Dr. Overkill
New Member
Gang,
Last weekend I installed white gauge faces and a stainless steel gauge bezel/overlay for cheap (relatively speaking). Pix with and without flash, no lights on in the dash:
The SS bezel is by NuImage. Stylin gets $160 for it, but I found it for $60 at SuperTruck Essentials. Couldn't believe it when I saw the price. I was expecting to receive the black overlay with the polished rings around the gauges, but as you can tell from the pic I received the fully polished version. At first I didn't think I would like it as much, especially with white gauge faces, but it's grown on me.
On a side note, I had called NuImage to see if they shipped me the wrong one by accident (I bought it from SuperTrucks but it was drop-shipped from NuImage). They said no, that that is the current design, and that the picture on SuperTrucks' website was old. I laughed and told him that NuImage has the same exact outdated picture on their own website (I was looking at it when I called :ktoe
So, I saved $100 on that. :thumbsup:
The white gauge overlays... I took a chance on these ones. I actually found them on eBay first and bought through there. I had read some feedback about these being "stickers" and was wary of them, but they had very positive feedback, and for $25 with no tax and no shipping, I thought it was worth a try.
The best I can describe them is like printing on window tint. The numbers, lines, etc are masked so there is no printing over them, and the gauge lights shine through them. From a distance (even sitting in the driver seat) the printing looks fine. But up close they appear to have been printed on an inkjet with somewhat modest resolution. I expected more crisp printing but like I said, unless you're up close, it's not noticeable. And I wish they would have used clear film as the base, but they used a grey film, which dims the lighting just a bit, but not too much.
Installation was a bit of a challenge. They install similar to window tint--apply soap water, place them, and squeegee out. No need to buy their "kit" as you can use your own soap water, a sponge, and a modestly flexible card. A credit card might be too rigid, so I used a frequent buyer card from some store that was a little more flexible. Unlike window tint, however, these didn't like to slide around on the surface, so it was not easy to position them. Also, you cannot see the markings underneath, so it's difficult to get them lined up correctly. If you could plug the cluster back into the dash and turn the lights on, it would definitely help line up the markings but it would be harder to work in there with the steering wheel etc. On the plus side, there's no need to remove the needles, as you can slip them through the holes in the overlays.
It turned out pretty good, but some of the markings are mis-aligned just enough that when I have the lights on at night, the markings appear to have a shadow. It's almost a cool effect. The ones most mis-aligned are the gear indicators--the light is something of a sliver, but it *is* visible and still functional.
The only ding against the SS overlay is if the sun is behind you at the right angle, you need welding goggles to avoid being blinded :wink:
Overall, though, I'm pleased. I don't like the colored gauge overlays offered by NuImage and US Speedo for the OBS trucks--they don't offer the cool designs, fonts, etc that they do for the NBS trucks. So the $25 white overlays are a decent compromise. Overall I saved a lotta coin on this and got a decent upgrade.
_dennis
Last weekend I installed white gauge faces and a stainless steel gauge bezel/overlay for cheap (relatively speaking). Pix with and without flash, no lights on in the dash:
The SS bezel is by NuImage. Stylin gets $160 for it, but I found it for $60 at SuperTruck Essentials. Couldn't believe it when I saw the price. I was expecting to receive the black overlay with the polished rings around the gauges, but as you can tell from the pic I received the fully polished version. At first I didn't think I would like it as much, especially with white gauge faces, but it's grown on me.
On a side note, I had called NuImage to see if they shipped me the wrong one by accident (I bought it from SuperTrucks but it was drop-shipped from NuImage). They said no, that that is the current design, and that the picture on SuperTrucks' website was old. I laughed and told him that NuImage has the same exact outdated picture on their own website (I was looking at it when I called :ktoe
So, I saved $100 on that. :thumbsup:
The white gauge overlays... I took a chance on these ones. I actually found them on eBay first and bought through there. I had read some feedback about these being "stickers" and was wary of them, but they had very positive feedback, and for $25 with no tax and no shipping, I thought it was worth a try.
The best I can describe them is like printing on window tint. The numbers, lines, etc are masked so there is no printing over them, and the gauge lights shine through them. From a distance (even sitting in the driver seat) the printing looks fine. But up close they appear to have been printed on an inkjet with somewhat modest resolution. I expected more crisp printing but like I said, unless you're up close, it's not noticeable. And I wish they would have used clear film as the base, but they used a grey film, which dims the lighting just a bit, but not too much.
Installation was a bit of a challenge. They install similar to window tint--apply soap water, place them, and squeegee out. No need to buy their "kit" as you can use your own soap water, a sponge, and a modestly flexible card. A credit card might be too rigid, so I used a frequent buyer card from some store that was a little more flexible. Unlike window tint, however, these didn't like to slide around on the surface, so it was not easy to position them. Also, you cannot see the markings underneath, so it's difficult to get them lined up correctly. If you could plug the cluster back into the dash and turn the lights on, it would definitely help line up the markings but it would be harder to work in there with the steering wheel etc. On the plus side, there's no need to remove the needles, as you can slip them through the holes in the overlays.
It turned out pretty good, but some of the markings are mis-aligned just enough that when I have the lights on at night, the markings appear to have a shadow. It's almost a cool effect. The ones most mis-aligned are the gear indicators--the light is something of a sliver, but it *is* visible and still functional.
The only ding against the SS overlay is if the sun is behind you at the right angle, you need welding goggles to avoid being blinded :wink:
Overall, though, I'm pleased. I don't like the colored gauge overlays offered by NuImage and US Speedo for the OBS trucks--they don't offer the cool designs, fonts, etc that they do for the NBS trucks. So the $25 white overlays are a decent compromise. Overall I saved a lotta coin on this and got a decent upgrade.
_dennis
