Cluch Question 1997 2.3

[john.masce]

Any info would help moving to 225/75/15. Truck is dog out of fist and even worse in fifth. Would new cluch or gears work. 411,456 what will work the best just need a good daily driver max speed 75-80 mph lot of town driving.

Thanxs

 

[LearjetMinako]

You're in the same boat as me. My Ranger is a 96', 2.3L, 3.73 axle, 225/70R15 tires. While mine is slow, it is still faster than a 2.3L with an automatic tranny.

Changing the clutch will NOT do anything for you. Changing the tire down a size or two will help. Or changing the axle gearing will help too. Its really on what you want to spend money on. I kept my 15" wheels because I had more tire options that way. And the 225/70R15 is a common size for the Ranger. Any bigger than that size, I would recommend an axle gear change. With a tire size of 235/75R15 and a 4.10 axle gear, the 2.3L should start to feel more like it would have as stock.

Another, eaiser method of getting an axle gear change is to change the whole rear axle. Or even getting an upgrade. You can go to junkyard and find a Ranger 7.5" axle with the 4.10 ratio, or as an upgrade, find a Ranger 8.8" axle with the 4.10 ratio (just make sure you get the bolts and hardware too for this one).

**Edit**

Any time you change the tire size or axle gearing, your speedo will be off. For a 97 Ranger, correcting this is easy. All that is needed is to change the speedo gear, which is located at the tailend of the transmission. One bolt holds the assembly in and changing the gear is just a matter of removing an E-Clip and sliding the old gear off the shaft. As stock, your speedo gear should be a red color one with a 21 tooth count.

Examples of corrections:
225/70R14 + 3.73 = 21tooth (Red) (Stock)
225/70R15 + 3.73 = 20tooth (Black) (what I got)
235/75R15 + 4.10 = 21tooth (Red)

Also, browse the TRS Tech Libary. There is ton of info which can help you get ideas.

 

[--weezl--]

your post made little sense... but the clutch makes no difference for your power and acceleration... go get a set of 4.10's you'll be fine, but, if you change your rear end gears, make sure you re-gear your speedo too, otherwise your speedo will be out, i don't know how it's done on the ranger, but on mustangs, you pull the speedo cable out of the side of the trans and change the plastic gear on the end to a different color, then stuff it back in...

 

[Nater]

Weezl....which makes me think....If the DallasMustang speed calibrator will work for the gear change (I know it works on the 97 GTs) will it also work for the trucks too?

 

[adsm08]

Hate to burst your collective bubbles (Nater excluded) but I'm pretty sure that the Ranger hasn't used a cable-driven speedo since about 1994. That means programming the instrument cluster to correct the speedo.

As for the OP's questions. No unless it is slipping and not transferring the power, a new clutch will not help your issue.

As for re-gearing or changing tire size, yes it's a 4-cylinder, and no, they aren't the most powerful engines in the world, but it shouldn't be a dog in 1st. Before you go spending hundreds to over a grand to put a band-aid over an amputation, why not try fixing the actual driveability issue. Do a tune-up, plugs, wires, coil packs, fuel and air filters, and a good top engine cleaner. Seafoam up the brake booster hose is a good home-brew cleaner. Might also want to do a compression check. 411,000 miles, it may not be worn out yet, but that engine is no spring chicken.

 

[--weezl--]

sorry, i'm tired to the point i'm starting to see things, i read 1987 ranger, and i was thinking about my 89 mustang, my bad.

seriously, i think i'm actually starting to hallucinate from being tired... and i've got another 4 hours before i'm off work... been up since noon yesterday off at 11am today, then drive home... then work again tonight 11pm till 11am

 

[adsm08]

sorry, i'm tired to the point i'm starting to see things, i read 1987 ranger, and i was thinking about my 89 mustang, my bad.

seriously, i think i'm actually starting to hallucinate from being tired... and i've got another 4 hours before i'm off work... been up since noon yesterday off at 11am today, then drive home... then work again tonight 11pm till 11am

Don't sweat it man. I have made many posts late at night and come back the next day, read what I posted, and thought "WTF? That isn't even close to being right."

 

[LearjetMinako]

Hate to burst your collective bubbles (Nater excluded) but I'm pretty sure that the Ranger hasn't used a cable-driven speedo since about 1994. That means programming the instrument cluster to correct the speedo.

Partially true. The 97 and older models (can't remember which one till), still used the cable driven gear. But the change was the cable, which became a small voltage generator. In 1998, the ABS sensor on the diff became the new speedo sensor and would require a speedo tuner to correct it.

 

[nb11]

I think by 411,456 he may have been asking about gear ratios? And I have a 2.3 with 7.5 rear end, 3.73's with 235/75's and it pulls just fine. Maybe your engine just isn't running well. Also, it's possible to mistake these 4-cylinders as weak when actually that's all the power you can get out of it.

 

[LearjetMinako]

nb11:
If your Ranger is a 2003, then you have the 2.3L Duratech engine. Which has more HP and Torque. The 97 and older have the 2.3L Lima engine. 1998 to early 2001 have the 2.5 Lima engine (a stroked up version of the earlier 2.3L).