Tachometer mount

[ScottD]

Has anyone come up with some good options for mounting an aftermarket tach?  I have an auto transmission, so the steering column turns when you shift, so mounting the tach on top isn't possible.  I'm not a fan of mounting it on the dash, so I was wondering what others have done.  Any ideas or pic's would be awesome.
I have an 85 chev with auto trans.

[moss5472]

I have a 3 1/2 inch tach or about that size but i mounted it to the piller down in the corner where the dash piller and windshield meet its easy to see but not in the way while driving

[warhorse]

I mounted one of the 2 inch VDO tachs in the ash tray bin.  Just pulled the ash tray itself out, slid in the tach, screwed the plastic cap from the back side, and it mounted perfectly.  Flip the ash tray down, you got a tach, flip it up, you got a clean dash.  If you don't like the little gaps from the rectangle when it's open, cut a piece of sheet metal with the exact 2" hole, paint your color of choice, and then mount the unit as before.  It's a nice little custom touch.

[big_al273]

it's easy to mount a tachometer on the column either on the rotating shifter collar or before it.
Mine is mounted on the shifter and sits off to the left in park but centered between my speedometer and gas gauge in drive.
My Dads 85 Monster truck has it on the column before the shifter and it sits in between the gauges.
either of these mountings has the benefit of Zero holes drilled in the truck.
first picture is mine in park, second picture is mine in drive, third picture in Dads 85, forth is the 85 and how it's mounted before the shifter collar, Mine is strapped on to the column similarly but on the shifter collar.

[Greybeard]

I know this is no help but I have mine centered on the speedo since it doesn't work anyway. Otherwise I like any of the ideas so far posted.

[Tazman]

I have had mine mounted on the column for the past seven years. Works great.

[roundhouse]

Is get the one that fits in place of the fuel gauge


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[Greybeard]

I noticed something over the years, I have always been partial to the Sun tachs, the Super II is my go to. Over the years this tach has been cheapened up to the point of being pointless however. My newish one I don't believe is very accurate.

One other thing I did was rotate the tach so that the needle was straight up at highway speed, whatever the normal highway speed is around your area (55, 65, 70, 80 whatever). This works better with a manual trans than it does with an auto though. I still got a lot of speeding tickets though, just not ever on the highway.    YMMV

[VileZambonie]

In the dash, where it belongs is the best place

[Jakethesnake73]

there is a cutout on my intrument cluser for the wires to go through. It works well although after taking my cluster off many times and letting it hang with the tach wires they have become loose


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[Greybeard]

Ultimately, the best place for the tach is where it can be easily seen. If you need to !@#$ your head a lot, turn your eyes to much in an unusual direction, or can't see it in your peripheral vision at all, then it's not located correctly. There used to be a kit to mount it on the hood. That way your focus was never taken off where it needed to be. However, if the tach is in a truck with automatic trans then besides just being pointless, it really doesn't matter where it goes, the tranny is normally in charge of shift points anyway.

[big_al273]

the tranny is normally in charge of shift points anyway.

not in the older transmissions, except for the newer fully electronic transmissions the shift points are controled by either a vacuum modulator or kick down cable and vary based on how much throttle is being applied, although the newer electronic transmissions vary the shift points as well based on many things.

[jrbarrie83]

Do you have A/C? My dad's truck doesn't so he put a plate over the opening where the driver's right air outlet would be and mounted it there. Perfect placement, IMO, other than the factory in-dash setup. Unfortunately I couldn't do this in mine, so I did mount it on top of the dash (which is split and a mess anyhow) so I wasn't worried about hurting it more. It's tucked in the left corner by the pillar, basically in line with other gauges, so it doesn't look too bad. Just ran the wires down behind the trim panels to come out near the brake release under the dash.

[Greybeard]

the tranny is normally in charge of shift points anyway.

not in the older transmissions, except for the newer fully electronic transmissions the shift points are controled by either a vacuum modulator or kick down cable and vary based on how much throttle is being applied, although the newer electronic transmissions vary the shift points as well based on many things.

Good point, guess I should have said the driver is not necessarily in charge of shifting an auto, poor choice of words on my part.

[ScottD]

Thanks to everyone for taking time to share your ideas.  Hopefully truck is coming out of storage this week and I can test out a few of these ideas.