'56 Odometer reset
 

OK, what's the secret?

I have my speedo/odo out of the truck. The speedo is fixed (I think/hope), and I'm putting all back together.

I was thinking that I'd spin the wheels back to 00000 since the truck mileage is totally unknown anyway and the speedo cable wasn't even installed when I got it.

However, resetting the odometer so that everything is ZERO turns out to be harder than it sounds. All of the wheels are (by design) mechanically interlocked/geared in some way or another. I haven't been brave enough to take the whole drum assembly apart...yet. It's not even clear HOW to disassemble the thing either - I'm guessing that I'd have to remove the brass ring on the shaft, adjacent the drive spur gear....

What's the trick to getting it all back to zero, but with the little sheetmetal forks all in the correct locations so that it will sit on the "keying" bar underneath?

-Bruce

It has been years since I did mine but it can be done without disassembling the wheels in your picture. If I remember right the wheel and metal turn together while holding the adjoining wheels.

I did it to my 54 back in 1999 but... I forget how. sorry! Play around with it and you'll figure it out. I should have taken pics and wrote it down back then, huh?

In high school my Dad really wanted to watch the family (1964 Pymouth) go over 100,000 miles. Of course I thought I could take the car and get back under the turnover to 100,000 but got distracted by my girl friend and drove about 5 miles over. Dad wasn't home yet so I backed up around the neighborhood until I got it under by a mile. He never knew but the neighbors thought I was crazy... Maybe you could just hook it up to a drill or electric motor and run it backwards until it gets back to zero

It's been a while...found the video I used. The Mustang one is the same as ours.


Here is a thread on it. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ter-reset.html

That is hilarious! Did you and your girlfriend drive that 5 miles to Lover's Lane?

I have used a drill with a Q-tip in it and ran the drill backwards to test the speedo. The Q-tip fits into the hole where the cable goes. But it would take forever to get it back to all zeros. And I don't think the numbers go backwards. on these odometers.

Thanks! That technique sorta worked. For some (unknown) reason this is the best alignment I've been able to achieve - a couple digits seem 1/2 digit out of alignment. I'm not sure why.

I suppose that its possible that a PO put new digit stickers on this (I believe that they are available someplace...not sure where). Or, more likely, I just didn't do it quite right...

I'm wondering if it will work itself back into alignment...but based on what I can feel, it doesn't seem like it will.

There are little gears in each of the number wheels that you will need to get all aligned if you want it to look correct, I don't think it will correct itself. In fact If recall, if its not set up correctly its going to bind up as it tries to roll the next digit over. keep working at it, as it was said above its not to difficult.

LOL! I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure it was similar to that.