I'm in the process of swapping my 240 and T-18 trans out of my 1967 F250 for a 300 and T-170/RTS/TOD trans out of an 85 F150. The speedometer cable for the '85 has a clip on the end that goes into the speedometer, where my 1967 cable has a nut that screws onto the speedometer. I haven't yet tried to fit my 1967's cable into the T-170 trans yet, but I expect that end not to be the same either, as well as the gear.

The 1967 has a 3.73 rear and the 1985 is assumed to be around a 3.07

Does any one know of a source for the correct cable and gear for this application?

 

Spec the one for the 85.

Gear? What were the rear gears offered in 85? Have you tried Rockauto? Maybe post the question in the 80s forum.

Btw, my neighbor gave me two of those trannies. Based on my research, the gear spacing sucks monkey nuts but gets really good MPGs and will work great with a six cylinder.

 

I have a cable and speedo gear for the 85 trans. It will not fit on my 1967 speedometer.

The rear gear in the 1985 is a 3.08.

The rear gear in the 1967 is a 3.73

The gear spacing on the T-18 sucks as well, just with a granny low that I will never use. The T-170 gear spacing is just like the T-18, from what I have found, just without a granny low and the addition of OD. I'm only using the truck for joy riding, not towing, so I was looking for a more enjoyable highway gearing, and a little more power than the little 240 could muster. I'm hoping for good fuel mileage with this setup, and will be trying to get 20mpg as a goal.

 

From the little I've found from research on the net, I think I *should* be able to reuse the cable from the T-18 in my 67. I should also be able to reuse the speedo gear from the T-18 in the T-170, to match my 3.73 rear gears.

I'm just trying to confirm that this is correct before I try it and have a problem, like the gear getting chewed up and filling the trans with shavings, etc.

It *seems* like Ford didn't change the speedo gears in the transmissions or the type of attachments much over the years, but I haven't found anyone specifically stating that the cable ends and speedo gears are the same and will swap.

 

In order to get the correct DRIVE (output shaft) & DRIVEN (end of cable) speedometer gears, the trans type, rear axle ratio and tire size must be known.

1967 F100/350 3 M/T & 4 M/T speedo cable (C5TZ-17260-N) is 64.80" long.

RTS TS-OD Top Shift 4 speed overdrive: 1984/89 F100/250, Bronco & E100/150.

Trans is a notorious "weak sister" its internal replacement parts are obsolete, expensive when found.

The shift lever itself is composed of multiple parts, was a troublesome turd from day one.

If one of the parts identified with the black dot fails, the entire shift lever has to be replaced. Lotsa luck finding the little charmer, it's obsolete.

 

My tire size is 245/70/16, the rear end gear is 3.73 and the trans is going to be the T-170 RTS

I'm suprised that all of the parts are obsolete, since so many of these transmissions were made. I know they aren't popular and are known to be weak, but I'm not using it for its strength. I won't be towing and I won't be making much power with a stock 300. I want it for the "ease" of replacement of my T-18, while gaining overdrive. I have two of these transmissions at my disposal if I need to swap parts, but hopefully I won't need to. These transmissions aren't very hard to find either, along with being cheap since no one wants them, so hopefully it will work in my favor, until I can afford to pay someone to swap in a TKO or similar.

Number dummy, do you believe the transmission end of the cable is the same for both transmissions? Do you think that the gear(cable end) will swap from my T-18 to the T-170 without issue?

I don't need the speedometer to be exactly correct, I just need it to work without tearing up. As long as it reads something relative to speed, I can find out how far off it is at different speeds and deal with it.