Hey guys I just bought a 98' Manual Trans, 4wd. And it has the basic Instrument cluster on the dash.. I was wondering if I could swap it with the higher end Instrument cluster (with the tach, oil, water, and battery gauges)... Wondering how difficult this would be and if it would be plug and play? Or is it just not an option?

 

Yep, plug and play.

Its as difficult as pulling some trim, a few screws, two wire harnesses, and the speedo cable.

The odometer can't be changed though.

 

Sweet! "The odometer can't be changed" as in it will still read the same vehicle mileage??

 

Correct. So if you get one that has lots more miles on the odo you'll be stuck with it.

The DMV can document it, but I hate the DMV and don't care enough about mileage.

 

I've swapped clusters in my current XJ, and prior WJ. I made sure to document the mileage on the original cluster, and other one. Didn't have any issues when selling my WJ. I made sure that both clusters I swapped in had less miles then the original. The reason I did that was I personally would feel more comfortable having someone say "The miles are incorrect, it actually has more miles then the ODO says" rather then the opposite.

I actually swapped in a TJ cluster into my XJ. I think it looks cleaner then the XJ cluster. Needles & extremes are white & red, instead of orange.

 

Vehicle mileage will be whatever mileage is on the new cluster, your mileage will not remain the same because mileage is in the cluster not the ecm, you may also have to do some wiring the rpm gauge will not just work when u plug in the new cluster because the current one isnt wired for it, also i live in nc and its a felony to change an instrument cluster without doing the proper paperwork so make sure its legal

 

Just to verify, no wiring is required. Everything is there, and the RPM gauge will work. It really is just plug and play.

 

Wrong.

No wiring needed for the tach.

Again, its plug and play. Like i said earlier.

As for legality, it varies from state to state, region to region. DMV should be able to confirm.

 

Awesome guys. Thanks for the help!

 

I believe that you have to use a cluster from a '97-01 in your rig. '96 and older used a different cluster and won't work.

But, from what I have read online, any cluster from '97-01 will be a simple swap with just unplugging and plugging in a couple of connectors on the back.

 

I just did this swap in my '98 auto and it works great. Mileage is stored in the cluster. My mileage went from 161k to 153k. Do it!