Bye-Bye angle drive!

[Josh]

After my 4th angle drive died on me I decided to take a different approach.

I ordered one of these:

https://www.speedhut.com/ecommerce/p...peed-Converter
w/ the GM style Clip on cable.

the price is a little steep, but so is buying a new angle drive every year, just to have it break after 2000miles.

Installation was very easy. It could be mounted where the lambda counter is, I chose to mount it on top of my evaporator box.
The speedo cable snaps right in. I mounted the GPS antenna on top of the radio bracket (out of sight when the console is installed). It only requires a switched power and ground so those were tapped into the 12V outlet circuit. There is an additional VSS output that can be used to drive a cruise control unit, this is a problem with installing cruise on a delorean, you have to put those cheesy magnets on a driveshaft.



All in all I am very satisfied. The speed can be calibrated so it reads very accurate, more so than stock.
Hopefully this helps someone else out!

[refugeefromcalif]

How does this work in tunnels and areas where you can't get/don't have a good GPS signal?
That's the issue that I hate about anything satellite based.
In Alabama, (Yes we Are backwards on Many things), my XMS radio loses signal whenever we have stormy weather, (Also going behind Tall trees in ANY weather)...

George

[Josh]

How does this work in tunnels and areas where you can't get/don't have a good GPS signal?
That's the issue that I hate about anything satellite based.
In Alabama, (Yes we Are backwards on Many things), my XMS radio loses signal whenever we have stormy weather, (Also going behind Tall trees in ANY weather)...

George

I would assume it would drop out in tunnels, It would make sense it would not work in places your satellite radio or GPS map would not work.

Nice. This is something I'd be considering when my angle drive eventually fails. There's also a similar device that receives the GPS signal from your phone via bluetooth. By the way, you said you tapped into the 12V outlet for a 'switched on' and ground. But isn't that particular circuit 'always on', in the sense that it has power even when the car is off?

You are probably correct. I lose track of the stock schematics sometimes as I have heavily modified my electrical system. Either way, there are lots of 12v switched sources in the console area, behind the stereo. This unit draws very little power so it can be tapped into most any existing circuit.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Some GPS systems use an accelerometer to keep the speed shown working when the GPS signal drops out.

[Michael]

I must be damn lucky. My angle drive went bad on the first day of ownership on my 900 mile drive home. I replaced it, never once oiled it and it still does just fine. That was 9 years and about 20k miles ago.

[Drive Stainless]

If I didn't know better, I would think that this mod meant you actually cared how fast you were going in that ~400HP monster.

You should probably find a way to shut down the circuit once you've exceeded the speedometer max (85 MPH). That way, the unit will only be operating for 6 or 7 seconds each time you come to a stop. Maybe Bitsyncmaster can help you with that.

[Gregadeth]

Nice. This is something I'd be considering when my angle drive eventually fails. There's also a similar device that receives the GPS signal from your phone via bluetooth. By the way, you said you tapped into the 12V outlet for a 'switched on' and ground. But isn't that particular circuit 'always on', in the sense that it has power even when the car is off?

[joshg]

There's also a similar device that receives the GPS signal from your phone via bluetooth.

Anyone know anything more about this alternative to the Speedbox unit? Interested in the tradeoffs

[Josh]

There are no alternatives for our car that work better than speed box and/or are cheaper.

[Christian Dietrich]

Alot of people like to pick on me cause I updated practically everything on my car but refuse to change out my original angle drive with 68k miles. I use 10w40 synthetic oil in for the last 17 years plus I still have the original and refreshed Lambda counter and cables and still use the Lambda light for service LOL! I guess im one of those weird guys that loves that old tech. I dont thing the SpeedBox would work well were I live in the mountains. There is alot of areas that loss signal.