well i finaly got my guages today and started puttin them in. im not done yet, i still gotta put the steering wheel back in. I ran into some problems when takin out the screws of the steering column, those suckers were damn near welded in there. when i got the 2nd one off the wheel nearly crushed my head. if my seat was pushed back it would have just smashed up my nose.( seat caught the wheel).Well After my brush with death i took a break for dinner. at around 8 i went back at it and got the guage console out and went inside to put in the guages, it took me damn near 1 hour to figure out how to keep the tachometer from stickin to the guage, then i noticed the circle wasnt cut cleanly and was sorta jagged. right now i have the guage in the cluster and everthing is workin kool but im gonna screw everything in tomorow mornin. guys this was so frustratin i think im gonna tell my friend i cant do his set... Nissan makes it so hard to work on their cars. last time i did guages was a honda accord and i did the whole thing in about 2hrs incl a break. well i might post a pic if i can get a camera tomorow. I just wanted to post to add to everyones braggin of their cars. im movin slowly but surely
MODS:
Tint 5%
pioneer 9200 HU
New* reverse indiglo guages

 

Why was it so hard? 'Cause you did it totally wrong. You don't need to remove your steering wheel at all. When I read it, it was instantNO WAY!

All you need to do is remove the trim around the steering wheel column. You can do that with four screws. Then, using the tilt, lower the steering wheel. The rest I'm sure you are familiar with. I've removed my gauge cluster a couple times now. Each time, it took me under 5 minutes to remove or to install. And most of the time was used to plug and unplug the various switches (cruise) and plugs to the gauges.

 

i took no chances and followed the directions from maximadriver.com. My steering wheel tilt doesnt work so that wasnt an option. i didnt actually take off the wheel i just lowered it by removing the screws.

 

What chances? Why is my way any more risky then yours? If anything, your way is more risky as it requires more removal.

Why can't your steering wheel tilt anymore?

Did you simply loosen the bolts and have the weight of the wheel held up by the shaft? I hope not.

 

no im not sayin my way was safer or yours is risky, i just didnt want to cut corners, this is the first maxima guage job i did so i wanted to do it by the book, so next time i do it i can take short cuts. The tilt is like jammed and it doesnt move(the lever). It came like that when i got the car, the owner told me too and i said no problem my legs are to long to lower the wheel anyway. Right now the wheel isnt just resting off the shaft, i have a milk crate in there holdin up the wheel, i was gonna move the seat up and let it rest on the seat but it looked awkward so i got the crate to be safe. Next time i guess i wont unscrew the wheel, when i get my CF guage bezzel ill take some short cuts, im sure ill be better at it.

 

the instructions on maximadriver.com require you to drop the steering column as well

 

Well, if you need to get in there to do your bezel in the future, I'd highly suggest you fix the tilt problem too. If you can tilt it, it will allow you to remove the gauge cluster without having to lower the ENTIRE steering column.

 

Ya my eyes went too! Im getting my Gen2 Reverse Indiglos tomorrows and after reading about that guy dropping his steering column i got a little worried. Nice to know i dont need to mess with anything overly important (like my steering) when i install the gauges.

 

When I did the install, I dropped the steering column too.

My tilt works, but even with it all the way down, the black trim wasn't coming out without a fight, and I wasn't gonna take the chance of it breaking as I was yanking it out.

It's only 2 nuts holding up the steering column. It's not that hard once you know where they are.

Take's me only 5 minutes now, including all the trim pieces under the dash. No big deal. Just need to know what you're doing.

 

All you need to do is release the clips, that start with the top, then take it out from one side, either the left or the right. It only works with the tilt ALL THE WAY down.

 

well everything is done and all the needles work. also i fixed the tilt lever. it wasnt broken it was just jammed. with some effort i managed to get it to work. Im about 98% satisfied with the guages, i think that a needle kit would make it look a lot better. thanx for the advice guys, next mod will be some general maintenance to the car, then hopefully i can get my system done by april.

 

i'm glad u like em...

 

any pics of the finished product?

 

you must of unscrewed the wrong screws cause i used the maximadriver directions and my steering wheel didn't lossen, it was a dificult job tho, my hardest part was getting the old gages off . everything seems so fragile.