Help! Need gearing/power advice

[Finman87]

So I'm working on a 1999 Ford ranger XLT four-wheel drive, It has a 3.0 motor with 5 speed manual, but I recently found out during a VIN search that originally my truck had a 4.0 in it, I'm curious as to if they had replaced the transmission as well or could I possibly be running a 3.0l motor with the 4.0 transmission,my gearing is horrible I have very little power feels like I'm towing even though I'm unloaded, any suggestions on possible regearing transmission swaps or ways I can get more power out of this 3.0 to make up for, or could it really be struggling That much with 32" tires? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[Dirtman]

Someone swapping a 4.0 for a 3.0 seems pretty unlikely... But anyway, the 3.0 is slow so with stock gearing and 32 inch tires, yea its gonna be a slug.

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

Yes, that would be an odd swap
Rangers had two different 4.0l engines, OHV and SOHC, VIN X and E respectively
And there were two 3.0l Vulcans, gas only and Flex fuel, VIN U and V respectively

Ford cars use different engine VIN numbers so you have to look up TRUCK VINs to see correct engine size

But to answer your question, no, a 4.0l transmission would not bolt to a 3.0l Vulcan engine and visa versa
The transfer case will bolt to any Ranger 4x4 transmission, all the 4x4 tail shaft housings had same bolt pattern

The bell housing patterns are different based on engine size, for the most part

The 3.0l Vulcan is a high RPM engine by design, it makes best torque at 3,500-3,900 RPM
Most engines do that at 2,500-2,900rpm

So if you drive it like a lower torque RPM engine then you WILL BE disappointed
This engine likes and NEEDS high RPMs, so "drive it like a rented mule" as the saying goes

Remember under 3,000rpm you are BOGGING this engine down
It would be the same as driving another engine around at 1,500-2,000rpm and complaining it had no power
REV that baby up, you will NOT break it, lol

Info on the 3.0l Vulcan here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/3_0performance.shtml

Look at the torque and horse power RPM numbers


And yes, the 32" tires don't help, they are heavy of course, but they also lower the rear axle gearing by default

Go here to find out what rear axle ratio you have: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/axle_codes.shtml

Look on your drivers door label

Also look at stock tire size on that same label

Then go here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Gear_Tire_RatioChange.shtml

That will tell you "actual" ratio with larger tire diameters

Lower ratios are for better MPG, higher ratios are for better power
With a 3.0l you want 4.10 or higher no matter what, that keeps RPMs higher in any gear

 

[Finman87]

Yes the swap was very bad idea, thanks for all the info, my gears are 3.73, unfortunately It appears that that was replaced along with the engine and transmission at some point, being a 4.0 comes with 4 10 gears, so that's not helping either lol to regear I would obviously have to do front and rear correct? It just blows my mind that someone would go through all that work to put in and inferior engine transmission and gearing, title search on it came with a 4.0 so confusing!

 

[Dirtman]

Just curious where you got this vin information?

 

[Finman87]

Carfax was the source

 

[Finman87]

I realize with the 3.0 there's very limited things I can do to increase torque and horsepower values but if I were to do so would that help alleviate the issue to some extent?

 

[Dirtman]

So is the 8th digit of the VIN a X or a U? Axle information is not in the vin number. its only on the door tag. 4.0s could come with any ratio, they were not all 4.10s. The 4.10s were actually more common in the 4 cylinder trucks.

 

[RonD]

Whats the 8th digit of your VIN, look on the drivers door label or the Drivers side windshield

4.0l Rangers didn't come with 4.10
Most Rangers had 3.73 ratio
4.10 was an option, and did come with "towing" package


Also is this a "rebuilt" title, or "salvaged" title vehicle
Could be the body was swapped, so VIN was from 4.0l Vehicle and frame and drive train are 3.0l vehicle

 

[Finman87]

Okay guys I feel really dumb right now, I mixed two letters up when typing in the VIN *******x9v*******, it's actually the V first...wow I feel like a genius right now. The VIN is V the motor is original after all

 

[RonD]

Cool

So drive it "like a rented mule" HIGH RPMS is what it wants/needs

Because its a 4x4 you can NOT just change the rear axle ratio, you have to do BOTH front and rear axles at the same time
Rear axles are not hard to swap out, the front axle is more of a challenge
But if you want to keep the 32" tires then 4.10 ratio would be better

 

[sgtsandman]

Sometimes there are weird glitches in the VIN system too. According to my insurance company, my 1998 XLT Ranger was a Splash (it was not) and my 2019 STX FX4 is a Lariat.

 

[Curious Hound]

My 3.0 came with 3.73 gears. With original sized tires, it's not too bad to drive. But you have to keep the rpms up as mentioned above. I'm currently on 35" tires with 4.56 gears which almost duplicates the original performance as far as gearing goes. The truck still does some amazing things off-road. Changed ng your gearing would be best if you want to stay with the large tires. Going back to original sized tires would be the less expensive way to restore some driveability. But you would sacrifice about 1.5" of ground clearance.

 

[19Walt93]

Before ordering my 04 Ranger I took a regular cab, short box, 4x4 with a 3.0, a 5 speed, and 4.10's for a ride one day during lunch. I couldn't stand it and ordered the over complicated, Rube Goldberg 4.0 SOHC with 4.10's and a stick. Smaller diameter tires will help, 4.10's will help more, especially if you're in a hilly area.