Dolphin brand gauges,good or bad ?

I'm going to replace a digital dash with some real gauges in a car i'm moving down the road. I don't want to spend a whole lot of money but they need to be of a certain quality. There ads look nice and so do the gauges,but do they perform. It's some of the least expensive ones out there so I'm asking if anyone has any experience with them,good or bad Thanks. Ralphie

 

Read away:https://www.google.com/search?newwi...20.0....0...1c.1.23.hp..4.18.1997.4Fa_F2Rjz_4

 

one of the Hoffman companies, universally regarded as Chinese crap:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=650004

 

I had a set of gauges in my '55 about a decade or so ago and they worked great. I wasn't a big fan of the look of them, but performance wise they did everything I needed them to do.

 

Dolphin Quad Gauges - Not Recommended

 

Thanks to all the replys and the google search I'm looking at other brands too.

 

I dont think Dolphin is a Hoffman company....Aurora Gauges is a Hoffman company.
Dolphin makes gauges that meet a price point.....the price point is low.....quality is not even job #99 much less job #1. Dolphin's web page says their sister company is EZ Wiring.

 

From a design standpoint alone....the logo is, well, yucky. NOT exactly confidence inspiring.

 

Can anyone post the horse getting beat to death?

 

I wouldn't care if they were made by the best gauge manufacturer in the business. The Dolphin logo is a huge turn-off for me. It's hideous, and the name does not inspire me at all. I can't imagine seeing that gay logo every time I glanced down a did a quick gauge check while driving.

I'm surprised that the Chinese manufacturer didn't name them Panda or Dragon like 95% of all the Chinese food places around here.

 

I have a set of dolphins,,I would not buy another set ever. Connection on oil sending unit broke off when I removed for final wiring,,it was on finger tight. I called dolphin,,they don't give a ratsass,,had to buy another of their cheapass sending units. The new oil sending unit shows 10psi so i added a live Equus oil gauge which is accurate.

 

My other half has a quad set in her A R/P, been in there 10 years now and still working fine.

 

Aren't they the ones with the rainbow flag faces? Honestly, it can't be much more to do Stewart Warners or Auto meters

 

Can u post a pic of you digital gauge maybe me or someone else might buy it off you


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Search on here , you will find plenty. Not trying to be a search Nazi, it's just that there has been discussion here before on this.

My opinion ? Dolphin gauges are cheap garbage both in looks and performance.

Stick with someone proven like Classic Instruments, more money but worth every $ and great style too.

 

Dolphin gauges would probably be OK on a boat.

 

Yes, lying on the bottom somewhere

 

Check out New Vintage brand gauges. I like mine!

 

I used SHARK gauges I believe they are made by the same company and never had a problem and would use them again , just my opinion.

 

I just bought a set of autometers because they seem to be the only ones with a trip indicator. I like to keep track of gas.

 

Not had a problem with my Dolphin gauges...yet anyway. No logo on mine. I have double checked all readings with other gauges hooked up, and they seem to be spot on. Electric speedo does keep track of trip miles, which is great when you have small tank.

 

I don't like the look of them but that's just a personal thing with me. HRP

 

The last thing I want to see when I glance down to check my gauges while driving is a picture of a fish jumping out of water. Now if I owned a boat....................NAW!!! Still too tacky.

Frank

 

Vintage Stewart Warners for me.

 

I prefer pretty Unicorn gauges but that's just me...

 

I put a set of Omegas in my truck. They seem to be decent. When I looked at the Dolphins which every other truck seemed to have, and compared the price the Omegas looked to be less expensive because they came with all of the senders. I also liked the look of them better. Something seemed fishy about the Dolphins
I think I got them from Summit.

 

I just copied this from the Dolphin website;

Does this mean the gauges are made in Florida USA? Does this mean they are only packaged in Florida? Does this mean Dolphin is lying and selling Chinese stuff? Does this mean guys here who say it's Chinese shit are lying

 

Classic Instruments has just come out with an instrument cluster for the 53-55 and the 56 F100 that really looks great...check them out before you make a decision.

 

I have a set of Dolphins in my 40 Pickup. They are so-so. The speedo is electronic and it was not too hard to calibrate. The temp gauge reads about 40 degrees high than the the coolant temp numbers I'm getting from my OBD1 scanner so something is way off there. The Dolphin temp gauge is trying to tell me that my truck is running at 230 degrees all the time, the scanner says 190 Hmmmm. The gas gauge was way off, Dolphin took it back to check it out. First they tell me that all of their gas gauges are 0-90 ohm type and my gauge is broken and not repairable and they couldn't substitute a newer one since they no longer make the domed glass gauges. I get the gauge back from Dolphin customers service and start to check it out myself. It turns out that this gauge requires a different sender...240 ohms empty and 33 ohms full. So I had to order an Auto-Meter sender and now I have to take the tank down to change the sender. Also these gauges gave a green tint on the bulbs used for the gauge illumination, except the speedo, it's just a plain bare bulb! Needless to say, the speedo and the gauges don't match in illumnation.

My overall experience is that these gauges are only so-so and you would do better with spending a few more bucks on autometer or VDO or Stewart Warner

 

I agree. Much as I love the look of the new F100 cluster that Classic instruments has the lack of an available trip indicator is why I will be looking autometer's way for a future 56' F100.



I have TPI Streamliner 6 gauge set in my 55 F100. Never again... Dolphin sort of falls in that same price point.