Aftermarket Gauge Pod Holds Additional Gauges.

Aftermarket gauge pods is an automotive metering device that sits outside of the stock gauges in dash cluster. It can be a large tachometer, used for racing, or a row of extra gauges that display more information about the engine. The different types of gauge pods are configured for the individual wants of the driver.

When gauges were first introduced, they were a basic display of the vital functions of the car. A speedometer was primary gauge, surrounding a smaller fuel level gauge. As cars became more advanced more gauges were offered from the factory; often, the dashboards of expensive cars were heavily adorned masterpieces of engineering.

Inexpensive cars did not get special gauges, and as these cars got older, they became the experiments of mechanics everywhere. Aftermarket gauges could be added on for very low cost. These extra gauges, installed in gauge pods, could be fastened to any surface of the car. With the inevitable next year's model, there were always new places to mount additional gauges. Gauges are available for everything from clocks to the boost pressure of a turbocharger was available for aftermarket installation. Into the late 1980s, add-on gauges were most popular as "three-packs," these gauges could be installed in less than an hour by a competent backyard mechanic.

The most common gauge pods seen today are "A-pillar" style gauges, mounted along the driver's side windshield. These gauges are custom fit to blend in with the car's interior, giving an impressive amount of illuminated information. Another popular gauge style is the over-sized tachometer, used on cars that were built to be fast on the racing track. The gauge face can be as large as 10 inches, and include bright yellow and red warning lights. These lights will signal the driver through his peripheral vision to shift to the next gear. The very bulky tachometer is stored in a single "gauge pod" housing, and mounted to the right of the driver.

Engine block temperature gauge, oil temperature and pressure gauge, amount of power in the battery, rotations of the motor per minute and even vacuum pressure of the intake manifold are common readouts that can be ordered for gauge pods. Some gauges can read tire pressure, ambient outside temperature or even altitude above sea level. All can be installed into custom gauge pods.