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tire size problem? speedo problem?

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Old Jan 9, 2011 | 12:20 AM
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tire size problem? speedo problem?

ok guys my speedo doesn't read right, when it reads 37 im doing 45 when it reads 40 i'm doing 52 and when it reads 45 i'm doing 60 it didn't read at all when i got the truck and i replaced the gear in the transfercase (there was one left from my dads old bronco) so do u guys have any ideas as to what could be causing this problem? just fyi i've got 28" tires on it, and it's a 91 f150, 300 I6 4 speed 4x4
 
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Old Jan 9, 2011 | 12:54 AM
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Does your Check Engine light ever come on? Sounds like you may need a new speed sensor.
 
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Old Jan 9, 2011 | 10:19 AM
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no it's not throwing a cel... this is driving me insane!!!!!!!!!! any other ideas?
 
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Old Jan 9, 2011 | 11:02 AM
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Sounds like you put the wrong gear on the cable, there is a selection of driven gears available with different colors for a different number of teeth, and the one you need will depend upon the axle gearing and tire size.

Ford Speedometer Gears for Automatic and Standard Transmission

To figure out what gear you need use this formula..

Speedometer Gear Teeth = Drive Teeth * Rear End Ratio * 20.2 / Tire Height
 
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Old Jan 9, 2011 | 12:55 PM
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see i dont think it's a gear problem, because if the gear was wrong i would be off by the same amount at every speedo reading but it's not it goes everywhere from being 7 mph off to being 15 mph off
 
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Old Jan 9, 2011 | 01:00 PM
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No that's how it works the faster you go the further off the speedo gets. What color was the gear you installed and was it the same color as the one you removed?
 
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Old Jan 9, 2011 | 01:07 PM
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Originally Posted by patman247
see i dont think it's a gear problem, because if the gear was wrong i would be off by the same amount at every speedo reading but it's not it goes everywhere from being 7 mph off to being 15 mph off
If you have a gear with the wrong number of teeth, which I am sure you do, your speedometer will be off by a relative amount or a certain percentage depending on speed.
 
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Old Jan 9, 2011 | 06:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Conanski
No that's how it works the faster you go the further off the speedo gets. What color was the gear you installed and was it the same color as the one you removed?
it was the same color


Originally Posted by Conanski
but it wasnt the same as the ones you posted in this picture it was the big one that went around the rod
 
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Old Jan 9, 2011 | 09:09 PM
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Originally Posted by patman247
it was the same color



but it wasnt the same as the ones you posted in this picture it was the big one that went around the rod
OKAY, that is NOW understood. You will still need to do some swapping of the gears that conanski posted a picture of to correct your speedometer reading. I just hope they make a big enough variation of the number of teeth to make your proper correction. For instance if you have 20 teeth on your current gear, you would need, I would guess, a 15 or 16 tooth gear to correct it.
 
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Old Jan 9, 2011 | 11:42 PM
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but the thing is i cant possibly see that gear being the wrong number of teeth because i know from the guy who had it before me that he never changed that gear nor rear gear ratios nor tire size so it cant be a problem with number of teeth on the gear can it?
 
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Old Jan 10, 2011 | 12:07 AM
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Well, did you check that the gear you replaced on the transfer case shaft had the same number of teeth as your old worn out gear? Either way the easiest way to correct your speedometer is switch the gears like conanski posted. Again this is if the available gears will allow you to do enough correction.
 
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Old Jan 10, 2011 | 01:34 PM
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yes the gear i replaced with had the same number of teeth
 
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Old Jan 10, 2011 | 07:13 PM
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Originally Posted by patman247
yes the gear i replaced with had the same number of teeth
Then it would seem that the speedometer was always off. Regardless of whether the speedometer was always off, the answer remains the same"swap out the plastic gears like those conanski posted".
 
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 05:12 PM
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ok i'll try and figure it out.. any body have a good link to find out what my rear gear ratio is?
 
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 08:04 PM
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You don't need to worry about what your gear ratio is. You already know how fast the truck is going compared to your speedometer reading. Pull your speedometer cable out of your transfer case and count the number of teeth on that plastic gear. Now use the math your teacher taught you to figure out how many teeth you will need on your replacement gear. Just so you won't be confused, it will need to be LESS teeth than you have now(see #9 in this thread). This should get you pretty close, if you want it perfect you may have to buy a second gear with one tooth difference more or less.
 
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