Can a 3.0s gears be put into a 4.0 trans for a gear reduction?
So there is a short and a long answer to your question….
The short answer was given to you by Scott… it can, and has, been done.
The long answer is somewhat different… Yes you can, but you don’t really gain that much. The 2.3/2.5/2.9/3.0 torque band is different from the 4.0, so this is why we have different gears in the transmissions…. But only for 3 gears. The 4.0 has more torque than the others so it doesn’t need the slightly lower ratios to reach speed.
(Read as “x.xx:1” means “x.xx to 1”)
The 2.3/2.5/2.9/3.0 1st gear is 3.72:1, 2nd is 2.20:1 3rd is 1.50:1, 4th is 1:1 and 5th is .79:1, with a reverse of 3.40:1.
The 4.0 gives us a 1st gear of 3.40:1, 2nd is 2.05:1 3rd is 1.31:1 4th is 1:1, 5th is .79:1 and a reverse of 3.40:1.
So as you can see, only the 1st 3 gears are different.
If we take the lo range of the 13-54 (2.48:1) from the 3.0 (and 4.0) and mix it with 3.73 gears… we get ratios of…
-1st… 3.72 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 34.411:1
-2nd… 2.20 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 20.351:1
-3rd… 1.50 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 13.876:1
-4th… 1.0 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 9.25:1
-5th… .79 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 7.308:1
-Reverse… 3.40 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 31.451:1
Where as the 4.0 gear set gives us…
-1st… 3.40 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 31.451:1
-2nd… 2.05 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 18.963:1
-3rd… 1.31 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 12.118
-4th… 1.0 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 9.25:1
-5th… .79 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 7.308:1
-Reverse… 3.40 x 2.48 x 3.73 = 31.451:1
(Notice 1st and reverse have the same ratio in the 4.0)
So, technically, yes you’ll get lower ranges, but is it really worth the work for such a small gain?
And for the record, the ONLY ratio you can change in this equation and keep a stock Ranger Trans/t-case combo is the Axle ratio….
So let’s take a quick look at the 2 most common axle ratios swapped into Rangers used as wheelers. 4.10:1 and 4.56:1. We will do this using 1st gear, cause honestly, we rarely crawl in lo range outside of 1st
3.0
- 3.72 x 2.48 x 4.10 = 37.825:1
- 3.72 x 2.48 x 4.56 = 42.0687:1
-4.0
- 3.40 x 2.48 x 4.10 = 34.571:1
- 3.40 x 2.48 x 4.56 = 38.45:1
So there’s the numbers to answer your question… and numbers don’t lie… they are what they are.
Now you get to decide if it’s really worth the hassle….