gear ratio?

[pineypower420]

97 ranger ext cab 4.0 5 speed. currently has 3.73 and with a 33" tire its a dog. plan on running 35"s possibly 37"s in the future. what gear ratio would still give me a little better than stock performance with that size tire? as long as i can do 80 mph without it being redlined i dont mind. was thinking maybe 4.88 or 5.13? anybody running these gears? how is it? thanks

 

[hitech_hick]

97 ranger ext cab 4.0 5 speed. currently has 3.73 and with a 33" tire its a dog. plan on running 35"s possibly 37"s in the future. what gear ratio would still give me a little better than stock performance with that size tire? as long as i can do 80 mph without it being redlined i dont mind. was thinking maybe 4.88 or 5.13? anybody running these gears? how is it? thanks

With 35's, I would say 5.13's, with 37's I would say SAS, seriously. I made the mistake of going with 4.56's with 35's. While it is OK for road handling, it leaves something to be desired off-road. 35's are pushing the limit of the D35 TTB, if you intend on using this rig for more than just mall-crawling and the occasional fire-road, I would seriously consider a SAS at this point. You will be time and money ahead.


hick

 

[pineypower420]

the truck is pretty much a local daily driver, sees a woods ride every once in a while consisting of mostly deep water crossing and occasionly playing in some loose stuff. i know a 35" tire is pretty much all the dana 35 ttb front end can handle but considering what i plan to do with it i think it'll last a while. not to mention if it breaks i have an excuse to do a sas and justify it with my ol lady.

 

[4x4junkie]

I would say 4.88, although if 37s are a possibility, then 5.13 for sure.


The front D35 is a pretty sturdy little axle... the strength gain with a SAS is fairly marginal unless you use something like a Dana60 (or a well-upgraded D44, although this can cost nearly what the 60 does, and still won't be as strong). If you do the upgrades mentioned in the sticky post at the top here on the D35, it should be fine with 35s (37s may still require you to exercise a bit of judgment with the throttle though). The rear axle may need some upgrades for that size tire as well.

If this will be headed toward a serious build, then a D60/10.25" swap might be the ticket.

 

[pineypower420]

anybody running 5.13 with a 35" tire? is it just peppy or does it make 1st gear almost useless or like a granny gear in the old 3 spd's?

 

[Evan]

anybody running 5.13 with a 35" tire? is it just peppy or does it make 1st gear almost useless or like a granny gear in the old 3 spd's?

I run 5.13s with 35s. It's right on the money. 1st gear is low but nowhere near granny low.

 

[BIIHawg]

I have 4.0L OHV, 5-speed, 5.13's and 38's and my rig does 100km/h (60mph for you yanks) in 5th gear at 2500rpm.

 

[4x4junkie]

I have 5.13s & 35s on my BII with 2.9L V6. Its damn near perfect. The 4.0L likes a tad bit less RPM than a 2.9, although your M5OD also has a slightly steeper overdrive gear than my FM146. I would say the choice between 4.88 and 5.13 with that combo might best be based on how much highway driving you do (and how fast). If you do go to 37" tires though, then 4.88 might be a tad bit tall.

 

[engdept]

Go with 5.13 gears. You will not regret it.

If you do a little research in the Tech Library here, you will find some upgrades to the Dana 35 that will help you run those 38's on the Dana 35 without any problems.

 

[crbnunit]

I've got 4.56's and 36" TSL's. 5.13's would definately be better.

 

[KELLY88]

97 ranger ext cab 4.0 5 speed. currently has 3.73 and with a 33" tire its a dog. plan on running 35"s possibly 37"s in the future. what gear ratio would still give me a little better than stock performance with that size tire? as long as i can do 80 mph without it being redlined i dont mind. was thinking maybe 4.88 or 5.13? anybody running these gears? how is it? thanks

I'm running 4.56s and 33" tires and it works just about perfectly. If you're running 35s or 37s I would upgrade it though. 5.13 would probably be the best bet. Oh and by the way I wouldn't plan on doing 80 with that setup though. You'll need the low gears for crawling and moving those big tires, not for hitting high numbers on the highway. Also tires that big aren't designed for speeds that high and can easily blow out if run like that for too long. This is where the dilemma lies, big tires and less highway speed or smaller tires and faster highway, kind of have to choose one or the other.

 

[pineypower420]

Thanks everybody for the input, ill definitly be going with the 5.13's. i dont do a whole lot of highway driving but when i do its only short distances (30 miles at most). you dont need to necessarily choose between big tires less speed or smaller tires and more highway speed, if you select the right ratio you can have the best of both worlds, unless its geared for serious rock crawling or something extreme like that.

Half the battle is finding the right gears to do that with. i went through 4 r&p sets before i found that 4.56 was perfect for my blazer with a 44 inch tire, but its much easier to ask you guys what experience youve had with different ratios instead of going through that again. the blazer wheeled like a motherfucker and cruised 85 mph at 4000 rpm all the way to bloomsburg jamboree every year( about 250 miles) all of this on a 44" bogger so id have plenty of faith in running down the highway with a 37".

If it's d.o.t. approved its good enough for me!

but thanks again everybody for all the advice.

 

[4x4junkie]

Go with 5.13 gears. You will not regret it.

If you do a little research in the Tech Library here, you will find some upgrades to the Dana 35 that will help you run those 38's on the Dana 35 without any problems.

Saying "without any problems" might be being a bit optimistic, but it has been done by a few here. It was not without at least a couple broken shafts though.

Thanks everybody for the input, ill definitly be going with the 5.13's. i dont do a whole lot of highway driving but when i do its only short distances (30 miles at most). you dont need to necessarily choose between big tires less speed or smaller tires and more highway speed, if you select the right ratio you can have the best of both worlds, unless its geared for serious rock crawling or something extreme like that.

Half the battle is finding the right gears to do that with. i went through 4 r&p sets before i found that 4.56 was perfect for my blazer with a 44 inch tire, but its much easier to ask you guys what experience youve had with different ratios instead of going through that again. the blazer wheeled like a motherfucker and cruised 85 mph at 4000 rpm all the way to bloomsburg jamboree every year( about 250 miles) all of this on a 44" bogger so id have plenty of faith in running down the highway with a 37".

If it's d.o.t. approved its good enough for me!

but thanks again everybody for all the advice.

Good luck on your project