Freightliner Guages/Info Center Improvements?

[RickO]

I now have about 2500 miles on my new Itasca Ellipse 40FD on the Freightliner Evolution Chasis with the Allison 6 speed and Cummins 400 ISL.

I find the instrumentation to be a bit lacking. My 3 biggest concerns are that 1) the information center displays only 3 items at a time and I have to take my eyes off the road too much to get to the information I might want... 2) The engine temp guage doesn't display actual temperatures but rather "cold/normal/hot" zones. I can get the temp by toggleing through the info center but by then I'm wandering all over the road... 3) there is no transmission temp guage.

I have read posts concerning the VMSpc which displays through a laptop but this could cause even more situations taking my eyes off the road. Is there an after market info center available which has a larger, more informative display? What is involved in changing the temp guage to one with actual temp readings? What's involved in adding a transmission temp guage?

I'm interested in any learnings that anyone can share.

Thanks Much!!
Rick

[RickO]

I now have about 2500 miles on my new Itasca Ellipse 40FD on the Freightliner Evolution Chasis with the Allison 6 speed and Cummins 400 ISL.

I find the instrumentation to be a bit lacking. My 3 biggest concerns are that 1) the information center displays only 3 items at a time and I have to take my eyes off the road too much to get to the information I might want... 2) The engine temp guage doesn't display actual temperatures but rather "cold/normal/hot" zones. I can get the temp by toggleing through the info center but by then I'm wandering all over the road... 3) there is no transmission temp guage.

I have read posts concerning the VMSpc which displays through a laptop but this could cause even more situations taking my eyes off the road. Is there an after market info center available which has a larger, more informative display? What is involved in changing the temp guage to one with actual temp readings? What's involved in adding a transmission temp guage?

I'm interested in any learnings that anyone can share.

Thanks Much!!
Rick

[tomsm]

Rick,

Mine unit came with the Trip-tek computer. It displays on the rearview monitor so it's very readable at a glance. I think VMspec may show more info, but the Trip-tek shows everything you asked about on one screen. It's a bit pricey - take a look here.

[RickO]

Thanks Tom! That is exactly what I'm looking for. It really is a bit pricey so I'll have to start working on the DW.

rick

[tomsm]

Sell it on SAFETY! That always works for me...

[discfl]

I have a 98 Endeavor with only the basic gages. Does anyone know if someone upgraded the dash and where?? Would like to have newer gages and also add the ones I don't have.

Ray

[RickO]

Hi Ray,
I'm a newbie here so I'll only relate what I've learned form pouring over this (and other) forums. Please don't take it as the voice of experience but rather someone who's been asking very similar questions:

1) I haven't heard much from those who have installed additional, individual guages. Most of the discussion has been around a more comprehensive approch with Vehicle Monitoring Systems.
2) The two most commonly mentioned VMS are Trip-tek and VMS by Silverleaf. Both provide a great deal of information not currently readily available on the dash.
3) Both are pricey but Silverleaf more so than Trip-tek.
4) Silverleaf is much more robust than TT.
Their prices range from $400 for a unit which interfaces to your PC to $3K for what amounts to a heads up display.

I really (really) want to install the Silverleaf VMSpc unit in my coach but I'm trying to figure out how to best evaluate the trade-offs. I'm not convinced I want to have a laptop mounted on a stand between the pilot and co-pilot. Even the Jotto desk type of arrangement used by John Canfield and others doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. But, I'd like to have a larger display than is offered by the Silverleaf stand alone models so I'm currently looking at using an "e-pc" type of arrangement... perhaps with a flip down display above the pilots head... so I'd have a small pc which I could tuck away somewhere that would be dedicated to running engine performance and maintenance data/history. I use a stand alone GPS (TomTom) so wouldn't be using the pc for that purpose.

I have some evaluation to do before I finally decide. It's tough because I'd love to have it installed before I leave on a 4000 mile trip this coming weekend but I don't want to rush it so I guess I'll just have to dig deep to find some patience!

I haven't seen anyone offer a negative word about TT or Silverleaf... with the possible exception that the serial to USB converter used by Silverleaf is pretty flaky in some applications.

Good Luck!

rick

[Pusherman]

RickO--

Was traveling this weekend and was playing with the joystick on the '07 FL display system, and what do I find? Transmission Temperature!! Was running at about 175d.

Before you invest in a new system, check it out. If mine has it, yours should too.

[RickO]

Hi Don...

Funny you should mention that. We're on the road too (currently in Boise) and guess what I found playing with the joystick yesterday? Transmission temp!

It really helped going over the Sierras and making the climbs on US 95. Although figuring out how to find and present the data I want makes it much better, I'm still in love with the VMSpc set up and will probably pursue that for two reasons... 1) it will present much more data at one time rather than the three lines available on the info center... and, 2) I love toys!

Thanks much for the input!

RickO

[chasfm11]

As a VMSpc user for a couple of years now, I would say that the biggest benefits are:
1. You can tailor it to your preferences and field of vision. For example, the odometer on our standard speedometer is unreadable under most conditions. I can change the size of the odometer display in VMSpc to be large enough to read at a glance and now DW can see it, too. By moving "gauges" around on the display and changing their shape and size, you can put together a display that works for you. Once you get used to it, you can see what you want in less time than it takes to look down. A function called "PID Sniffer" allows you to find all of the available pieces of data about your chassis that can be displayed. Personally, I wanted it to monitor the Turbo Boost.
2. There is so much more the the VMSpc package because the display. The ability to capture error messages real time has already more than saved me the price of the package. Knowing what errors occurred and when helped me to troubleshoot a difficult exhaust brake problem that was shutting down the engine intermittently. In addition, there is a logging feature of all of gauge outputs and the ability to keep track of maintenance.
3. We use a 15" display laptop with VMSpc running in 1/3 and Street Atlas running in the other 2/3 of the display. Each part of that display is larger than standalone units of either type might be. We've used this combo through 2006, 2007 and now 2008 versions of Street Atlas with no problems. You do have to be very careful about the startup sequence and make sure that you plug the VMSpc wire together only after everything else is running but that is because of a Microsoft problem (com port assignments.)

[BZam]

I am a long time VMSpec user. But sure to save you file in a safe place after getting all the display setup to your liking. I learned the hard way.

Updates, new drivers, changing computers are some reasons you might have to recover and/or reload your basic setup file.

Bob


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by chasfm11:
As a VMSpc user for a couple of years now, I would say that the biggest benefits are:
1. You can tailor it to your preferences and field of vision. For example, the odometer on our standard speedometer is unreadable under most conditions. I can change the size of the odometer display in VMSpc to be large enough to read at a glance and now DW can see it, too. By moving "gauges" around on the display and changing their shape and size, you can put together a display that works for you. Once you get used to it, you can see what you want in less time than it takes to look down. A function called "PID Sniffer" allows you to find all of the available pieces of data about your chassis that can be displayed. Personally, I wanted it to monitor the Turbo Boost.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>