JP Customs Escalade Cluster

AirForceAngler · July 29, 2003

I posted this a while ago, but wanted to ask again. Has anyone installed the white

Escalade Instrument Cluster from JP Customs. I put one in my 2000 Silverado. The white really looks nice, but at night, the numbers on the Speedometer are really dim. I have to turn the dash lights up all the way to see them then the shift indicator lights are obnoxiously bright. Also, it seems that the fuel guage moves slower than my old one. Either that or my truck started getting outstanding fuel mileage.

Has anyone else put one of these in and how did it work for them?

Thanks

KMeloney · July 29, 2003

I put the "standard" Escalade cluster in my '02 Tahoe. The numbers are plenty bright -- but I have the backlighting turned up as bright as it will go anyway (it best matches my Denon headunit when turned all the way up). But, I DID consider doing something about the pretty-darn-bright gear sellection indicator. What I was going to do (and suggest you try) was put a piece of tint over the GSI. You can either cut one to fit it perfectly, or just take the cluster apart enough so that you can slip a piece of tint over the indicator so that it covers the whole thing.

I didn't do this only because I got used to the indicator the way it is -- but I don't see why it wouldn't work in your situation.

-Kirk

toddgotfish · July 29, 2003

i put the silver face in and just in center above speedo it is

just a little dark at night . and yes the gear select lights are

incredibly bright but it still looks 100 times better than the stock.

by the way what does your trans temp show during aversge daily driving

Thanks

Todd

AirForceAngler · July 29, 2003

KMeloney: I did think about putting a piece of tint over the gear indicator, that would probably take care of the bright indicator. I took my old set apart to see how difficult it would be and it's not that hard.

toddgotfish: Running empty my temp shows about 170/175. I haven't towed my camper with it yet. We have a 27' travel trailer and I imagine it will bump the temps up a bit.

By the way, what did you both do about the mileage?

If I new how to micro-solder, it looks like a person could re-install their original shift indicator into the new guage cluster. There are about 8 little pins that would have to be unsoldered and redone. I wonder if this would restore the original mileage?

Thanks for the responses!

KMeloney · July 29, 2003

I wrote down my mileage from my original cluster and keep the paper in my glovebox. I only had @ 2000 miles on the original odo before swapping it out, so the disparity between the original and my Escalade clusters gets smaller everyday. I don't plan on selling my original cluster (and don't plan on selling my truck anytime soon, either), so I don't consider the mileage difference to be a big deal. If I were to sell the truck one day, I'd give the buyer the original cluster and tell him of the 2000 mile difference.

If you're not comfortable with the disparity between your two clusters, you can send them out for recalibration. But I've been told that the shop that does it will need BOTH clusters at the same time. Rumor has it that the turn-around time is only 2 days (or something close to that), but 2 days without a cluster might not be too convenient for some (it wasn't convenient for me).

-Kirk

AirForceAngler · July 29, 2003

I know what you mean about 2 days. That's probably not including shipping so you're looking at 5-6 days. Since my wife and I both work, I can't do without my truck for that long. I plan on keeping it for a long time also, so I'll just worry about the mileage when it comes time to sell it. I just put the sticker on the door and as long as I don't try to foist it off on someone as having 54000 miles less than it really does, I should be alright.