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Speedometer way off & interesting tire fix

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by Hillingdoner, Jan 23, 2012.

  1. Jan 23, 2012 at 9:56 AM
    #1
    Hillingdoner

    Hillingdoner [OP] Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2012
    Member:
    #70273
    Messages:
    455
    Gender:
    Male
    Rio Rancho, NM
    Vehicle:
    95 LX xtracab 3.4L 4x4 5spd
    140 amp Cadillac alternator, Audio system in progress, 4Runner map light mirror conversion, foot well lamp addition, buckets and console from 99 Tacoma regular cab, big three, tint
    Hopefully not a useless post, but found it interesting on our truck and hope others do too.

    Just bought a '95 xtra cab 4x4 5speed 3.4 and the previous owner said how the truck was about 5 mph slower than the speedo said. Said it was because he'd changed tires or some such.

    Anyway, looked and the truck had the tire size it was supposed to have. 31x10.5 15.

    Took it out on the highway and at 65-70 the mph was indicating 3 to 4 mph higher than we were actually going according to the Garmin GPS.

    Front tires had been replaced with Firestone Destination AT tires, but the rear were some old other brand tires (forgotten what they were now) of the correct size, that the tread was basically worn off of.

    Decided to get a couple more of the Firestones as the fronts were so new so I had matching all around and to get rid of the no tread cracking ones off the back. Measured the tread before going to the tire store.

    Front tires 13/32nds depth down from the 15/32nd new depth.

    Rear tires 3/32nds tread depth! If my thinking is right then that would be 13/32 - 3/32 = 10/32nds , multiply by 2 = 20/32 or 5/8" shorter diameter overall than the ones on the front.

    Anyway, new tires on the rear, drive it down the highway at the same speed and now the speedo is only 1 mph or slightly less faster than actually going according to the GPS. It's close enough to calling the speedo correct now. Just found that interesting.
     
  2. Jan 23, 2012 at 1:42 PM
    #2
    David K

    David K Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2009
    Member:
    #18969
    Messages:
    12,350
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    Male
    Pala Mesa, California
    Vehicle:
    2010 4WD Off Road DC
    Differential Breather Mod Light Bar: 4 Cree LED lamps Bilstein 5100s Ride Rite Air Bags
    The new Tacos also have speedometers that read about 3 mph faster than you are really going (at 65 mph, the speedo will say 68)... That is until you change tires... Going to the 265/75-16 (32") from the stock 265/70-16 (31") tires will put the speedo right on.
     
  3. Jan 24, 2012 at 3:50 AM
    #3
    Hillingdoner

    Hillingdoner [OP] Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2012
    Member:
    #70273
    Messages:
    455
    Gender:
    Male
    Rio Rancho, NM
    Vehicle:
    95 LX xtracab 3.4L 4x4 5spd
    140 amp Cadillac alternator, Audio system in progress, 4Runner map light mirror conversion, foot well lamp addition, buckets and console from 99 Tacoma regular cab, big three, tint
    Wow that is worse than mine then! With mine I was just going from same size tyre to same size tyre. Just a matter of the speedo was that far off because the rear tyre had no tread on it (made a 5/8 difference in diam from new).

    Can't imagine how far off the later speedos will be with worn out tyres! Guess nice that you have built in upgrade ability for tyre size though that puts it bang on correct lol.

    Thanks for the post!
     

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