The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

hi guyz. so i got the pug wheels and put them on.
there 14inch. tyre size is p195/75 R14. every thing seems
good and ground clearance is grate now. but one
thing iv not is that the speedo seems out
when im doing 80 the GPS sez im doing 86 87
or 70km it sez around 76 78 ect. is this coz of the
bigger wheels/ tyres or is it just the GPS . it
feels different but guess it would with the new
wheels. what you guyz think.thanks ben

Yes Ben, it's the tyre size that is doing it. To get a near accurate speedo reading you would have to be on 185 60 14's or 195 55 14's iwhich you can't get. That of course would negate the whole idea of increasing the ride height which is what you are after.It's all about rolling circumference of the tyre, Majordad

is there any way of geting it fixed by machanic.
like get it re calibrated to read the right speed.
as im on my last point so i cant afford to get done for
speeding. and i relly dont want to have to put the
13 wheels back on.

Buy a GPS and learn to watch your speed on that

Install cruise control and set it just below the legal speed limit. Works for me

Cheers

Bennie

Last points call for an alertegps G220 device. To dial the speedo in could be pricey, a tyre size change would be cheaper, but might defeat the whole exercise. 185.70.14 sem to read spot on in my Brumby from memory.

Easiest thing, which I did, was get some white masking tape (the paper type) and use it to re-mark the speedo on the clear plastic cover according to the GPS measurements (yes it will move with viewing angle, but i tend to keep the same driving position most of the time). Then just get used to it and take it off when you know where it should sit at the various speed limits. I think for mine, if the speedo reads 97ish I'm doing 100.
I only marked the 60, 80 and 100 if I recall correctly

Something I forgot to mention yes, naturally with different rolling diameter your speedo will be out a bit.

Most people just live with this and adjust their driving accordingly, and sometimes keep a GPS onboard.

The big boys with Patrols, Cruisers etc have lots of easy options (and usually more of a budget) and can swap their diff ratios to compensate. This also helps with drivability as larger wheels do tend to sap your power too - harder for the car to turn.

One solution which I've only ever seen once on an L series, is a little "gearbox" device which goes in-line with the speedo cable. It has gears in it which actually change the rate the speedo cable turns at, at one end by a pre-set percentage amount.

Do you know where to get one of those little boxes Andrew?

Keen to see if they can be retrofitted to the L series - and what sort of kit comes with them - and what the cost is!

Cheers

Bennie

dfoyl wrote:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=AA0376

That'd be good but I'd need a mechanical unit...

Cheers

Bennie

There would have to be a place that does this sort of thing, custom and one off-'s as per requirements? The gears inside would need to be determined for each individual set up. I know there is a place that does custom cables/gears for cars...damned if I can remember anything about them other than they exist

I kind of thought that as I was posting...

You can buy local and pay $200-250, or from the US and pay about $90 :

http://www.speedometershop.com/rep-pag.htm

(If someone does want one from these guys, I have a friend in CA who can post it over to Australia as part of a shipment he has for me to save on postage).

Here's some figures for you Ben
Standard tyre 175 70 13 Diameter 575.20 mm Speedo at 100kph

185 60 14 Diameter 577.60 mm Speedo 100.42 kph

195 75 14 Diameter 648.10 mm Speedo 112.67 kph so 12kph faster

I just use a Navman in my Transit as like most speedo's it's about 7% out, $69 from the good guys with free updates for life and has a shit load of other uses.

don't know where to find one no, never looked into it, I'd say google would be your friend. I have seen one installed on an L series before - Jay Vidler's old white Enduro wagon. It was on there since before he had the car.

I had one on my old Toyota wagon because it had a holden V6 and turbo 700 gearbox.
The place I got it from has closed down.
It was a speedo (not the ones some people put on to go swimming) shop.
But for the price I'd grab a GPS.

One of my L's has got the little gearbox, its fitted in the speedo cable. Short cable from the gearbox to the little speedo gearbox, then normal cable on the other side.
Was required for engineers cert with 14" wheels.
Was told it came from an auto elec on the Nepean hwy.
Sorry no more details.

I have one of those in an L.
It uses a short speed cable to connect it to the gearbox, the normal speedo cable is connected to the other side.
It was required for an eng cert for 14" wheels.
Was supplied by "an autoe elec on the Nepean Hwy", was all I was told.
Sorry no more info.

One of my L's has a speedo gearbox.
It uses a short speedo cable from the gearbox to the speedo box, then the normal speedo cable joins on the other side.
Was fitted for Eng Cert to run 14" wheels.
"Came from an auto elec on the Nepaen Hwy" I was told.
Sorry, no more info.

hahah andrew its funny you say that. thats one of the 1st
things i noticed is the lack of power. my subie never
had much to begin with anyway. I live on a steep driveway and it struggles to make it up now
lol. oh well i cant bring my self to go back to thos
ugly 13inch wheels. just hope it is just as good
off road as it was befor.