Good gears for general driving

I don't think I need new gears as of now, but I'm just wondering what a good gear combo (front and rear, or if you think I should just do one of the two, let me know) for just driving, city and some highway, would be?

I don't offroad, and I don't tow, but occasionally i haul in the back of my bed..

I don't race either, hah. But I think you already knew that by the 2.9 I have in there.


So yeah, include a good front, a good rear, and explanation as to what is different from my stock gears (whatever those are) I don't want to recalibrate my speedo or anything, considering that's way past my knowledge level lol.

No matter what you're going to have to swap the front and rear gears. If you don't make both diffs the same gears when you put it into 4x4 you're going to break shit. Same with putting two different tire sizes on the front and rear or even two different tire sizes on the rear with a locker or limited slip. Look on your door jamb under "Axle" and compare the code to this chart:http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Axles.html
It will tell you which gears you have front and rear as they have to be the same like I stated. If you don't want to recalibrate your speedometer than you're going to have to figure out a way so you know how fast you're going. It's going to be off with different gear ratios just like it is with bigger tires. I upgraded from 245/70R16 tires to 265/75R16 and my speedometer is off by about 4 mph. I'm not sure about gears too but there is a calculator for that in the technical library. If you have no real purpose for the truck ie offroading, towing, or whatever then I wouldn't even really bother re-gearing. It's expensive. I paid $592.25 for my gears for my rear axle and the two master install kits. I only paid $150 for the gears for my front axle because I got them off a member who didn't need them. Next I have to buy lockers and those are around $600-700. Just gears alone cost me $700+ even with the deal on the front gears.

If you decide to change your gears, you should change the front and rear to the same ratio, not just one or the other. What gears you need depends on the tire size. My 88 2wd 4cyl manual Ranger had 3.73 gears. My 03 4x4 4.0L Auto has 4.10 gears. It all just depends on what size tires you want to run and how you want to use the truck.

oh, so if i'm not really going to be "using" the truck for stuff that a truck is "usually used for"... then i shouldn't worry about it?

fine with me, i just wasn't sure if it increased performance or anything... would it be worth it to try and find the same stock gears, but new? how do i know if my gears are okay? i assume i'd know if they were bad..

To check your gears, just pull your diff covers and look at all the teeth on the ring and pinion. If you find metal pieces in the fluid when you pop the cover off, something is probably wrong. Plus, it gives you a reason to change your diff fluid. Are you planning on using this truck for daily driving/hauling "normal" stuff in the bed/pulling small trailer?

Kris

baxtej44 said:

oh, so if i'm not really going to be "using" the truck for stuff that a truck is "usually used for"... then i shouldn't worry about it?

fine with me, i just wasn't sure if it increased performance or anything... would it be worth it to try and find the same stock gears, but new? how do i know if my gears are okay? i assume i'd know if they were bad..

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How many miles are on your truck? I have 185k on mine and I don't worry about the gears. Whenever I change the diff fluids I make sure to inspect the teeth and look for metal shavings. I say there's no point in changing gear ratios because if you're not going to bigger tires or wheeling then it wouldn't be a justifiable $1500 or so in just the parts to do the gear swap assuming you get lockers aswell. However, if you want to give it some pep in it's step and completely forget about using the 4x4 function of your truck, you could just regear the rear to a numerically higher gear. Just remember, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you go to a numerically higher gear, you will gain acceleration but you will also lose more gas mileage. Check your door tag like I suggested and go from there. You probably have 3.73's. I went from 4.11's to 3.73's in my old S-10 and I noticed a little difference in performance and a loss of .2 at the 1/4. It's not really worth going from 3.73s to 4.10s for what you have to pay versus what you get.

mud390 said:

To check your gears, just pull your diff covers and look at all the teeth on the ring and pinion. If you find metal pieces in the fluid when you pop the cover off, something is probably wrong. Plus, it gives you a reason to change your diff fluid. Are you planning on using this truck for daily driving/hauling "normal" stuff in the bed/pulling small trailer?

Kris

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yes just daily driving, and hauling normal stuff... POSSIBLY a small trailer, but probably not. most likely just stuff in the bed...

how often should the diff fluid be changed? i've seen the diff be taken apart on tv before, and it looked pretty easy, but how easy is it? i mean I think it's just undo bolts, drain it out, do i wipe everything down with rags? and then put it back on, and fill up again?

Toms994x4 said:

How many miles are on your truck? I have 185k on mine and I don't worry about the gears. Whenever I change the diff fluids I make sure to inspect the teeth and look for metal shavings. I say there's no point in changing gear ratios because if you're not going to bigger tires or wheeling then it wouldn't be a justifiable $1500 or so in just the parts to do the gear swap assuming you get lockers aswell. However, if you want to give it some pep in it's step and completely forget about using the 4x4 function of your truck, you could just regear the rear to a numerically higher gear. Just remember, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you go to a numerically higher gear, you will gain acceleration but you will also lose more gas mileage. Check your door tag like I suggested and go from there. You probably have 3.73's. I went from 4.11's to 3.73's in my old S-10 and I noticed a little difference in performance and a loss of .2 at the 1/4. It's not really worth going from 3.73s to 4.10s for what you have to pay versus what you get.

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oh, well i only have 86k miles on the truck.
thanks.

baxtej44 said:

yes just daily driving, and hauling normal stuff... POSSIBLY a small trailer, but probably not. most likely just stuff in the bed...

how often should the diff fluid be changed? i've seen the diff be taken apart on tv before, and it looked pretty easy, but how easy is it? i mean I think it's just undo bolts, drain it out, do i wipe everything down with rags? and then put it back on, and fill up again?

oh, well i only have 86k miles on the truck.
thanks.

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Damn! I wish mine had that many. I change mine at 60k miles. If you don't think it's ever been changed just pull the diff cover off. Run to AZ or your parts store and get yourself some gear oil before doing this so you're not SOL unless you have another vehicle to drive. The diff cover bolts are 1/2 IIRC. Drain all the fluid out and inspect the gears and watch for any metal shavings in the fluid and in the diff housing. Use RTV to make a gasket after scraping the surface off and put the cover back on. There is a plug on the front of the axle that you take out to fill the diff. I believe you just need a 3/4 ratchet without a socket to take out the plug. If it's limited slip (I don't know if yours has one) you will need friction modifier too.

Toms994x4 said:

I believe you just need a 3/4 ratchet without a socket to take out the plug.

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pretty sure you mean 3/8s lol

graff104 said:

pretty sure you mean 3/8s lol

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ROFL. It's been awhile!

Toms994x4 said:

Damn! I wish mine had that many. I change mine at 60k miles. If you don't think it's ever been changed just pull the diff cover off. Run to AZ or your parts store and get yourself some gear oil before doing this so you're not SOL unless you have another vehicle to drive. The diff cover bolts are 1/2 IIRC. Drain all the fluid out and inspect the gears and watch for any metal shavings in the fluid and in the diff housing. Use RTV to make a gasket after scraping the surface off and put the cover back on. There is a plug on the front of the axle that you take out to fill the diff. I believe you just need a 3/4 ratchet without a socket to take out the plug. If it's limited slip (I don't know if yours has one) you will need friction modifier too.

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seems like it's easy enough...
where can i get rid of gear oil? AZ will recycle oil, does that include gear oil?

Anyway, where is the plug for the rear axle?


How do I know if it's limited slip?

baxtej44 said:

seems like it's easy enough...
where can i get rid of gear oil? AZ will recycle oil, does that include gear oil?

Anyway, where is the plug for the rear axle?


How do I know if it's limited slip?

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Look on your door jamb under axle and it will have a code. Compare it to the list of codes in the link I posted for you above. AZ will recycle gear oil, yes. I just took some the other day. The plug to refill is on the front of the axle to the right of the pinion if you're looking at it.

The "best" gears depends on your tire size and transmission...