Moving a speedo ahead

[Massboy]

I am putting my M1009 back together and I am using a civilian interior. The original chassis and body has just 26k (original and on the title) on it and that is what I want on the odometer. The speedo I'm using came from my donor blazer (because of civilian gauges and the cruise setup. That speedo shows 88k and I need to move it to the 26k. A drill just seems way too slow as it's turning the speedo at just 55 mph. Is there another way to turn them ahead. I have checked and what I'm doing is not illegal as I am just putting another speedo back to the actual mileage. Not any different than a dealer would do if replacing your speedo with a new one.

 

[454Sub]

Well there is an easier way to do this, just take the faceplate off the gauges and turn the numbers back by hand. More than likely the numbers have seized up anyways and need a squirt of some lube in there to function again. I had to do it to my new cluster to get them to work.

 

[Blue85]

38,000 miles @ 55MPH is nearly 29 days on the drill - better not use a cordless!

I think there are videos on Youtube showing how to set the tumblers manually.

 

[dremu]

I vaguely recall taking the odo apart enough to rotate the digits by hand. Took more time to get the dash apart than to get them set.

-- A

 

[jeff in co]

I took mine to a Speedo shop and he set the mileage to the number I wanted. But you could also take the tumbler out and try to do it yourself. Not too hard. If you screw up, go to the junkyard and find another one.

 

[454Sub]

Mine works, and I just rotated the numbers by hand till they read the mileage I wanted. I also squirted a bit of WD on them and the Tripometer thingy as it froze up.

 

[Massboy]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I took a spare one apart and figured it out. You just pull the indicator pin off, remove the two screws holding the speedo face on and then that will get you to the tumblers. Remove the C-clip retainer on the end of the tumbler shaft, push the shaft sideways and remove the tumblers. On the bottom of the tumblers is a plastic piece which retains all the tumbler plates (thin metal discs in-between the numbered tumblers). If you remove this piece and rotate the thin metal plates with their corresponding numbered tumbler either forward or reverse it changes it corresponding tumbler one digit. A little hard to describe here but very easy to do once you figure how it works. Got my good speedo adjusted where I needed it in less than 10 minutes including dis, and reassembly.

 

[dyeager535]

Do the numbers stay lined up correctly? Once the odometer rolls over the numbers don't seem to stay lined up most of the time, and my understanding was that something keeps them in line that is broken when the numbers are "artificially" moved.

Not that I plan to move them at all, but I was just curious about it, as I've seen many an odometer with the numbers slightly askew.

 

[454Sub]

Honestly I think the liner upper your referring to breaks anyways. Every one I have taken apart has seized up and busted the gears used to reset the trip meter. I think it was just a bad design problem with them. Plastic gears never last IMO.

 

[Massboy]

I will try and take some pictures of the one I still have apart. The small plastic piece that holds all the metal disks together could break. That piece does sit in a channel below the tumblers and I bet the disks could try and move out of the channel if that plastic piece breaks. The plastic piece looks like a ladder with rungs. The tangs from the metal disks are retained between the "rungs" on the plastic piece.

 

[jeff in co]

Do the numbers stay lined up correctly? Once the odometer rolls over the numbers don't seem to stay lined up most of the time, and my understanding was that something keeps them in line that is broken when the numbers are "artificially" moved.

Not that I plan to move them at all, but I was just curious about it, as I've seen many an odometer with the numbers slightly askew.

Mine are all still straight in a line and don't look strange in any way. I put the 90-91 speedo in and wanted it to match the truck mileage of 330,000.

The trip odometer didn't work but the speedo shop just put a little lubricant on it, worked it, more lube, and then it finally started to work again. It was originally locked up.