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speedometer questions

Posted: July 8, 2018, 8:58 pm
by Jerry D
So, short story is, that I took my truck to speedometer shop to finally look at the jumping needle. The plastic speedo gear in the trans is shot, and I need a new one, which I can order from a toploader trans website. The gear on the end of the cable is shot too, and the speedo shop will hook me up with an new one and a $150 right angle adapter and new cable. Now, they tell me the speedo itself is shot, and can be rebuilt for $200-$250.

So, I have a couple of options... 1) Shell out the $ and have the speedo rebuilt. 2) Contact Tom and try and buy a low mileage speedo (the speedo shop said they'll look at it and refresh for less $ if it needs it. 3) LMC sells one for $159.

Has anyone ever purchased one from LMC? Just laying my options out. I just saw one of Tom's threads that he's not even back home right now. I'm looking at 6 weeks to pull everything together, as it'd sure be nice to have a working speedometer for the trip to Slickstock.

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: July 9, 2018, 7:58 am
by unibody madness
See if you can find a used tom tom gps unit with lifetime updates on e bay... check to make sure it comes with accessories, they have them new and used for much less.
You will get maps, directions, and an accurate speedo that goes with you, not the vehicle

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: July 9, 2018, 8:48 am
by 64 f100
Which speedo do you have round or sweep?

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: July 9, 2018, 8:50 am
by 64 f100
Also, those gears can be found on evilbay fairly reasonable and new.

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: July 9, 2018, 12:59 pm
by Jerry D
I think I'm going to stay with a traditional speedo, though I do see the benefits of the tom tom.

I've got the round speedo, and not the custom cab sweep. As for the gears on ebay, they're running the same or comparable to the transmission guy the speedo shop recommended. As far as the speedometer cable gear goes, I'll buy that through the shop I went to. The guy there was very fair and honest. Didn't charge me at all for the time he spent working just to figure out all my issues.

There's a couple NOS speedo's on ebay, but they're about or more that what this shop's going to charge me for a rebuild.

Just hoped someone had experience with the LMC speedo. It's ~$50-$100 cheaper than the rebuild, though just not sure of their quality.

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: July 9, 2018, 4:36 pm
by grump
If you find a shop like that you better support it. Sooner or later without our support these honest shops will be gone, then where are we going to go to when we need expert help. Ebay or Amazon?

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: July 9, 2018, 9:35 pm
by Toyz
grump wrote:If you find a shop like that you better support it. Sooner or later without our support these honest shops will be gone, then where are we going to go to when we need expert help. Ebay or Amazon?
X2

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: July 10, 2018, 6:16 am
by redstone65
grump wrote:If you find a shop like that you better support it. Sooner or later without our support these honest shops will be gone, then where are we going to go to when we need expert help. Ebay or Amazon?
Ditto. We’ve got a great little shop here in Birmingham called Southern Armature that will rebuild anything electrical. They get all my business for starters, generators, alternators, etc. Not a computer in sight when you walk in. They just write the tickets by hand and do quality work. Gotta support guys like that.

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: July 10, 2018, 7:29 pm
by 04sd
I'd go buy a TomTom for the trip, if nothing else it'll give you time so you don't have to rush to get it working. It will also give you accurate speed to check the operation/calibration of your speedometer when you do get it fixed.

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: July 13, 2018, 4:06 pm
by orangeRcode
You can download a GPS app for your phone for free that shows your MPH, direction and other interesting things. Need to make sure I put one on my phone so I can check the speedo against it going to SS.

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: July 14, 2018, 7:01 pm
by ThinLizzy13
I have a bouncy speedo issue. If you want to do your own work - I bought a drive gear, driven gear, and a new speedo cable all for less than $40. Spent about $20 on transmission fluid. Changed that all out myself.
I also need a new speedometer cluster. For how much a rebuild is I would look for a used one, or hit up Tom. That’s what I’m planning on doing - I don’t really trust LMC. Really wish I still had those 3 extras I got rid of...

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: August 6, 2018, 12:37 pm
by Jerry D
Well, it's done. I'm too embarrassed to say how much I have in this speedo fix, but Friday night coming home from Milwaukee, I got to watch my speedometer needle hold steady for the first time ever!

now to just touch up the gas and temp gauge needles with some paint, and I'm done. Just one of a few things on my list to do in the next two weeks.

Re: speedometer questions

Posted: August 6, 2018, 6:59 pm
by unibody madness
cool, I raided the wife's finger nail polish, found an almost exact match, slid a thin piece of cardboard under each needle for neatness they came out great.