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Speedometer question

Old Sep 6, 2011 | 01:18 PM
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Speedometer question

So i went from having 4.10 gears in my F250 to 3.55 gears. I also put on 35 inch tires instead of the stock 30.5 size. how far off is my speedometer going to be? Im not entirely sure how to figure it out without driving it, and it doesnt run right now because the fuel pump went out. Thank you to anyone that helps!
 
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Old Sep 6, 2011 | 02:11 PM
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use this online calculator with the OEM equipment (ie:get the stock tire size off the door jam sticker) and then the current setup. that will tell you what drive and driven gears to use...

http://bronco.zenseeker.net/Speedo.htm
 
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Old Sep 6, 2011 | 02:42 PM
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Calculating it out, it looks like your going 30.25% faster than the speedo indicates.
You'll need a speedo gear on the end of the cable with 30.25% fewer teeth on it than what's there now...
 
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Old Sep 6, 2011 | 03:40 PM
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Thank you guys very much. +rep for both of you
 
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Old Sep 6, 2011 | 03:53 PM
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good to see you know the rep system already! Hope the speedo gear change out goes well!
 
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Old Sep 6, 2011 | 04:45 PM
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Originally Posted by GNR22
So i went from having 4.10 gears in my F250 to 3.55 gears. I also put on 35 inch tires instead of the stock 30.5 size. how far off is my speedometer going to be? Im not entirely sure how to figure it out without driving it, and it doesnt run right now because the fuel pump went out. Thank you to anyone that helps!
If you have a PSOM (programmable speedometer module) you can use the attached to program in the correct ratio without needing to buy new gears. The mileage and speed will show correct on your speedo.

I used this on my truck when I went to a larger tire.
 
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Old Sep 6, 2011 | 06:28 PM
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It's probably safe to say your speedo is WAY off so it will need to be recalibrated. What year is the truck? '92+ have electronic odometers which indicates the presence of a PSOM which is programmable and since they use the sensor on the rear axle ring gear as a pickup the gear ratio doesn't affect anything only tire size does. If you have this system follow the link to see how to correct your speedo.. HOW TO RECALIBRATE THE SPEEDOMETER ON 92-96 FORD F-SERIES AND BRONCO .: Articles

If however you have a pre '92 truck the speedo is cable driven and recalibration is accomplished by replacing the driven cable on the trans/transfer case end of the cable. But to figure out what replacement gear to get you first have to know what color gear is on the cable and how far off your speedo is, and for that you need a GPS.
 
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 07:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Conanski
It's probably safe to say your speedo is WAY off so it will need to be recalibrated. What year is the truck? '92+ have electronic odometers which indicates the presence of a PSOM which is programmable and since they use the sensor on the rear axle ring gear as a pickup the gear ratio doesn't affect anything only tire size does. If you have this system follow the link to see how to correct your speedo.. HOW TO RECALIBRATE THE SPEEDOMETER ON 92-96 FORD F-SERIES AND BRONCO .: Articles
looks like an 89 f250 to me (right above the link to his GARAGE).


Originally Posted by Conanski
If however you have a pre '92 truck the speedo is cable driven and recalibration is accomplished by replacing the driven cable on the trans/transfer case end of the cable. But to figure out what replacement gear to get you first have to know what color gear is on the cable and how far off your speedo is, and for that you need a GPS.
I'm pretty sure Paul meant "gear" not "cable".

To figure out the color of your gear that cable Paul is talking about... The cable will run to the tailshaft of your tranny or transfer case and there should be 1 bolt holding down a C-shaped clip. The C-shaped clip holds down the speedo driven gear. Remove bolt and clip and pull on the cable until the speedo gears pop out. Check the color of your gear (or count the teeth). I went to ford and bought 2 of each color so I can calibrate the speedo to my GPS by swapping the driven gear. Nice to have the extra gears just in case the tires change size in the future
 
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 08:55 AM
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Originally Posted by nstueve
I'm pretty sure Paul meant "gear" not "cable".
Yes.. I just saw that mistake... guess it got past the eagle eye the first time round.
 
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 09:05 AM
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Originally Posted by nstueve
To figure out the color of your gear that cable Paul is talking about... The cable will run to the tailshaft of your tranny or transfer case and there should be 1 bolt holding down a C-shaped clip. The C-shaped clip holds down the speedo driven gear. Remove bolt and clip and pull on the cable until the speedo gears pop out. Check the color of your gear (or count the teeth). I went to ford and bought 2 of each color so I can calibrate the speedo to my GPS by swapping the driven gear. Nice to have the extra gears just in case the tires change size in the future
Figuring out the right gear to use takes a bit of experimentation.. though if you can also figure out how many teeth are on the drive gear you can norrow down the options. Here's a link to a place that sells these gears..
Ford Speedometer Gears for Automatic and Standard Transmission

On a related note I think I have to recalibrate the speedo in my truck again, I had to replace the speedo when the original died and the replacement seems to read high... though I haven't checked it against the GPS yet. That is strange I thought a speedo is a speedo but maybe they are slightly different depending upon how the truck is setup. My truck uses a cable driven speedo so if I get a chance to do this soon I'll snap some pics for future reference.
 
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 09:08 AM
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Originally Posted by Conanski
On a related note I think I have to recalibrate the speedo in my truck again, I had to replace the speedo when the original died and the replacement seems to reads high... though I haven't checked it against the GPS yet. That is strange I thought a speedo is a speedo but maybe they are slightly different depending upon how the truck is setup. My truck uses a cable driven speedo so if I get a chance to do this soon I'll snap some pics for future reference.
LOL... I'm in the same place, but I have a GPS that goes with me everywhere so when I drive my truck I have the GPS to tell me how fast I am going. IE: i have kinda sluffed off and not got around to actually fixing the cable even though it's pretty easy to do.

PS: if you want to calculate the actual number of teeth needed by the drive gear, tire size, and axle ratio you can go here and get the calculation off the bottom of the page.
http://www.fordracingparts.com/download/charts/129.pdf
 
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Old Nov 17, 2011 | 08:59 AM
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Hello I need some help with this.... my truck is a 97 F-150 factory tires was 265/70R 17SL and currently is straight axle conversion with 5:13 gears sporting 35X12.50X15 my speedo is reading from my transfer case as I have 78 3/4 ton axles but speedo is electronic and uses a gear and is reading 25 mph fast and shuts down at 105 please help
 
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Old Nov 17, 2011 | 09:14 AM
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Have a look at this thread.. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...50-speedo.html
 
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Old Nov 17, 2011 | 02:25 PM
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Thank you Conanski for the thread link
 
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