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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / March 2008SPEEDOMETER options on an older truck....???
My uncle wanted me to ask you guys about this. He drives a smaller style, 1969 bread type truck. I forget the brand of truck it is but anyway, the SPEEDOMETER doesn't work. His boss is rather cheap and says he won't get it fixed because it would cost at least $200 and would be a pain in the butt to have done on such an old truck. Now... assuming this is the case, are their any alternatives to this? Do they make any kind of add on, "ELECTRONIC" type of speedometer that you can somehow use? Maybe this is wishful thinging on my part, but they actually make baseballs that can give you a digital readout as to how fast they were thrown I was hoping that perhaps their are products that maybe you could put on the dash or elsewhere that are made for vehicles that have broken speedometers. Do they make anything that might help this situation? An aftermarket SPEDDOMETER gadget? Thank you in advance! Leesa (I) >My uncle wanted me to ask you guys about this. He drives a smaller >style, 1969 bread type truck. I forget the brand of truck it is but [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >this? Do they make any kind of add on, "ELECTRONIC" type of >speedometer that you can somehow use? No. And the reason is that there isn't any electrical signal you can steal that is proportional to speed. If he wants a tachometer, he can pull a signal off the coil which has a frequency proportional to the engine speed. That's useful, but that isn't what he wants. On a lot of modern cars he could pull a signal off the anti-lock brake sensors or off of the automatic transmission controller. But he doesn't have that stuff. >Maybe this is wishful thinging on my part, but they actually make >baseballs that can give you a digital readout as to how fast they were >thrown I was hoping that perhaps their are products that maybe you >could put on the dash or elsewhere that are made for vehicles that >have broken speedometers. Sure, you could build a radar device... but it wouldn't be very accurate because the radar return wuld vary a lot with the road surface, and it would be much more expensive than a conventional speedometer. >Do they make anything that might help this situation? An aftermarket >SPEDDOMETER gadget? Just fix the damn speedometer. He has a gear in the transmission that drives a shaft that goes up behind the dashboard and goes into the gauge. All the parts are fairly cheap and because it's an old truck they are all very easy to get to. Even the gear in the transmission. With junkyard parts it should be a lot less than $200 for anything if he does the labor. Oh, also, he can tell his boss it's illegal. Or deliberately get a speeding ticket and go into court saying the speedometer is broken and his boss won't fix it. THAT will get it fixed really fast. --scott  Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." All in all $200 isn't that much too fix it but you could buy an inexpensive GPS. The ones without maps can be found for less than $100 and will give you speed in MPH. Mitch > My uncle wanted me to ask you guys about this. He drives a smaller > style, 1969 bread type truck. I forget the brand of truck it is but [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Leesa (I) > My uncle wanted me to ask you guys about this. He drives a smaller > style, 1969 bread type truck. I forget the brand of truck it is but [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Leesa (I) It is a mechanical unit. Probably the cable or the head itself is bad. Does the odometer part still work? I would unscrew the cable and then drive the truck, if the cable rotates while in motion then the cable is probably OK. If that is the case just buy a replacement head and a bracket and hook it up. Shouldn't be much over 5o bucks that way. The numbers may be off depending on the gear in the transmission but if you were to pace him with a good vehicle he could mark new speeds on it. Of course if he drives that truck for hire and the boss is refusing to repair a safety item (speedometer is considered a safety item) then his boss is in violation of federal DOT laws. The fine is about 1,000.00 for the violation and it will put the truck out of service until it is repaired. It almost guarantees that they will inspect ALL the vehicles he owns if they see them in operation as well. SignatureSteve W. Near Cooperstown, New York Life is not like a box of chocolates it's more like a jar of jalapenos- what you do today could burn your a.s tomorrow! > My uncle wanted me to ask you guys about this. He drives a smaller > style, 1969 bread type truck. I forget the brand of truck it is but [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Leesa (I) That sounds like a Gruman bread truck. It is a GM base and is 'really' easy to change the broken speedometer cable on. They hit on the exhaust if they aren't in perfect and melt. The other option is a GPS unit. Most give real time mph and are pretty accurate unless the military is busy that day. ;-) (I camp in an area the military uses for exercises and for some strange reason, some days my GPS is about 10 miles off. I have only ever noticed that in this one area.) Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos: http://mikeromainjeeptrips.shutterfly.com > Leesa_...@softhome.net wrote: > > My uncle wanted me to ask you guys about this. He drives a smaller [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build > Photos:http://mikeromainjeeptrips.shutterfly.com Just a quick Google search took me to this http://www.mrspeedometer.com/servlet/Detail?no=467 There are usually many options, driving illegally isn't one of them I think there are electronic bicycle speedometers available at the bicycle stores, perhaps Wal Mart too.I don't know how much they cost, but it might be it wouldn't be hard to figure out to rig one up for a bread truck.What I would do is tell the boss to check out the local area auto junk yards for a speedometer, if he doean't want the DOT on his case. cuhulin > Just a quick Google search took me to this http://www.mrspeedometer.com/servlet/Detail?no=467 > There are usually many options, driving illegally isn't one of them But the whole point was to do something LESS than $200. Fortunately there are TONS of far cheaper aftermarket mechanical and electronic speedometers: http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=700+115+%2D128254&D=%2D128254 There is NO way I would pay $200.00 for any kind of a speedometer,,, not as long as the auto junk yards around here sell them dirt cheap, as good as anything you will ever find anywhere. I did buy an electronic bicycle (only a new play toy, as far as I am concerened) speedometer at the Wal Mart store last Friday.I haven't opened the package yet.That's the way it goes sometimes, I let my new electronic thingys sit there and ''cook'' for a while until I think about doing something. cuhulin > His boss is rather cheap and says he won't get it fixed because it > would cost at least $200 and would be a pain in the butt to have done > on such an old truck. > > Leesa (I) Boss is looking for trouble. A broken speedo cable has always been a normal failure mode, and is quick and cheap to repair, usually. Could be speedo head. It is the Boss's problem, really, but I can see your tio is in a no win situation You COULD rig an outboard speedometer. (Shades of Altavoz!!). A pulse counter can function as a speedometer if the pulse is taken off a wheel, the drive shaft, etc...in other words, a pulse signal that is parametrically directly related to vehicle speed. A simple tachometer keyed to such a pulse becomes able to function as a speedometer. On the web, Electronic Bicycle Speedometers When I was a kid, I bought a mechanical speedometer for my bicycle, I think it was a Stewart Warner bicycle speedometer.I am going to the Wal Mart (food department) store tomorrow.I will look around in the bicycle department, if I see an electronic bicycle speedometer, I will throw it in my shopping cart.Just for the heck of it. How can I fix up something simple and cheap that will count how many tmes one of the wheels on my old van turns around when I drive anywhere? Just for the heck of it. cuhulin On Feb 28, 9:32 am, Leesa_...@softhome.net wrote: > My uncle wanted me to ask you guys about this. He drives a smaller > style, 1969 bread type truck. I forget the brand of truck it is but [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Leesa (I) The truck is illegal and dangerous as is. A GPS could work but it would not be the best idea. For all of the fiddling around with jury- rigging some outboard device the owner could just get the speedo repaired. Your brother might want to ask the owner to reimburse your brother for the cost of any speeding tickets and increased insurance premiums. "John S." <hjsjms@cs.com> wrote in message news:00de9bb2-e87e-4896-ae0c- The truck is illegal and dangerous as is. A GPS could work but it would not be the best idea. For all of the fiddling around with jury- rigging some outboard device the owner could just get the speedo repaired. Your brother might want to ask the owner to reimburse your brother for the cost of any speeding tickets and increased insurance premiums. ************* Can it be done...Yes! And with little expense. But should it be done,...No! Unc should not take on this responsibility. The company owner has a responsibility to make the truck safe and legal. > The truck is illegal and dangerous as is. A GPS could work but it > would not be the best idea. For all of the fiddling around with jury- > rigging some outboard device the owner could just get the speedo > repaired. Your brother might want to ask the owner to reimburse your > brother for the cost of any speeding tickets and increased insurance > premiums. Didn't know these sort of delivery trucks were still in use. Back in the 60's when they were more common these trucks usually had a top speed of about 40mph and the engine was screaming at that speed. It's doubtful that not having a speedo is much of a safety hazard in a "1969 bread type truck". -jim "jim" <".sjedgingN0sp"@m@mwt.net> wrote in message > Didn't know these sort of delivery trucks were still in use. Back in the > 60's when they were more common these trucks usually had a top speed of [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > -jim I would see it as being more of a potential legal liability than a safety hazard. From around 1966 to about 1971, I drove a bread truck for Sunbeam Bakery.Dont say bread, say Sunbeam! cuhulin > > The truck is illegal and dangerous as is. A GPS could work but it > > would not be the best idea. For all of the fiddling around with jury- [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > -jim Don't know what kind of truck you are talking about, but the trucks that delivered bread back then on the west coast were capable of speeds well above 40mph. The danger in not knowing the speed of a high riding truck should be self-evident. Not to mention the potential for damages, collecting tickets, etc. > > > The truck is illegal and dangerous as is. A GPS could work but it > > > would not be the best idea. For all of the fiddling around with jury- [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Don't know what kind of truck you are talking about, Truck built for the special purpose of delivering bread. Back in the 60's and earlier their were trucks especially designed for delivering certain items such as bread or milk. The milk trucks had a bit of a snout, but the bread trucks were kinda the shape of a loaf of bread http://www.lilesnet.com/memories/past/helms.htm ? but the trucks > that delivered bread back then on the west coast were capable of > speeds well above 40mph. Those were probably step vans. -jim > The danger in not knowing the speed of a > high riding truck should be self-evident. Not to mention the > potential for damages, collecting tickets, etc. > > > > The truck is illegal and dangerous as is. A GPS could work but it > > > > would not be the best idea. For all of the fiddling around with jury- [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Those were probably step vans. Since we have absolutrely no knowlege from "Leesa" of what this truck really looks like and given the date a step van would be a more likely and common choice. They all were used to deliver bread, chips, and other relatively lightweight but bulky goods. Milk trucks were by design physically smaller and geared lower because the load was proportionally many times heavier than that carried in a bread truck. > -jim > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > - Show quoted text - > > > > > The truck is illegal and dangerous as is. A GPS could work but it > > > > > would not be the best idea. For all of the fiddling around with jury- [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > Since we have absolutrely no knowlege from "Leesa" of what this truck > really looks like. That would be correct. And given a 40 year old vehicle of any kind, one could be concerned about all sorts of safety and legal issues one knows absolutely nothing about, also. > and given the date a step van would be a more likely >and common choice. They all were used to deliver bread, chips, and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > the load was proportionally many times heavier than that carried in a > bread truck. The whole arena of food supply changed in the 50's and 60's. Super-markets, preservatives, fast food outlets, and packaging - they were all new. That led to changes in the way food was delivered. But in the 60's, to most people, a bread truck still meant something different than a step van. -jim |
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