Alright this is the last question I'm going to ask on this subject... so Cincy be easy brotha. The vaccum tubing I ran was the very small nylon tubing, not larger rubber hose like I've seen most other gauges ran with by you guys. Could that have anything to do with the accuracy of my boost gauge? I understand that I won't get the boost in first gear now, but the not even boosting past 1 lb in first is pissing me off. ok i'm done...

 

the supplied line should work fine.

 

While I agree that the size of the supplied line should work fine there are multiple minor issues that can compound problems. If it is nylon, did it get routed near anything hot along its way to the gauge? Nylon gets soft above 160°F, and if it makes a tight bend you could have a restriction in tube. If the pressure was static, 15 psi and never changing, even a pin hole would allow the gauge to read accurately. But. . . turbos are almost never in steady state conditions, everything is in transient conditions all the time. This leads to finite volume of air that has to get from the manifold into the tubing, if your entire tubing and gauge volume is 2cc, the ideal gas law applies. That is, at atmospheric pressure 14.7psia (30"Hg) there would be 2cc in the system, at 15psig(30psia) twice as many air molecules have to be in the tubing system, or 4cc of air at atmospheric pressure. While this isn't a large volume, it has to occur fast. Any restriction will tend to damp the meter movement, since 1st gear is all of a second or two, that damping would show a rising needle,then you get your foot out of it before before it catches upwith the pressure transient from the engine, and the needle begins to fall.Result, you never saw it go above a pound or two. As you stay at boost pressures for a longer period at each upshift, there is more time for the tubing and gauge to catch up and display the expected pressures.
Then there's air / moisture / and ambient temperatures (psychrometrics). You don't have any cold damp air in Portland do you? As I said all of these factors are minor and seldom seen when all is well, but if several of them are going on at the same time, the gauge will behave oddly.
Review the craftsmanship of your installation, looking for sharp bends, overheated tubing, or even a slight leak (doesn't take much of a leak with small tubing) at a fitting and nylon is harder to get a good seal without compression fittings than rubber tubing.

 

^^Bill Nye has entered the building.

 

my boost is pretty smooth through all gears, all around 18-20

 

My theory on this is that all engines are different and will vary. I personally have full boost in all gears.