The biggest benefit is the audible alarm in the UltraGauge software. I agree with the the others about a dedicated device, set it and forget it. I use an iPad mini and while the OBD Fusion software is light years ahead of UltraGauge, there is no audible alarm which means you have to have the screen on continually, and check it. The UltraBlue bluetooth device not only runs in the background and will alert you to low fuel, coolant temp, oil change interval, etc, it knows when the truck is powered off and goes into sleep mode, and then automatically wakes up whenever you restart. I've had the generic ELM devices drain my battery over a week of being plugged in without starting the truck. My only complaint is that you can't assign different sounds to the different events. Low fuel often gives me a heart attack when I think it's an overheat.

 

Yeah, I bought a Veepeak OBD II dongle to use in my other car with my iPhone and it drained the battery in a few days if I wasn't driving it, which happens often in this Year of Covid. Thank goodness the UltraGauge doesn't drain the battery, or if it is draining it, it drains it very little.

Veepeak Mini WiFi OBD2 Scanner...

 

The Ultra Gauges live data and alarm. It's a great devise. The Disco 2 doesn't have a "low water level" warning light, so if you happen to lose coolant and start to warm up, you can shut it down and save the motor.

 

In my experience if you don't lose coolant consistently then it will be a catastrophic failure of some kind that would cause you to overheat (blown hose or fan explodes, idler pulleys etc) in which case the alarm won't help as the smoke/steam is visible first lol.

Personally I couldn't enjoy the trucks with an ultragauge visible all the time. I'd be paranoid/distracted constantly. Stay on top of fluid levels and if you have an issue fix it and go back to enjoying! That said I do check how things are running from time to time with my phone and wifi dongle.

 

I prefer the Ultragauge Bluetooth option with an old iPad mini for my setup to specifically arrange the gauges I want. My aging eyes can see the read out better.

 

I agree with @whowa004 that having coolant temp present on the UG constantly is a distraction. It causes me to get too focused on it and think about every little change in temperature.

I think going forward I’ll run a stand-alone coolant gauge and not run the UG full time, or I will just configure my gauges on the UG not to show coolant temp and then set the coolant temp alarm at a low temperature, like 205-210, so if it starts to heat up, you have plenty of time to pull over and investigate.

 

JUKE179r, Where did you get all the carbon around your dash. I saw it a while back but forgot to ask you. It looks great I'd like to do that to mine. Thanks!

 

Hi ya @Bignacio .
The previous owner installed it and I never found out where he got it from.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rdash-Carbo...kAAOSwkShY9~gp
Probably something like this Bignacio.

 

Thanks Motorhead1, I'll check that out.