Speedometer woes

[ArdWrknTrk]

Or just go electric and there's no fuel pump, injectors, oil or gearbox to even consider...  

[viven44]

Yes that may be a good idea. Both are designed for a ~~15 year life cycle

I am definitely disappointed at the terrible fuel (in)efficiency of the new V8s despite all the enhancements and reliability trade-offs... I can't even imagine how terrible things would be if a 3 speed automatic was behind them.

[ArdWrknTrk]

How far does your wife typically, daily... weekly?

Honestly, if I could give up 90% of my routine maintenance except for tires & wiper blades + never have to bother with stopping at a gas station, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I'm not interested in a car payment, and I'd want V2H & V2G, but around here there are plenty of empty HVDC chargers and I could easily get past Boston, Albany, Philadelphia, and back on the sub 400 mile range my customer with the R1T reports.

With Ford shifting production towards the eTransit it's becoming more & more tempting to get a vehicle I can work from.

[viven44]

Not much. Maybe 5-6K miles per year. Her trip to Arkansas during Christmas is critical and pretty much defines her need. Need room for entire family + Christmas presents + Dog  We travel to visit family members in the boonies. 4x4 is a must have to visit her dad if there is any amount of ice (Ronnie is too cheap to tame his driveway aka. climb up the hill)  Towns with <50 people and no gas pump. Closest semblance of society is about 25 miles away (Walmart). We would be in trouble the entire time with an EV....

[ArdWrknTrk]

There's a Walmart.
They usually have L2 chargers, if not L3...  🤷‍♂️

You could definitely plug in at Ronnie's and get 100+ miles overnight on regular 120V power.

[viven44]

I may be disowned by Allison's extended family if caught in an EV

The first time I met her family, I was driving a Toyota Prius (now did I go from Prius to a 460?? ha ha ), and she walked up the hill to tell her dad that we were there (no cell phone service) as my prius wouldn't have made it up there....

While she was gone, I was taking a "comfort break" in the woods, I saw a large tractor approach me. And here I am, a random Indian guy with a Prius in Hagarville, AR. I was darn sure the farmer was going to shoot me. He just gave me a look and left. Ronnie and Allison drove down the hill in a 89 Blazer and got me.

Later we saw the farmer on our way, I realized it was Allison's uncle. He was very nice to me at that point, he said he just wasn't sure who I was and he hadn't also seen "That Japmobile" before

[ArdWrknTrk]

I can assure you that the R1T (with its nearly 1,000 hp AWD) _will_ make it up the hill!  🤣

(I'm suddenly reminded of Kate Bush and Donald Sutherland cloudbursting).

[Rockhauler]

Some food for thought, I have some friends that own a small vehicle for going to work and groceries etc. then just rent a larger vehicle of the type they need the odd time for a trip. They claim it saves them money in the long run.

[viven44]

Yes... I get that and I have friends that do that too.... that would be smart financially.

I'm unfortunately the type that rents nothing. The only thing I rent is a car hauler every once in a while.... but if I had the land to park one, I would buy that as well.... I am not sure my approach is the best....

The only reason I agreed to buying it was safety. Larger vehicles, sitting up higher can be safer generally.

[Rockhauler]

I hear you I avoid renting or borrowing whenever possible too.

[viven44]

Well this is probably the most nagging issue I have just not got a handle on yet on the 78 Bronco....

This started when my original cable was burnt to a crisp because the previous owner had no clue the exhaust pipe was too close. It still worked well actually. Some bouncing, but nothing too terrible but I had just woken up that Bronco so not too many miles of data.

I have tried 3 different aftermarket replacements all having 1 thing in common

- All 3 are about 13" longer than they need to be. They are some generic replacement. I have tried cruise control versions... and then I wanted to cut all the middle men so I went to a non-cruise version.
- The inner core was always 1" longer, so I had to trim it so the speedo gear would fit.

I have tried greasing the inner cables, and for a while things got better.

With me now using all 4 BBLs of my carb now, I have now exceeded the capabilities of the speedo again. The needle goes to town when I launch the Bronco!!!

The only thing left to do is to replace the head itself.... but luckily I came across this old speedo cable supposedly from the 78 Bronco that is the correct length.. Before I try replacing the speedo head this is a hail mary.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/305605214751?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11060.m43.l3160&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=ab3fe0243e8444ee8e6f03256c5f740b&bu=43990924704&exe=0&ext=0&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20240903195519&segname=11060

[viven44]

Well I am happy (and embarrassed) to report that this rather simple matter has been resolved and it took about 4 tries... on my 78 Bronco, the original cable rotted away so I tried 3 different aftermarket cables... of all, honestly after I cut the cable to the correct length the LMC one was built the sturdiest (made in Taiwan) and worked the best but I cut it incorrectly and ruined it as it stranded where it was cut. The other 2 chinese made ones worked at the beginning after cutting to length, but I would always hear the speedometer whirring and jumping would ensue from time to time. I greased them very generously with white lithium grease..... and that helped but the other day on my 200 mile I definitely noticed it not happy >60mph.

Well today I installed the old one off eBay that came off a 78 Bronco. The quality of build is superior and it has the sharp tipped end that goes into the speedo head. It is exactly the correct length, came with all the factory clips and "bumpers". It worked like a charm. In fact when I had the cable installed at the cluster and I hand spun the driven gear, I could tell how little-to-no resistance it had. While driving I DO NOT hear anything on the speedometer and I drove up to 80mph today with little to no movement just like BB 2WD, and no fussing while slowing down either.

I paid $35 for this old cable... but I could have saved so much time and hassle had I gone with this to begin with.

I hope the situation on the bullnoses is better on aftermarket.. I will safeguard the one off my low-miles parts truck!!!

[Gary Lewis]

Glad you got it sorted, but sorry it took so many tries. Still, forget about the previous attempts and enjoy the smooth and quiet speedo.

[viven44]

Thanks Gary. I think I've learned from all the discussion on the forum here and my experience that the original parts still work the best. When I started this, I was definitely into parts swapping and replacing anything that looked old and suspect...  but I have (I THINK) learned on what to look for when seeking replacement parts.

At the truck show, I did feel bad for that young man with the "super charger whine" belt on his flatbed truck. His odometer was broken and hasn't tracked any miles in the 6 years he's owned it. I told him I'd ship him a speedometer/odometer free of cost as I have about 3-4 old non-tach clusters that I took out when I swapped them for a tach cluster.. he declined as he said he was done with the original cluster and was going "Dakota digital" soon. I hope his money is well spent !!

[ArdWrknTrk]

I think a lot of "The Next Generation"  choose to go digital because they can't grasp that analoge either works or it doesn't (but there's always evidence)
Where as binary can be corrupted and not have any outward symptoms.