4.56 Gears - 2009 Ford Ranger Sport 4x4

[spiff-d]

Hello all,

I've just started poking around and I figured before I waste a few days of research, I should just ask this knowledge base. The search index wasn't pulling up what I wanted so forgive me if this has been asked.

My '09 has been lifted on 33's for the better part of a decade, and I've always noticed it's sluggish. With factory 3.73 gearing, it isn't really a surprise. I've been back and fourth on what ratio to run, and although 4.10's seem to be the easiest to find, I think 4.56's would offer me the low end I'm looking for and better towing as I have a small single axle travel trailer (read as: windsail). I've found plenty of gear sets on Summit for the 8.8 I have from factory, but has anyone put them in the front? I believe it's a Dana 35, correct?

Has anyone done 4.56's on 33's in an automatic Ranger? Any information you have would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Dirtman]

I have 4.10s in mine with only 30 inch tires and I still want 4.56 gears... cant offer you any first hand experience but with an automatic I definitely think you'll kick yourself if you go with 4.10s and not 4.56.

 

[RangerFabWorks]

As my old wise friends always tell me “son. Don’t fear the gear”

 

[Bird76Mojo]

I run 33" mud terrains on my truck with factory 4.10 gears, and while it did lose some low end power for sure, it's still no slouch in the mud or when pulling whatever I need it to.

But if I was to pay for a regear from 3.73's then I'd go directly to 4.56 myself.

 

[sgtsandman]

It depends on what you do with the truck. If you want some low end grunt and don't mind a bit of a hit on fuel mileage, 4.88 might the ticket for you. I'm looking at 4.56 for my 2011 with 31X10.5R15s. That will put me in the "Most Power and Towing" range but not too deep. 4.56 will put you in a "Daily Driver, Best Overall Performance" range according to tire and gears chart.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

4.56 rear gear with 33" to 35" tires should put the truck right back where it was from the factory for the most part..

 

[Jim Oaks]

My '96 has a 4.0 with 4.56's and 33's. It's a perfect setup.

 

[spiff-d]

Thanks for all the advice guys! Being that I'm in Canada, does anyone have a good company to buy 4.56's from for the front & rear diffs?

Thanks!

 

[Ranger850]

What kind of interweb does Canada have? Cant you order from anywhere or is that a US only thing?

 

[spiff-d]

What kind of interweb does Canada have? Cant you order from anywhere or is that a US only thing?

Well, we could order from the US, pay 35% on the exchange rate and then get dinged brokerage, duty, and freight.

So I'd rather use a Canadian Vendor. But with only 35 million people in the entire country, and an even smaller amount of them modifying cars, most of the decent shops and vendors aren't using online stores.

 

[Ranger850]

Well, we could order from the US, pay 35% on the exchange rate and then get dinged brokerage, duty, and freight.

So I'd rather use a Canadian Vendor. But with only 35 million people in the entire country, and an even smaller amount of them modifying cars, most of the decent shops and vendors aren't using online stores.

10-4. I had know idea about the '35%-brokerage-duty-freight' thing.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

With the Ford 8.8" rear axle being so common worldwide, it can't be that hard to find a Canadian vendor for rear gears.

It took me 2 seconds on Google by typing in "Canadian Offroad Shop" to find this place: https://nsor.com/g2-axle-and-gear-ring-and-pinion-2-2033-456x.html

Or: Google results

 

[spiff-d]

The embarassing part of this is that I've been a customer of theirs since 2011.

Whoops!

 

[4x4junkie]

I would actually 2nd the 4.88:1 suggestion, since you have an automatic trans.

A friend of mine had been running 5.13s and 33s on his with 4.0L and automatic for a little short of a year before he put his 35s on, and surprisingly even this was well within reasonable, even at 70 MPH according to a GPS. I drove the truck several times myself and can attest to it as well. I suspect the automatic's somewhat steeper .75:1 OD gear is the reason why (the manuals are .79 to .81 OD, depending on model).

 

[gw33gp]

I think 4.88 gears with 33" tires would work well for a 2.3 or 3.0 engine but not a good choice for a 4.0. I run 4.56 gears with 33" tires and I think it works very well. I do have a manual transmission but the 4.56 gears with 33" tires is still lower than the factory combination of gear and tire ratio. I still run 31" tires when I am not going off-road and I feel the 4.56 gears are too low for those tires. It is not too different than running 4.88 gears with 33" tires.

One thing that does work well with 4.56 gears and 31" tires is when towing. The lower gears make it easier to take out and accelerate. I can use 5th gear with that combination when towing which is something I never did with 4.10 gears and 31" tires. When I hit a long incline I just drop it into 4th and it doesn't struggle to keep moving. I rarely have to go into 3rd anymore.. So, if you plan to do a lot of towing, the 4.88 gears with the 33" tires may be a good choice for you and you can just deal with the less than ideal situation like I do when I run the 31" tires. Then again you might like it. Everyone has their own preferences.