So i have an '02 F-150 XL and want to put a tach in it, so far the ony ways i've seen to do this are 1: run the wire out to the engine area and find the white/pink wire and tap into it or 2: find an xlt dash and swap it with the one i have my question is: if i can simply install a new dash shouldn't there be a tach signal wire somewhere behind my cluster that i can tap into instead of running a wire under the hood?? i will admit that i am more of a chevy boy and i am new to fords so any help would be great.

P.S. yes i am still a chevy boy but this was found for the right price and i had run out of time to be picky cause salt and snow where coming and i refuse to drive my Supercharger Intimidator ss Montecarlo in that crap so it was a lack of chevy's in my area plus the right price and a lack of time that got me into a ford and i digress

 

Coming to a ford site and boasting your Chevy passion isn't the way to get a response to your question but I'll be watching this one, I'd like to know the answer as well

 

^^^ true enough but my point was that even though i am a chevy boy im not the typicall extremist version and i respect a good vehicle when i see it this trick has almost 170k and i have had no major issues so far (knock on wood) and i just thought i'd be honest with you guy as i hope you will be with me. so yes i was a lil over zealous about my chevy blood but y'all would be the same if roles where swapped right? so please forgive me and cut me a lil slack

 

Ok fair enough, so from a ford guy, how about you post a pic of your chevy, I appreciate I nice car no matter what clothes it's wearing

 

well as long as i wont be shot or ban from the sight forever lol here she is
i have more but they are stuck on the phone right now. but i promise the next pics will be of the ford

 

haha i used to be a chevy guy. that changed when i bought the 150.

 

I used to be a Ford guy, but that changed when I got a job as a wrecker driver and realized everything breaks down at some point. Brand loyalty is pointless IMO. Pretty much all major automakers put put a quality product these days...except Chrysler. I'll always have a soft spot for Jeeps though.

Anyways...I've got an XL myself and have been curious about this. You'd think there would be tachometer wiring already in place...

 

I bought a cheap Bluetooth OBDII code reader that worked with my Droid. Theres an app on droids that can work with it called Torque. It not only tells you things like RPMs and engine temps and stuff but it can tell you a lot of other things like timing advance and all the other little things youll never need to know. The adapter is like $30 and the app is $5 I think. Works great on my 01.