Q: I am having trouble finding the correct speedometer gear for my 1970 Mustang. The car has a top loader 4-speed transmission and a 4.10:1 rear-end ratio. I’m running 26-inch-tall rear tires, and a 21-tooth speedometer driven gear. The 21-tooth gear is the largest I can find, and the speedometer reads about 27 mph fast. Do I need a special reducer?

A: Based on the information you’ve provided, it sounds like you have an 8-tooth drive gear in the transmission. You can change the drive gear to a 6-tooth gear and use a 19-tooth driven gear to correct your speedometer reading. If you’re unable to find the correct combination of gears of however, you can have a custom reducer made at a speedometer shop.

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Author: Dave Matthews

Dave Matthews was a mechanic for the U.S. Army, a Ford dealership, and served for many years as a fleet mechanic for construction companies. Now a technical content producer at Summit Racing, Dave has spent decades working on everything from military vehicles to high performance race machines.