speedometer decision time

[Dirty Harry]

For some reason, the speedometer driving gear on the tail shaft of my T5Z broke this weekend. So, I don't know how fast I'm going or how far I've gone. I guess my choices now are to remove the transmission, disassemble it and replace the gear or simply to go with a GPS speedometer.


Feel free to pass along your experiences relative to the GPS speedometers. Are they a good thing or a pain to deal with?

[8litercobra]

I installed a speedhut speedometer a year ago. Love it, and I have not used any of its functionality except the speed. Its also quiet. Not that my car isn't loud, but I could hear a whine in the old SW 90 degree attachment and the speedo itself at times. Talk with the folks at Speedhut.....they can give a ton of options as to gauge face font/markings. I've got an FIA, so the speedo is way over on the right. My gauge face is so close to all the other SW gauge appearances, you can't really see the difference unless you are looking closely, and know what you're looking for.

[Ron61]

I had one that was a different brand from what Bitercobra had and I really liked it. It was extremely accurate and I like the feature that when I changed tire size or gear ratio all I had to do was push a button, drive a mile, stop and push the button again and it would automatically calibrate itself to the new setup.

Ron

[bobcowan]

I use this with a standard electric speedometer. Works just fine most of the time.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...face%20Modules

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by Dirty Harry

For some reason, the speedometer driving gear on the tail shaft of my T5Z broke this weekend. So, I don't know how fast I'm going or how far I've gone. I guess my choices now are to remove the transmission, disassemble it and replace the gear or simply to go with a GPS speedometer.

Feel free to pass along your experiences relative to the GPS speedometers. Are they a good thing or a pain to deal with?

If I was facing the same decision I'd go with GPS. I'm currently running VDO Series 1 gauges, so would use the VDO GPS sender. Easy decision.

IMO the only downside to a GPS speedometer is the short delay of a few seconds after starting up before it starts to read. I'm running a carburetor, with an electric choke, so by the time the engine runs a few seconds while I buckle up, plus the time it takes to back out of my garage and driveway I fully expect the speedometer to be fully operational - so any delay is moot. Obviously tunnels are a problem as well, interfering with GPS signals. Regardless, I see neither of these as significant impediments.

[tortuga]

Originally Posted by Ron61

I had one that was a different brand from what Bitercobra had and I really liked it. It was extremely accurate and I like the feature that when I changed tire size or gear ratio all I had to do was push a button, drive a mile, stop and push the button again and it would automatically calibrate itself to the new setup.

Ron

Why would you have to do that? The thing should work if you are going 60 MPH on a trailer with the wheels stationary?

Like GPS on the boat vs the impeller driven knot meter (akin to a tranny driven speedo), if motoring into a 5 knot current at 15 knots, the GPS says 10 but the Knot-meter reads 15, or turn around and kill the engines, the KM would read 0 the GPS 5. Point is its independent of how hard the engines are working (wheels are turning) isn't it?

Cheers
Steve H

[Ron61]

The one that I had required me to drive the mile as the computer needed the pulses to set the speed. It had nothing to do with the GPS part. That normally took a few seconds while it locked into the satellite.

Ron

Originally Posted by tortuga

Why would you have to do that? The thing should work if you are going 60 MPH on a trailer with the wheels stationary?

Like GPS on the boat vs the impeller driven knot meter (akin to a tranny driven speedo), if motoring into a 5 knot current at 15 knots, the GPS says 10 but the Knot-meter reads 15, or turn around and kill the engines, the KM would read 0 the GPS 5. Point is its independent of how hard the engines are working (wheels are turning) isn't it?

Cheers
Steve H

[CJ428CJ]

I'm also using the Speedhut GPS speedometer. I switched to Speedhut after two Stewart Warner speedos crapped out on me. I'm very happy with it. It works flawlessly. I'd do the same thing again in a heartbeat.

[Dirty Harry]

Thanks, guys, for the replies. I like to hear about others' experiences with certain products before I make the final decision.