Gear ratio and RPM

[NCguy]

Measure your tire height from the ground to the top of the tire, use that measurement.

Definitely did not have disc brakes in the rear from the factory - probably was swapped in from an Explorer. Cool! That's a nice bonus.

If you don't have tags on the axles, you can pull the cover and count teeth on the ring & pinion, then divide the larger number by the smaller number... for example 41 ring gear teeth and 11 pinion = 3.73, 41 and 10 = 4.10 and so forth... the ring may even be stamped with the ratio. Dana gears usually are stamped with something like "41 11", not sure about Ford gears. Probably wouldn't hurt to take a look inside anyway given the sad state of your front end.

Why is my front end in a sad state?

 

[Shran]

Why is my front end in a sad state?

My bad... mistook you for another member who was posting about rebuilding his front axle... you are NCguy and he is sumncguy. Evidently several of you "guys" down there!

 

[Curious Hound]

My bad... mistook you for another member who was posting about rebuilding his front axle... you are NCguy and he is sumncguy. Evidently several of you "guys" down there!

 

[NCguy]

Hah! No worries. I have read some good reviews for an Aussie locker in snow and some bad. A friend who does a bunch of rock crawling says they are great for crawling in a straight line but hard to steer on turns. Since I will DD it and do light to medium trail riding I'll probably get rid of the locker. I don't want to do anything too serious with the a4ld.

I'm wishing I hadn't bought this ranger. Before buying I looked up reviews on the 90's 4x4 rangers. It had a 4.5 star rating for dependability, comfort, capability and so on. Now I hear that I have the worst weakest trans Ford ever made. I also have read I definitely should not tow or off-road it. I bought the thing because it had a suspension lift, 33's ,4.10 gears and it was used for trail riding.WT?

 

[Shran]

Lock your hubs in and drive around on the street in 2wd... I'm curious what you think of that. It's godawful in mine but I have a Lock-rite. Driving around town in the snow in 4 wheel drive is borderline dangerous.

The A4LD is really not very strong but the main thing (as with any automatic) is keeping it cool. If you put a bigger, good quality cooler in, you can keep them alive indefinitely. They are kinda expensive to rebuild and it really requires an experienced tech to do it right. Deeper gears would really help in your case too - 4.56 would be a good balance of street use/offroad capability, or 4.88 if you want to play off road more often. I would have no issues using an A4LD off road or towing with it, within reason.

5 speed manual swaps are pretty easy if you ever get an urge to go that route. Should mention that I have seen far more blown up 5 speeds than I have A4LDs... but that could just mean that all of the automatic trucks got junked years ago and all that's left for me is manuals. Who knows at this point!

 

[Curious Hound]

Ignore the naysayers! Rangers are great!

Repeat after me.
Rangers are great!

Louder!
Rangers are great!!

 

[JohnnyO]

Generally speaking, going from stock tires to 33" on a Ranger-based vehicle requires 4.56 gears to keep the RPM vs. MPH the same as stock.

 

[sgtsandman]

I know my 2011 with 3.73s and 31s needs a regearing. For your truck, you’d definitely benefit with 4.56 gears. If you off road a lot, maybe even 4.88.

 

[NCguy]

Tires from ground to top of tire are 31-3/4". I did install a speed ap on phone. When going 65 rpm is at 1925+/-.
When rear was jacked up I turned wheel forward as if driving forward and other tire went same direction. When I turned tire other direction other tire started to rotate with it for a revolution but then stops rotation. I'm guessing limited slip.
So
94 ranger xlt
5" suspension lift
4x4
AT
33's(actual 31-3/4")
4.10 gears (former owner claimed he installed)
65 mph rpm 1925+/- flat ground
Does this sound like a 4.10 gear ratio? I have not pulled diff plate to count teeth yet.

 

[RonD]

Just count driveshaft rotation, as described

Calculation comes up as 3.73 axle ratio
axle 3.73
tire 32
rpm 1925
trans OD .75

= 65.53 MPH

4.10 ratio would be 59.62 MPH

3.45 ratio would be 70.85 MPH

 

[NCguy]

Just count driveshaft rotation, as described

Calculation comes up as 3.73 axle ratio
axle 3.73
tire 32
rpm 1925
trans OD .75

= 65.53 MPH

4.10 ratio would be 59.62 MPH

3.45 ratio would be 70.85 MPH

Thanks for looking all that up. I'm a little baffled since tag code on door says 3.27 gear and previous owner said he installed 4.10 gears and an Aussie locker up front. I'll remove plate and count gears soon.

 

[sgtsandman]

Before you start counting. Look for numbers on the side of the ring gear. A lot of ring gears have their ratio stamped or etched there.

That is how I found out the junk yard tried to pull a fast one on me.