A couple questions.
 

I have a 87 fuel injected Suburban 4x4. My question did these trucks in 87 ever get a factory tach? Also has anyone tried a tbi spacer? Are they worth the money? I would like a little more low end torque. It has highway gears. I would like a little more pulling power. Thanks.

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http://hometown.aol.com/racedvl/racedvl69index.html
Crystal Lake IL. 30 Miles north of Chicago

Anyone?

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http://hometown.aol.com/racedvl/racedvl69index.html
Crystal Lake IL. 30 Miles north of Chicago

Ok, Ill try to help.....

I would imagine there is one, since all the previous years of the same body had a tach available.....

I would call a salvage yard or soemthing, somewhere, and ask, they would know, I'm sure,,,,,,,

Good luck !

I have the Shop Service Manual for the '87 and there is nothing in there that shows for sure that there was one offered. Just the lead at the coil for hooking one up.

You'd have to find a smaller fuel guage to make the change (I did see a tach with a fuel guage included in the same instrument, but the mounting appeared to be slightly different than for the '87 panel). I've seen pictures of a couple of earlier model tachs and they appear have similar mounting similar - but not exactly the same - as the 87's fuel gauge pocket.

I know of one fellow who installed a small aftermarket tach in the unused hole in lower left corner of the dash. Looked pretty good.

FWIW - sorry don't have better info

Tony

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'87 3/4T Suburban / 502HT / Edelbrock MPFI /
Gibson 3" / GV overdrive / 3.73 - one strong trailer tug

Yea, I think they didn't offer it because I don't ever see any lit. on them. I know the faces would probibly be diffrent.

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http://hometown.aol.com/racedvl/racedvl69index.html
Crystal Lake IL. 30 Miles north of Chicago

Yes they did come with fact. tachs . I have seen and bidded on them on ebay. If you get lucky every now and then one will show up on there but be prepared cause it will lay you wallet wide open . I guess thats why I dont have one for my 82 4x4

[This message has been edited by fast71 (edited 11-13-2000).]

I have a inch carb spacer/adaptor in my truck. The spacer does work for more low end torque. I had trouble coasting in overdrive without it. Now I can cruise at low speeds and keep the truck in overdrive. I would recommend a swirl hole adaptor for a carb but since you probably have a two hole TBI a two hole adaptor should work just as good. I bought an adaptor for my brother who owns a '94 SWB TBI truck with a Vortec V6. He told me that his low end torque also increased with the adpator. In my truck, i'm removing the factory intake and bolting on a dual plane manifold. This will help reduce backfire the single plane intake causes when the throttle is pressed hard.

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gchemist
1983 Custom Truck
TX Plates: "BAD BOW"
http://www.geocities.com/abetterchemist/

Last year for an optional tach was 1981. So the answer is no. Will a previous tach cluster work, sure. The fonts on the faces changed a couple of times. The 1981 tach should match. I would get the whole cluster though.

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Chris Lucas
1973 Chevy C-10
1975 Chevy Silverado
Captkaos' Page

If you do go with a an earlier instrument panel assy, you will need to make sure your '87 speedometer will fit into it...the '87 TBI speedo has an optical speed sensor that inputs to both the ECM and the cruise control.

It's never easy, is it?

Tony

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'87 3/4T Suburban / 502HT / Edelbrock MPFI /
Gibson 3" / GV overdrive / 3.73 - one strong trailer tug

This applies to all (84-up) speedo's with cruise control.

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Chris Lucas
1973 Chevy C-10
1975 Chevy Silverado
Captkaos' Page

Capt. do you have an artical on fact tachs?Not trying to sound rude I was just wondering.

fast71
An article as in one that proves they weren't offered past 1981. No. But from the research I have done, and all the numerous 73-87(91)'s I have seen, you would think I would run across one. I asked the GM dealership (parts counter) to look up the availibility of them and the last year was 81. It being different than the previous years. (keep in mind I wasn't looking at what he was) I also am talking only 1/2 tons, haven't checked 3/4-up. I would love to be proven wrong, as I keep looking for more info.

In addition, I have 3 tach clusters.
(1) 1980, (1) 1976 and (1) 1977 with the Tach and fuel on the same dial with a vacuum guage where the fuel would be.
I also had a 1981 K10 SWB that was fully optioned with a tach. (wish I had kept it)


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Chris Lucas
1973 Chevy C-10
1975 Chevy Silverado
Captkaos' Page

Learning new info is awesome http://67-72chevytrucks.net/board/ubbhtml/smile.gif

Good answer Capt. Its great to learn new things. Now if it was a 68-74 nova or a 71 c10. I could tell you anything you might wanted to know .I dont know about these trucks but I'm learning.

Cool info on the tach's. I think I'll just use a aftermarket on it. I'll use a 2" tach and fill the empty hole. As for the spacer, so far It seems to be not a bad idea.

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http://hometown.aol.com/racedvl/racedvl69index.html
Crystal Lake IL. 30 Miles north of Chicago

Learning everyday.... One of the great things about life. http://67-72chevytrucks.net/board/ubbhtml/biggrin.gif

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Chris Lucas
1973 Chevy C-10
1975 Chevy Silverado
Captkaos' Page

When I bought my truck it was a factory stock 87 Silverado, hard loaded, every option. No tachometer. That empty space several of you ahve referred to in the lower left corner, is a clock in mine. So, I would have to agree with Capt on the no.

I have a '77 or so, clock, or the whole clock instr panel, if anyone interested ??
Worth 25 bucks complete ?? Non-tach*
From a Bonanza*
Or are these too easily found?
If so, Ill just keep it and use it some year....hehehehe

I am not going to fight about the availability of the tach but why not pull one from a 3 ton truck. They kept the same cab all the way through 1990 and many of the gas engines had tachs that go to 5 grand, even the trucks all the way back to 82 or 83 should have the right one(1981 still has the old dash, I know I have a 81 C70). The throttle body spacer isn't to bad. I have a Helix power tower on my 1992 TBI 350 in my truck and it made some difference. Honestly I didn't really notice a difference but I get about 20mpg on the highway and I can kick my buddies butts so I think they are a decent upgrade.

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69 CST, 402 steel crank, heavy rods polished ported heads 2.19/1.88 should be 450+ 700R4 373 Posi buckets/console tilt tach 4wheel discs
Daily Driver: 92 Chev 4x4 350 auto

A 3ton. Cool.

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http://hometown.aol.com/racedvl/racedvl69index.html
Crystal Lake IL. 30 Miles north of Chicago

we've got one in one our fire trucks. Its an 86 model, but not fuel injected. The tach sits where the big fuel gauge would sit, and has a smaller fuel dial inside of it.
See ya'


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1967 K-10, swb,4sp 4wd, now with power ass't brakes, I'm gettin' there slowly but surely!!
All good things come to those who wait.....even for those who drive fords.
One of us bowties will eventually tow them home!!