General Technical & Electrical General technical and electrical discussion for the Ford Ranger that does not fit in any other sub-forum.

Superlift TruSpeed Speed Sensor Recalibrator

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
  #1  
Old 12-02-2014
IN2 FX4's Avatar
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Costa Mesa, CA
Posts: 1,205
Received 89 Likes on 73 Posts
Superlift TruSpeed Speed Sensor Recalibrator

I am having a difficult time finding anyone with real life experience with this item so I am posting here in hopes of finding someone that has used or is familiar with the Superlift TruSpeed Speed Sensor Recalibrator? It looks like a good solution to a problem I have encountered with recalibrating my speedometer after changing tire size and gears.

I already have a tuner and like the programs I have. Unfortunately, BAMA does not support our Rangers anymore and will not change the speedometer calibration for me. I also run two different tires sizes depending on; if I am going off-road or on pavement.

This Superlift TruSpeed Speed Sensor Recalibrator is infinitely adjustable and can be set up for two different settings. That sounds like it will do exactly what I want. I just don't know if it is reliable and works as well as advertised.

From what I understand it changes the signal that ultimately goes to the speedometer after the ABS system so it will not interfere with ABS. I can still use my stock and performance tunes as I have been.
 
  #2  
Old 12-02-2014
RLong31's Avatar
The Ban Hammer
iTrader: (5)
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Monrovia, IN
Posts: 2,594
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Just curious why you need to have your speed correct when you are off-road?
 
  #3  
Old 12-02-2014
IN2 FX4's Avatar
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Costa Mesa, CA
Posts: 1,205
Received 89 Likes on 73 Posts
The speedometer is not important off-road but the odometer is. I use the odometer a lot for navigation off-road. Many places I go have few or no signs. I use GPS, maps, altimeter and odometer as my navigation tools. It is easy to make mistakes and make wrong turns, I need all the help I can get.
 
  #4  
Old 12-29-2014
IN2 FX4's Avatar
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Costa Mesa, CA
Posts: 1,205
Received 89 Likes on 73 Posts
For anyone interested in doing something similar, I found out Superlift does not sell the TruSpeed Recalibrator anymore.

I kept searching for a solution and found Dakota Digital has a calibrator that costs about 1/3rd of the TruSpeed. It doesn't have the capability of holding 2 programs but is fairly easy to recalibrate once you understand how to do it. It has good reviews regarding reliability but some people had problems figuring out how to install it and calibrating the speedometer/odometer.

I bought one and installed it this past weekend. It is not an easy install but not that difficult once I figured out what to do.

There are no Ranger specific installation instructions that come with the Dakota Digital unit but I downloaded the TruSpeed installation instructions as a guide because both are installed similarly.

The TruSpeed instructions does have Ranger specific installation instructions but was not completely correct. There is supposed to be a grey/black wire coming out of the ABS controller, at pin 14, that is the wire feed for the speedometer and can be spliced into for the calibrator. There was no wire at pin 14 and I could find no grey/black wire. I looked at my Ford repair manual for speedometer diagnostics and it did reference a gry/blk wire going to the speedometer but it only referenced it at the back of the instrument cluster.

I had a light burned out behind my tachometer and this gave me and excuse to pull the dash apart to see if I could find the wire I needed for the calibrator and replace all the instrument cluster lights. Getting to the instrument cluster was not difficult, just time consuming. I did find the gry/black wire at pin 1 on the black connector. I still wanted to make sure it was the right wire before cutting it. I removed the pin from the connector and reattached the connector. I then lifted the rear tires off the ground and put it in gear to see if I got a reading on the speedometer. The speedometer didn't work so I was sure that gry/blk wire was the right one.

That gave me the courage to cut that wire and splice in the calibrator input and output. I connected into fuse 11 as recommended by the TruSpeed instructions. It is a switched power source and fused at 7.5 ohms. I also located a good ground source and got all the wires hooked up to the Dakota Digital calibrator. When I turned on the ignition, a green LED came an as it was supposed to and when I spun up the tires it flashed like it was supposed to. All was good so far, now I just needed to actually calibrate.

The Dakota Digital calibration instructions are not simple but they have all the information needed to do the calibration if enough time is taken to understand what is written. There are many options to go with but I took the recommended option (Application 1) for speedometer calibration. They also give a second option if that doesn't work. You can also calibrate while driving the vehicle or calibrate while the vehicle is parked.

I elected to calibrate while the vehicle was parked because I knew the odometer was 11.3% fast. I went through the kind of unusual calibration process as described in the Dakota Digital instructions. Everything seemed to be working as it should. I put the dash back in place kind of loosely so I could take it for a quick drive to see if the speedometer was close to being correct. The speedometer was very close so I finished assembling the dash.

I then took it for a longer drive to see if the odometer was correct compared to my GPS. With a 13 mile drive, the trip odometer matched exactly with the GPS trip readout. I thought for sure I would have to do a final recalibration to get it right but the Dakota Digital chart was right on.

I liked doing all the wiring in the cab. I didn't have to find a place to get the wires through the firewall and everything is protected in the confines of my cab now. The Dakota Digital calibrator is very light and I found a good spot that I could just Velcro it to a surface instead of attaching it with screws. This will make it easier to detach when I need to recalibrated for my other tires.

I am very happy with the results so far and should be reliable for years to come if the reviews are correct.
 

Last edited by IN2 FX4; 12-29-2014 at 01:53 PM.
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
patton02
Suspension Tech
0
03-03-2011 03:39 PM
BlackRanger04
Drivetrain Tech
4
01-04-2011 12:07 AM
Matlow
General Technical & Electrical
3
11-08-2010 09:08 PM
Egor29
General Ford Ranger Discussion
7
03-24-2007 10:58 PM
BananaEdge
Exterior Semi-Tech
4
09-01-2004 10:42 AM



Quick Reply: Superlift TruSpeed Speed Sensor Recalibrator



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:59 AM.