speedo dilemma

Been chasing a never ending speedometer problem.
Replaced the speedometer cable then the speedometer goes into orbit and the needle drops to the bottom.
Get another speedometer and notice that the inner thing in the cable seem to be too long.
If I put the cable in the meter and go to put it into the transfer case and it seems like the hole that the stinger goes into isn't deep enough. Dig through horde of parts and find a speedo gear with the same 16 teeth and low and behold the stinger go far enough such that no pressure is required to start the threads.

But a test drive yield no speedo readings. Pull the speedo gear and the teeth on one side are gone.

Questions:
Are early CJ speedo cable different then the ones you get a Autozone? Shorter stinger.

Do Dana 20 speedo gears not fit in dana 18? But deeper.

 

Autozone type stuff may indeed be somewhat "generic" and not exactly right, IMH0. Sounds like your inner cable/stinger set-up may have been too long and jammed it up. Inner core needs to be loose and free to spin easily - while still engaging at both ends.