness to the stock hemi harness for a 'factory' fit and appearance), and 95% of the motor swaps he does at his shop, he uses the Speed Hut gauges. Including the GPS speedometer. He loves them. He has also told me that the GPS is very accurate and he's never lost signal with them. Plus the customization is great. They can even take a picture of your choosing, and make it the background for the gauges.

Ben


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[shooby]

I've burned up fuel gauges, temp gauges, amps gauges, replaced the whole speedometer, put LEDs in my speedometer, wrapped a strip of flexable LEDs around the inside of the Speedometer so It could be read at night, and after spending months repeatedly removing my dash so I could try to solve the gauge problem, I finally gave up and ordered the Speedhut CJ gauges including the GPS Speedometer. Yes, they were expensive, but I would recommend them anyway. If I would have done that in the first place, I would have saved a lot of money and TIME. The speedo works great, I never even think about the GPS aspect. Yes, it did stop registering in the Eisenhower Tunnel, but I now have a gas gauge that works all the time!!!

 

[djnineball]

i have the speedhut gauges and i love them. easy to read, easy to see at night, look cool in both day and night and THEY WORK!

on the old stock set i had the speedo was so off that the kph was closer to the speed i was going than the mph but it was the only gauge that was "working". the fuel, temp, volt and oil pressure all were broken though the oil pressure did occasionally decide to move around on it's own in some weird pattern. i had read many instances of people posting that the omix/rugged ridge brand replacements were so they were not an option.

i plan on keeping this one as a toy for many, many years (spent way too much on it already to ever get my money back, even in it's current condition) so i decided to get the set. so glad i did.

one point i feel i should mention. i opted for the tach addition to my set and if i was going to do it over i probably would skip it. it is adjustable depending on your engine type (8cyl, 6cyl, 4cyl, etc) however i have tried every option there is and it always seems to read low to me. i forget what i have it on now but it's whatever was closest.

one positive is that the kenwood x997 can use 2 colors at once so it matches the gauges perfectly though they look a little different in the photo.

the product:

 

[sponge]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback! I was on the fence for the tach and assumed that was the case...

I am ordering mine tomorrow

 

[Hedgehog]

Have you contacted Speed Hut about the tack? Tacks are pretty basic and should be accurate. I did look at those small tack speedometer, in the end I decided that those little tacks seem more like a sales gimmick than a real useful tack. Good idea, but to small.

 

[gert]

I sure do like the way they look, I look forward to getting mine going so I look into buying them

 

[sponge]

Agreed on the size and gimmick...

I can't decide the color!

My exterior is going to be metallic dark grey with red interior so I want grey face and red digits...but they only offer silver so that won't work.

Black with red?

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Very nice looking!
As far as the tach goes. Are you runing a stock type ign system?
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Back when I had my Harley there were gauges with a small tach inside the speedometer. I actually strongly considered getting one until I realized that it would be almost impossible to quickly read the tach. Similar with the CJ version. Great idea though. I want a tach that is a quick read.