Speedo Cable breakage

[frank the tank]

OK, this problem is making me /forums/images/graemlins/angryfire.gif

I went and bought a speedometer cable from the local parts house for my 79 K20, installed it and drove around the parking lot, getting my truck up to 5mph, it worked just fine but the next day when I drove it down the road and got past 10mph the speedometer stopped reading speed. So I got to looking at it and the end of the cable that goes into transfer case housing twisted off, I replaced it again and it did the same thing

Any one have any thoughts on why this is happening? Could it be the gear in the transfer case is bad? I hope this is an easy fix, I do not want to have to pull the transfer case just to fix it.

If it is the gear in the transfer case, does any one sell the speedometer gears to compensate for larger tires?

 

[4X4HIGH]

Did you lube the new cable after you installed it? If you did not then that may be your problem. There is a product called cable ease and you can even buy an adapter to help lube the cable rather than just letting the cable ease drip down the inside of the housing.

 

[Orange Crush]

did you figure what the problem was ? I'm having the exact same problem. Keep us updated. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/k5.gif

 

[k5guyva]

[ QUOTE ]

Any one have any thoughts on why this is happening?


[/ QUOTE ]

The speedo cables on this generation of GM trucks are notorious for breaking. You need to lube them really good before installing them. (Axle grease comes to mind.) And you need to make sure you lube it the entire length if possible. The other thing is to try to reduce the radius of the bends in the cable as much as practical.

If you really want to compensate for bigger tires, try digital gauges.