Low MPH Marine Speedometer?

[MadMax]

I am considering replacing the speedo on my C303 with a mechanical unit with both MPH and KPH, to make things a little bit easier when determining what my speed is. Trying to guess what I'm driving at is rather annoying.

What I wanted to know is if anyone has used a lower-gauged speedometer that more closely matches the top end of a pinz or volvo, like those sold for marine use, similar to the pic below:



I am looking at several which are in the 80-85mph range, but wondered if there are any special considerations I need to be aware of. If I am going to switch it out, it seems rather pointless to get one that reads up to 120mph or higher, considering that most of the time I will be in the 20-60mph range. There are a variety of them available which closely match the look of the stock one.

[VinceAtReal4x4s]

The only decent choice I know of is what a lot of Pinz's switch to. VDO with an elec. sender. Amazing piece of gear and the best choice if you have the money, plus it matches the stock make and will help the truck hold value instead of hurt it. You need a shop to make up the adapter, but its worth it.

[edzz]

Unless you intend to always be driving in a few feet of water the only marine speedometers I’m aware of that would work are GPS based units.

In my Pinz I went with the VDO that Vince mentions, very happy with it.

Before that I had little stick on dots on the original speedometer at 25, 35, 45 and 55 MPH, worked OK, I also would set my GPS in the speedometer function and use that.

IMHO the VDO is the system to go with.

[M Wehrman]

I use my Garmin for speed and trip
Plus it can be used in other apps.
.02

[djw]

I put little glow-in-the-dark white dots at the gps-calibrated 20 30 40 50 60 MPH spots on the KPH VDO. Enough to see, more than enough to determine speed. Would take 15 seconds to return to original trim/value. Probably cost 15 cents and 5 minutes time. Speeds outside that range don't apply much to these trucks.

Beyond this if you are trying to be ultra-precise for some reason you can always use one of the free speedo/gps apps if you have a smart phone handy. If you in a location where that wouldn't work, you probably don't need a speedo anyway.

A lot to be said for keeping stuff original, holding it's value.

[westernair]

Tim
Times two for what Edzz has done, dots, then the replacement, also the GPS as a backup.

In my Pinz I went with the VDO that Vince mentions, very happy with it.

Before that I had little stick on dots on the original speedometer at 25, 35, 45 and 55 MPH, worked OK, I also would set my GPS in the speedometer function and use that.

IMHO the VDO is the system to go with.

[MadMax]

I'll have to go with the VDO then, as I have not had a cell phone in about 6 years. Thanks for the help fellas!

[berger]

I am just curious why it is so hard for you ' Mericans to figure out the difference between the two?

My first Car was a '71 Nova (in the early 90's), and the speedo was completely in MPH. I am part of the Metric Generation, and I adapted quite quickly. It wasn't long before I could look down at the speedo and convert. My Ural, while the speedo does have KPH in smaller markings, is also in MPH, again not a problem. To make matters more confusing on the Ural, the ODO is in KMs!

I have encountered this in a few of my "Southern" friends. They get all confused when I say 100KPH, then I remember where I am and I say 60MPH.

When I was at the Military Vehicle show in NH this year, I came across this Iltis, which almost caused me to spit my beer out (I said almost), in laughter....Really?

[M Wehrman]

The problem I found with the military Speedos is a lack of accuracy thru the range. 30 kph is not always half of 60 as example.

[edzz]

Berger, Take care your treading on dangerous ground, JFK tried to convert the US to the metric system and look at what it got him…
Besides now that you’ve made the conversion to metric what’s next French?

[berger]

Berger, Take care your treading on dangerous ground, JFK tried to convert the US to the metric system and look at what it got him…
Besides now that you’ve made the conversion to metric what’s next French?

I think you guys should look at what happens when you don't....your conversion to Spanish!!