speedo and odometer don't run off the same gear, do they?

 

I'm not sure. I have the basic speedo with the total mileage odometer, but not the trip odometer. I did get a look at the workings of this kind of speedo several years ago, and I think the cable from the trans ran the speedo needle, and the odometer somehow was connected to that, and when the cable turned, it would cause the odometer gears to turn as well. It was like 2003 that I did this though, so I'm not sure on this.

Nowadays most of the driving this truck has seen is short trips of only a mile or so each way. Occasional longer trips out of town, but mostly around town driving. Small town, lol.

 

oh.
well i could be wrong too
Stosh, care to chime in here?
or chris?
or scott?
or anyone who has played with this?

 

Well I'll throw in my $.02. My dads (later mine) 83 F150 4x2 302 2v carb reg cab sb with the AOD, stock tires and 3.55 gears would get a steady 16-17 mpg on the highway @ 65-70 mph. Did get a best of 18 mpg on back roads. Hauling a 4500lb 25' Prowler TT it would get 10-11 mpg.
The 2v Motorcraft carb have been known to have a leaky power valve that will really hurt gas mileage. Very easy carb to rebuild. My choke cam also broke and I put in a manual cable.
The speedometer and odometer are usually driven by the same cable at least it was on my 83.
Regards
rikard

 

I read somewhere on here earlier that the speedo needle works off of magnets, as opposed to being directly connected to the cable...I'm assuming in the gauge itself. If those magnets wear out, that'd explain the wobbly needle. Again though, I'm just guessing. lol

The speedo I mentioned earlier was from an '84, I'm guessing they're the same.

 

Both trip and reg. odometer are driven by the speedo cable in these years, no electronics or PSOM, VSS to screw up on you.

 

Another reason why I love old trucks.

There's not a computer or electronic control anywhere on my truck, except for the Duraspark box. And even that is simple and easy to replace.

 

From my paint-your-gauges project, the device on the left is the tach. Click the
thumbnails for large images, they'll open up in a new window.

 

Thanks for the pics. That's pretty much exactly how I remembered it to look, except I didn't remove the gauge face.

How did you remove the needles without damaging them?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheKirbyMan

How did you remove the needles without damaging them?

They just pull straight out. If you're gonna do that, make notes (and, ideally, take
pix and/or make marks somewhere) of exactly where they're presently pointing so
they can be put back into their proper places.

 

in ctubutis' pictures, the the round metal thing that you can see in the second and fourth pic is where the magnets are, it is what the spinning magnets drive, and speedo inaccuracies can be fixed by spinning the magnets at a certain speed, and moveing a big magnet close to them untill it reads right. im pretty sure the odometer is pulled off via gears before you get to magnets.

 

'83 f250 4x4 drive in 2wd. 4sp tranny. Getting 9.6mpg city... would kill for these 15-16 numbers.