Mods to increase the torque?

[adsm08]

Oh, and scotts90ranger, re gearing wont change the speed reading. It takes the reading from the wheels not the tranny/axle as far as i know. And if you don't mind me asking, how much did that turbo setup run you?

Takes the speed reading at the transmission output.

 

[Exenos]

Takes the speed reading at the transmission output.

Really? That makes no sense at all, re gearing and swapping tires isn't that uncommon.

I think that for now I'll just do a 8.8 swap with next up gears. Then maybe turbo next summer since that seem to be the best bang for the buck with these engines, or if I can find a 4bt I might consider that too. More work, but more fun also.

 

[adsm08]

I'll bet you $500 that a 93 Ranger takes it's vehicle speed reading for the CABLE DRIVEN SPEEDOMETER at the transmission output shaft.

 

[Exenos]

Not disagreeing, just commenting on how silly it is.

 

[adsm08]

Not disagreeing, just commenting on how silly it is.

Not really. That's how it was done for 90 years.

Now you go figure out for me how to run a mechanical (cable driven) speedometer off one of the wheels and I'll accept that maybe you might have a point.

Also, even the newer ones that do run off the wheels or the ring gear need to be calibrated when changing tire size because it needs that information to figure out how many times it will go around in a mile.

 

[Exenos]

Eh, I guess so. Not sure where the heck i got the idea about the wheels not changing the reading, brain fart i guess.

 

[Mikel89us]

You wont find the "next up gears" all rangers after 88 i think with a 4 banger had 4.10 gears. Most 8.8" axles have 3.73 gears. And yes changing it will affect speedo reading, it uses the transmission output. Also turboing will nickle and dime you to death so dont try it unless you have about $2000 to play with. Do a 2.5, long tube header, with agood reducer to 2.5" exhaust and a tune, so ou will need a Quarterhorse tuner, which will be handy for later on when you do turbo it.

 

[Exenos]

You wont find the "next up gears" all rangers after 88 i think with a 4 banger had 4.10 gears. Most 8.8" axles have 3.73 gears. And yes changing it will affect speedo reading, it uses the transmission output. Also turboing will nickle and dime you to death so dont try it unless you have about $2000 to play with. Do a 2.5, long tube header, with agood reducer to 2.5" exhaust and a tune, so ou will need a Quarterhorse tuner, which will be handy for later on when you do turbo it.

I agree, I definitely wouldn't try to do a turbo or a swap until i had at least 2k if not more to play with. Good to know that the 8.8's mostly have 3.73's.

 

[Mikel89us]

The 2 most common gearsets you will find in the 8.8 is 3.73 and 3.27. Your best bet is to make the engine run better instead of trying to re gear it for better torque. I can give you many pointers on it if you like.

 

[Exenos]

Car engines are a bit foreign to me, I'm used to 2 strokes so any pointers would be very much appreciated.

Any one know how much a heavier flywheel would run me? I can find lightweight ones but no heavy ones.

 

[stmitch]

If money is tight, And you do mostly highway driving, I'd keep the gear ratio the same. Going up in ratio is going to hurt your fuel economy on the highway. And cost you more money in the long run. Gas isn't getting any cheaper.
A heavier flywheel can improve torque, but will hurt throttle response, so you have to consider that it may take just a bit more planning to pass on the highway.
Have you done the throttle cable mod? It's basically free, and should improve your throttle response, especially on a truck as old as yours.

 

[Exenos]

Yup, I will be doing the throttle cable mod. Most likely this weekend.

 

[Mikel89us]

Car engines are a bit foreign to me, I'm used to 2 strokes so any pointers would be very much appreciated.

Any one know how much a heavier flywheel would run me? I can find lightweight ones but no heavy ones.

The first thing I would do if I were you, is take the head off, and have .100" shaved off of it. You can have a machine shop do it for less than $100, and a new head gasket! Its pretty easy and only cost $120 at most. if you need intake gaskets it will be a bit more.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ok, on the gearing, Mike is wrong (no offense)... the ONLY guaranteed ratio setup on a Ranger is a 2.3L 4x4 truck, those only came with 4.10:1 gearing, the rest are a complete crapshoot... my '90 came from the factory with 3.08:1 gears and 195 70 14 tires which was a fairly common setup, it was an annoying setup but common... . Depending on trim level, transmission, tire size, and all sorts of other things they put most any ratio in these things but unless it was 4x4 it'll most likely be taller gears than lower... the chances of 3.08 or 3.45 gears outweigh that of 3.73 or 4.10.

That said, my Ranger has been through many iterations, the first step was 28" tall tires (biggest I could fit stock when it was a 4x2) which I ran with 3.08 gears for a while, I got the same 26mpg average that I did with the 25" tires but I was in 4th gear on the highway instead of 5th, swapped to 3.73 gears with the same tires, great match if I remember right (this was in 2004, it's getting fuzzy), and I think the gas mileage stayed the same until the engine started going south (one cylinder was a little low on compression, went down to 23mpg). Was like that for a while then swapped to a 4x4 frame with 31" tires and 4x10 gears and got 19mpg no matter what I did. Then did the turbo swap and got 9-18mpg depending on driving style .

These engines don't care how fast they are ran, pretty tough (the engine issues I mentioned earlier were at I believe 150,000 miles), you'll get the same gas mileage no matter what you do as long as you keep the engine speed below 3000rpm which is the point at which the fuel system goes out of closed loop and runs richer. If you keep the cruise rpm between 2500rpm and 3000 you will be where the engine wants to be.

On the turbo swap, with what I've gotten and if you adjust things for if I had done everything right the first time I have about $1000 into my swap, that includes the $600 complete turbo engine and the little nickel and dime stuff. If I was to do it again I have everything needed in my garage and would have maybe $500 in another setup... If you are wondering about the power I have now, I'm lifted around 6" on 35" tires with 5.13:1 gears, mid April I went on a camping trip with a smallish enclosed trailer, 7000lb combined weight (maybe 7200, didn't weigh on the way there just on the way back) going over a mountain pass and I was able to hold 55mph up the hill both ways, took 3rd gear but it did it, could have gone faster but I don't like driving for miles at 4500rpm at 12psi, 55mph was 5psi .

Ok, I think I'm done writing a book now...

 

[Exenos]

Books are fine, actually they are great! Lots of good info in that post Scott, thanks. Your mileage is pretty impressive with those tires.