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vdubaholic
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2005
Posts: 18
Location: slurrey bc
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 Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 2:59 pm Post subject: Question about speedometer |
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Hi all. I am long time lurker with a question. I recently purchased a beetle speedo as the one in my 74 thing no longer had a woking odometer all went well aside from a the wires being painted the same green as the body. However I never considered that the beetle speedo was set for 15 " wheels and I still have 14 " wheels . Needless to say the speedo is reading low is there any thing I can do or do I have to wait for TTS to have Thing ones back in stock?
Thanks for any advice |
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[email protected]
Samba Member
Joined: February 12, 2003
Posts: 510
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| Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 7:32 pm Post subject: Speedometer died |
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| I think you can have them calibrated within reason. Many years ago, i sent one to Socal for a rebuild and cal, forget who did it. |
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[email protected]
Samba Member
Joined: February 12, 2003
Posts: 510
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| Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 7:45 pm Post subject: Speedometer died |
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| I think you can have them calibrated within reason. Many years ago, i sent one to Socal for a rebuild and cal, forget who did it. |
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mondshine
Samba Member
Joined: October 27, 2006
Posts: 2769
Location: The World's Motor Capital
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| Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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Remember, it is the diameter of the tire, not the wheel which will determine the accuracy of the speedometer.
My tires are Yokohama Light Truck 195-75-R14; 25.8" diameter.
When compared to the original unused spare; a 185-14, it looked like my tires were slightly shorter...as if 26" diameter would be right. A Vredestein rep once told me that the old tires (where the size rating did not list the aspect ratio, like my original spare) had an aspect ratio of 82. Take that with a grain of salt.
In any event, with my 25.8" diameter tires, the speedometer is P.F. close, when compared to my GPS.
If you have ever taken a speedometer apart, and seen how it works, it is amazing that they are as accurate as they are.
Good luck, Mondshine |
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P-garage
Samba Member
Joined: September 29, 2006
Posts: 25
Location: Upstate, NY
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 3:58 am Post subject: |
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| Palo Alto or n. Hollywood can calibrate the speedo. Maybe cheaper to buy a new one from the shop when they get them back in stock. |
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Ron Domeck
Samba Member
Joined: August 05, 2007
Posts: 1466
Location: louisville Ky
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 5:55 am Post subject: |
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| The Thing and Beetle use the same speedo with a Beetle part # |
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Wildthings
Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2005
Posts: 50331
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 6:00 am Post subject: |
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A 155R15 Beetle tire is around 25" tall while a the original 185r14's would have been about 25.5, so were a bit taller.
It is pretty normal to find that the speedo reads 5% low. You can zero the speedometer by yourself, but further calibration would take an expert as others have posted. |
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doublecanister
Samba Member
Joined: September 23, 2008
Posts: 1184
Location: Richmond, Va
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 6:08 am Post subject: Re: Question about speedometer |
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| vdubaholic wrote: |
Hi all. I am long time lurker with a question. I recently purchased a beetle speedo as the one in my 74 thing no longer had a woking odometer all went well aside from a the wires being painted the same green as the body. However I never considered that the beetle speedo was set for 15 " wheels and I still have 14 " wheels . Needless to say the speedo is reading low is there any thing I can do or do I have to wait for TTS to have Thing ones back in stock?
Thanks for any advice |
Not sure if you'd want to but you probably can fix your old THING speedo.
I recently did a swap from a beetle speedo to a more correct speedo for My THING, I believe it's the same or very similar to a 71 superbeetle? (please correct me if I'm wrong here).
anyways, getting it apart and finding the source for the odo gear was the fun part, but i was able to and I think it was odometergears.com or somthing like that, they are actually in Virginia. (Newport news or in that area).
it had a cracked odo gear, but I was able to fix and match the milage to the one I removed.
anyways,
X2 on tire size and speedo accuracy,
to get by you could use a GPS for speedo or at least use it to guage how much your's is off.
good luck with it
T
_________________
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2020 - Mustang Eco Boost [High Performance]
1973 - Thing
1966 - Mustang GT- Fastback
1951 - Ford F1 pickup Flathead V8 |
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oasis
Samba Member
Joined: December 12, 2002
Posts: 2168
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:35 am Post subject: |
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When I put a Type IV engine in my Super, I wanted a speedo that was capable of reading higher MPH than the stock one. North Hollywood recalibrated a stock KPH to read MPH. It was dead-on accurate and one of my favorite mods. I'm not sure I would have gone that route for small change though.
_________________
Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI |
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mondshine
Samba Member
Joined: October 27, 2006
Posts: 2769
Location: The World's Motor Capital
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:55 am Post subject: |
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Double-
The 71 Super Beetle speedometer has a couple of extra indicator lights on the face; ATF Overtemp, Rear Defroster, and Parking Lights on with Head Lights Off.
On the original tire diameter, I suppose it should be measured with the tire off of the car, but when Ron and I rolled an un-used original tire up to the 24.8" tire, the original tire was slightly taller, so your results may vary.
Good luck, Mondshine |
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