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Odometer Off

Old Aug 15, 2004 | 07:41 AM
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Odometer Off

I just took a trip to Shelby NC this week with the wife.I just bought a Garmin street pilot so I decided to let it do it's thing.I have 285's on my truck and it was reading 5.2 miles less than the gps at 200 miles.Same thing on the way home.I thought that the 17-18 mpg was good but now with the gps it was 18-19. On the way down it was 946 miles, I had 681 on the first tank with a gallon to spare and I drove from Virginia Beach yesterday all the way to the house on the same tank 613.3 with just under a 1/4 of a tank left. I'll fill her this morning to check but I think I'll be in the 20 range.All speeds were around 80 mph and empty although the gps showed my wife a top speed of 95.3 mph(she was sleeping)nice piece of equipment though.
 

Last edited by user 708242442; Aug 15, 2004 at 07:44 AM.
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 08:08 AM
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Oops....
and you let your wife learn how to operate it

I had to clear mine everytime they would wake up on my trip to memphis !!!

Which Garmin did you get ? I LIKE the lady telling me "Off Course, Off course, recalculating !" Sounds JUST like my wife I tell her, see, you expendable now

As far as the discrepancy in miles... you might verify that the Garmin is correct by running a test along the interstate and counting the mile markers...

After all, do you know which one is correctly calibrated ??
Probably the Garmin, but it's best to verify...
 
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 08:40 AM
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I've noticed by RADAR that my speedo is off about 2-3 miles per hour at 65-75mph range. I'll be going 75 and the radar will say 72 or 73. I've also noticed that the mile markers in Arkansas and Texas are extremely different (Texas being much closer to my odometer than Arkansas) I have the 265/16 scorpions on my truck. In either case--the truck never shows less miles than the mile markers it's always MORE.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 08:46 AM
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I have been using GPS for years. Just kind of a geeky hobby for me. I used to work for some geographic information system companies. Anyway, GPS of the civilian variety are not all that accurate. They are not a precise navigation device. They are close. I estimate they are more accurate than the placement of mile markers by highway contractors. Maps, even those you find in your GPS can be way off. I have often seen myself "off road" when I am driving down the highway.

You also have some variation on your speedometer/odometers. Ford won't recalibrate them unless they are way off.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 10:49 AM
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Originally Posted by jdadamsjr
Oops....
and you let your wife learn how to operate it

I had to clear mine everytime they would wake up on my trip to memphis !!!

Which Garmin did you get ? I LIKE the lady telling me "Off Course, Off course, recalculating !" Sounds JUST like my wife I tell her, see, you expendable now

As far as the discrepancy in miles... you might verify that the Garmin is correct by running a test along the interstate and counting the mile markers...

After all, do you know which one is correctly calibrated ??
Probably the Garmin, but it's best to verify...
I got the 2610 . HaHAHa It does sound just like my wife come to think of it.
I already check it with the mile markers and my cousins gps unit.I new the truck would be off because of the bigger tires, came stock with 285's. Although the speedo was right on the money.
 

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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 10:55 AM
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Originally Posted by SBV45
I have been using GPS for years. Just kind of a geeky hobby for me. I used to work for some geographic information system companies. Anyway, GPS of the civilian variety are not all that accurate. They are not a precise navigation device. They are close. I estimate they are more accurate than the placement of mile markers by highway contractors. Maps, even those you find in your GPS can be way off. I have often seen myself "off road" when I am driving down the highway.

You also have some variation on your speedometer/odometers. Ford won't recalibrate them unless they are way off.
Mine was off sometimes when I first bought it but they send me updates which i got a new one before leaving my cousin's place it was a 8-12-04 release date. On the way home it was right on, it also depends on how many satelites you are tracking.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 11:00 AM
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2610 - That IS a nice unit isn;t it !!!
I just used the bean bag mount for mine...
didn't want to leave it up there to INVITE it to be stolen...
at least with the bean bag I can put it on the floor bard out of sight somewhat...
 
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 11:40 AM
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I run all the time with the Garmin-Vista..love it.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 12:43 PM
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Originally Posted by jdadamsjr
2610 - That IS a nice unit isn;t it !!!
I just used the bean bag mount for mine...
didn't want to leave it up there to INVITE it to be stolen...
at least with the bean bag I can put it on the floor bard out of sight somewhat...
I used the bean bag while on vacation but on the rough roads it would slide around a bit . I hard mounted it this morning.I will still put it on the floor no need to advertise it. It comes out of the holder fairly easy.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 12:57 PM
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I have a Garmin GPS III+ and a new GPS 60CS. The 60CS has a lock to road feature that is kind of nice for driving on the street. It knows that there is some error in position and can tell when you should be driving on a given street and shows your position as being on the road - even if the internal measurement would have you 20 ft to one side or another.

I disable that feature when driving off road in the truck or on the bike (DRZ-400).

My F-150 was right on the button for both indicated speed and odo, and this F-250 has been off by 3.2% from day one. It indicates a higher speed and more miles traveled than actual. Good for helping avoid speeding tickets, bad for higher than actual mileage on the ODO for resale.

When I wear out the stock tires, going to a set of 285/75 R16 should bring the speedo more on target.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 12:59 PM
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Originally Posted by King Ranch
I used the bean bag while on vacation but on the rough roads it would slide around a bit . I hard mounted it this morning.I will still put it on the floor no need to advertise it. It comes out of the holder fairly easy.
The bean bag mount worked pretty well for me on the road - except for the odd 4WD stop light launch :-)

But off road I found it sliding around too much.
 
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Old Aug 16, 2004 | 03:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Tim Lamkin
I run all the time with the Garmin-Vista..love it.
Tim, I to run the Vista unit from Garmin. Guess we could start up our own club... Excursion & Garmin Vista Units - BEER PROVIDED FREE (Annual membership is $50.00!!!

Hey, did you see on the Garmin site that they now have a color screen Vista named ..... here it comes.... the VISTAc (C= color)!!!!

I use mine more for hiking and camping with my son and the Boy Scouts, even though a "MAN" never stops for directions while driving, you are really "up a creek" out in the woods without a GPS.

Now, lets see.... HEY FORD SINCE YOU ADDED THE BRAKE CONTROLLER AS REGULAR EQUIPMENT, HOW ABOUT A GARMIN GPS INSTALLED FOR THE 2006's???

Take care,

Jeff
 
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Old Aug 16, 2004 | 03:31 PM
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My speedo was off by 3 mph when new (totally stock 2003 Excursion LTD 4X4). Dealer programed the computer (under warranty and free of charge) with a different size tire to fool the odometer.

Now 70mph = 70mph.

A good dealer will work with you and change your settings for you - took less than 5 minutes of time!!!

Thanks,

Jeff
 
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