Speedo Cable Lube M35A2?

[saddamsnightmare]

November 29th, 2009.

Gentlemen and Ladies:

I have to replace my old speedo cable on my M35A2 due to its breaking, and I have a new NOS speedo cable, ready to go, with no apparent luble. The cable is metal with a rubber jacket, immaculate condition, but my 20 manual mentions nothing about lubing the cable prior to installation. Any suggestions as to whether or not to lube, and if so, what type of lube should be used? I have white litho in a can, and spray silicone, but I am sure something is better then nothing.......
Thanks for the inputs, have a good tail end of your Thanksgiving, and if you all are lucky you won't be looking at turkey sandwiches tomorrow.....

Cheers,

Kyle F. McGrogan

 

[dittle]

Whatever you use make sure it is O-ring friendly as you don't want to have the speedo cable fill up with GL90. One other option you might consider is liquid graphite in a spray can.

 

[badgmc56]

Kyle, Back in the day when vehicles had speedo cables, we used to lube them with white litho in a tub. It is much better than the spray. Never had any bouncing problems when cold and it seemed to work out well. Thats what I would use in my own truck. Go lightly with the lube and you should be ok. Bob C.

 

[Jones]

The most effective way I've found to lube speedo cables is to grease them.
There's a trick or two that makes the job effective and relatively mess-less.

I always work from the speedo head end-- saves laying on my back, under the truck.
In the case of old housings; look them over to make sure there are no obvious kinks. If you find any; straighten them out as much as possible . Or if they're really bad, replace the housing.
To get rid of any grit or old grease; take the speedo cable and wipe the entire length of it down with a clean rag and set it aside.
Wearing rubber gloves; get a handful of your grease of choice and thread the small end of the cable through your hand, picking up a coating of grease and into the cable housing.
Grease and feed the cable into the housing.
Keeping the housing straight or at least keeping the curves as large and sweeping as possible, the cable should slide right in.
When you get all but the last two inches or so into the housing, you may have to twist the cable to get it into the speedo drive on the trans or transfer case.
Slip the large (crimped-on end) into the speedo head and screw on the cable nut and yer done.

 

[rmgill]

Bike shops often have a cable lube that works well. You could just add some clean motor oil too or a light grease.