R
redwolf_92
Active member
Hey everyone. Its been a while since I have made a new thread here, but I thought I would share what I did on my M1000 as a low cost alternative to a Gauge Cage. I have seen a few ideas and even a couple kits, but the low cost options that I saw either looked like they wouldn't hold up or they left a big gap between the gauge and the dash, or both. I wanted something that would completely seal up between the gauge and the dash and be strong enough to hold up to the abuse that I know I will put it through.
First of all I started with a $2 home depot 4in. to 4.5in. pvc adapter. In hindsight I would probably go with a straight 4.5in. coupler, but this worked out pretyy good too.
I took my grinder and ground the 4in. face to the angle that I wanted the gauges to sit at.
Then I cut a piece of aluminum stock and bent the ends to fit inside the pvc, and riveted it in place. I also cut another piece of aluminum to go on the inside of the dash for the pvc to bolt to. I drilled a few holes and put bolts with spacers on them to bolt everything together.
After putting it together this way I decided that I would need a third mouning point to make it strong enough. So I simply cut two more pieces of stock, riveted one inside the pvc and left the other one loose so that it would slide inside and sandwhich up against the dash.
Then I bolted the gauge into the pvc hooked up the wires and tighted up the bolts.
As you can see in the pics I decided to do some swiss cheesing to let some of that hot air out. I put it together with some white leggings over the pvc to keep snow from getting in, but decided it would probably not be much of an issue up there.
First of all I started with a $2 home depot 4in. to 4.5in. pvc adapter. In hindsight I would probably go with a straight 4.5in. coupler, but this worked out pretyy good too.
I took my grinder and ground the 4in. face to the angle that I wanted the gauges to sit at.
Then I cut a piece of aluminum stock and bent the ends to fit inside the pvc, and riveted it in place. I also cut another piece of aluminum to go on the inside of the dash for the pvc to bolt to. I drilled a few holes and put bolts with spacers on them to bolt everything together.
After putting it together this way I decided that I would need a third mouning point to make it strong enough. So I simply cut two more pieces of stock, riveted one inside the pvc and left the other one loose so that it would slide inside and sandwhich up against the dash.
Then I bolted the gauge into the pvc hooked up the wires and tighted up the bolts.
As you can see in the pics I decided to do some swiss cheesing to let some of that hot air out. I put it together with some white leggings over the pvc to keep snow from getting in, but decided it would probably not be much of an issue up there.
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