Follow up to a speedometer/odometer problem

[JSBlack]

My dashboard, arrrgh!!!! I lost the speedometer and odometer in succession many months ago. About 2 months ago I embarked on restoring that function. I discovered that the speedometer runs off a mild electric signal, and that the odometer piggy-backs off of that motion by way of a pair of tiny plastic gears.

I knew I would need the gears, but didn't know if the speedometer was bad. The two gears were $28 and $32 respectively. $60 for a partial fix, OR gamble $75 on a salvaged instrument cluster which I can surely harvest working gears from, AND have a backup speedo and other guages, should I need them, right? I gambled the $75, got the instrument cluster, and guess what??? Its' gear was stripped also! I ordered the gear,-$28 bucks (at this point I am NOT going to replace anything that is not broken, and the larger gear is okay).

I got the gear, and installed it, then installed the speedometer. Neither the speed nor the odometer function worked. It must then be the Variable Speed Sensor, that attaches to the transfer case and changes mechanical rotation into current to drive the speedometer. $66!!!!

I attached that and finally everything worked. I took the truck for the test drive and looked with pride on the odometer as it logged tenths: .1, .2, .3, (yippee!) .4, .5, (I am humming a tune at this point)1.0, 1.1....1.1,....1.1,... No....NO...NO!!!!)

Yup. The $28 gear must have encountered some resistance as it tried to move the one's column, and stripped. Again.

While I could order the tiny gear again, and try all over with my original speedometer, I have lost momentum. I am thinking I will get an hour meter from JC Whitney and schedule my maintainance with that.

I stand defeated. I am now marrying cutting edge digital age to my analog truck. My Luddite, future-greaser will chart its' mileage via satellite. I am going to get a GPS. To hell with it!

Me

[Ace]

I installed an hour meter last year, in anticipation of when the inevitable day comes and mine finally quits.

[wjones]

I replaced one of the gears in mine, only to find out the motor is burned out. The plastic was so brittle i wouldnt be supprised if the other didnt last long.

[dpuckett]

Yeah, if I go into a speedometer head and replace one gear, the other gets replaced, too. They are both 15+ years old, not the best material, and will crack at the least provocation, in my experience.

You could find a cluster from a late 92 or 93 that has the motor driven odometer- no gears to strip out. I know my 06-92 truck had that style (Rumblefish's). The numbers will be closer together than the older style.

[Richie O]

Yeah, if I go into a speedometer head and replace one gear, the other gets replaced, too. They are both 15+ years old, not the best material, and will crack at the least provocation, in my experience.

You could find a cluster from a late 92 or 93 that has the motor driven odometer- no gears to strip out. I know my 06-92 truck had that style (Rumblefish's). The numbers will be closer together than the older style.

So my 7th month of 93 will not have those plastic crackpot gears???

[Begle1]

I had my cluster apart the other day replacing a bulb...

Mysteriously, the odometer now is stuck at 000000 instead of 324567...

Amazing how easy that is to do. I don't know how much harder it would've been if it was actually functional.

[PToombs]

Should have put 85k or so on it. Then if you decide to sell it just say it quit last summer. That's legal, right?

[dpuckett]

So my 7th month of 93 will not have those plastic crackpot gears???

It shouldnt.

Look at the odometer picture in Crossy's Son's Truck for Sale ad- it has the style odometer I'm talking about.

[Begle1]

Should have put 85k or so on it. Then if you decide to sell it just say it quit last summer. That's legal, right?

I'm amazed that every 1st gen out there doesn't have 100,000 miles. It literally takes 30 minutes to roll it anywhere you want.

I figure that my truck is a salvage title, so I have hoops to jump through if I was ever to sell it anyways. And I'm never, ever going to sell it.

[Rudan]

What about an after-market speedo/odometer. I was looking at an autometer unit. It's a bit pricey, but it sounds like just trying to fix the original speedo is going to get expensive as well. Anybody have an aftermarket speedo on their truck?