Mechanical vs. Electronic Gauges

[Bohemian]

Looking for some opinions of those that have actually used both mechanical & electronic gauges in 4x4's that actually went off road...

It seems to me for longevity, ruggedness for 4x4's mechanical is the way to go.

Pretty much everything electrical has a very limited life span like a light bulb and like most electronics they seem to last longer if you don't shake the Shiite out of em...

I'm looking to do a gauge upgrade using made in USA gauges from autometer in my k5.

What say you?

 

[diesel4me]

I like mechanical gauges better...but hate the nylon tubing they supply with a gauge for oil pressure--had them pop off the gauge and soak the interior,and could have seized the engine if I hadn't felt hot oil spraying on my leg..I put a copper line on it ,problem solved..

 

[Hoss7979]

I have a mechanical coolant temp and a electric trans temp.....both work fine.

 

[ChrisPerry]

I've had Autometer C2 electric gauges in my rig for 9 years without issues.

 

[dyeager535]

Airlines fly millions of people a year with electronics. Military uses electronic. I'm not worried about lifespan, assuming the piece is quality.

Fairly, the electronic factory gauges are pretty stout pieces. You will hear of failures, they are at best 26 years old at this point. But that's factory. Aftermarket bottom of the barrel, mechanical may be preferred over electronic, don't know.

In 25 years of driving various of these trucks, continuously, I've had a fuel gauge fail, and a cable drive speedometer fail. That's it. And I've played with way more clusters than I have trucks in that time.

 

[bp71k5]

I'd take an electrical gauge over mechanical every time.

 

[sreidmx]

Ditto electric 2x on sundays.. less failure modes and things to physically go wrong.. billions of vehicles on the road today use all electronic gauges..

 

[ryoken]

generally, i will agree with the masses and vote electrical.. it's really a matter of moving fail points around.. oil pressure is the simplest to look at... sure fire "know it's right" ya drop a mechanical on it.. any mechanic worth kaka has one in his box for just such reasons.. just like an oil pump primer, etc.. but our boats are a perfect example, mechanical, when your dash is 18' away, limits your choices

failure rate on average.. mechanical capillary type failure due to adding another fitting to receive said info, 1 in a 100.. chance of an improper reading due to a failed sender? 1 in 9.36, depending on said Taiwan company producing the part....... an epic failure {hot oil on the knees} vs a more "frequent" "inconvenience", your choice....

the only mechanical I run on Mutt is the fuel pressure out on the hood...

 

[sweetk30]

quality is key to any gauge . you get what you pay for .

i swapped out a set of cheep mech gauges for a guy to a set of autometer electrics and he was much better off . . . . since the mech was frozen on 50 psi oil and coolant temp was 25-30 off .

 

[Kain]

the electric gauges have come a long way so no mechanical for me. being sprayed with hot oil sucks ass