Tires and Gears

[Dutchtouch]

So, I just purchased a 1993 Ford Ranger 4x4, 2 in body lift and 2inch suspension lift. It currently has 31in tires with the 8.8in rear end 3.27 gears.

I will be driving this vehicle mostly hwy, and currently it is chugging gas as if there were a hole in the tank. I was thinking of putting 3.73 gears in. By putting them in, I mean hit up a wreckers and just swap it instead of changing the actual gear.

Any feedback would be awesome.... Also any opinions of what gear I should use with 33in tires would be awesome too. I been thinking of making them bigger haha.

 

[Evan]

Grabbing a whole rear end from a yard with 3.73s and swapping it in is a great option. 3.73s will handle 31s much better than 3.27s.

If you could find a set of 4.10s it would be even better, but those are rare.

For 33" tires you would want 4.56s or even 4.88s.

 

[07rangersport]

4.10's would be ok for 33's with the 4.0. 4.56 would be better. 4.88 is too low IMO

 

[Big Jim M]

My Ranger came with 31's and 4:10 gears.. I hardly EVER use 1st gear! And hiway RPM is a little more than I'd like. I could run 33's on my ride and It would be Ok. But prolly you'd like 4:56 better.
Big Jim

 

[Dutchtouch]

awesome, thx for the input

 

[KELLY88]

I'm running 4.56 gears with 33" tires and it runs like a champ. Mileage isn't that bad either.

 

[mudmobster]

i'm running 33" with 4.10 and i take of in 2nd most of the time.my trucks a 93 4x4 that came with an auto and i swaped in a 5speed .that added 3mpg i get 15-16 mpg now with 33"s.

 

[MAKG]

Wouldn't it be a whole lot easier and cheaper just to not use OD, to see if gearing really is the problem? Gear changes are equivalent to just downshifting the transmission in any gear but 1st. Your vehicle really doesn't care how gearing is distributed between the transmission, transfer case, and differentials.

Bad performance can be other things as well, and you're just wasting time and money going after the tires without checking other things first. Like, run the self tests.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

I'm runnin 3.27s with my 31"s and get 21MPG highway at 75-80MPH

At high speed it just gets goin and I have to use barely any throttle to keep it going.

I drive 30mi to work everyday on the highway. And my 21MPG is what's keeping me from changing gears.

I would check that truck for a tune up and make sure somethings not wrong before I went and changed the gears

 

[Kona]

UrbanRedneckKid, that is fine if it is flat. I have 31's and 3.73 and get around 19-20 US mpg on the highway 15 ish in town. There is a big difference in how a truck deals with A/T 31's and M/T tires also.

 

[Kona]

Dutchtouch it would help to know your actual fuel mileage.

 

[BrokeRecord]

I'm with Makg on this. Besides you're going the wrong way for gas mileage. Since you mentioned it using alot. I thought that was the reason for the change.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

UrbanRedneckKid, that is fine if it is flat. I have 31's and 3.73 and get around 19-20 US mpg on the highway 15 ish in town. There is a big difference in how a truck deals with A/T 31's and M/T tires also.

21MPG is actually my best, my average is 19-20MPG highway. But my city sucks, it's about 9-12MPG.

Once I spent 2 days wheelin in 4L and averaged 4.3MPG

My truck is acually a mystery to me as to why it gets such good milage on the highway. It's way under-geared and I am running MTs plus the area I'm in is nowhere near flat. I thought my milage was gunna go down to around 15 when I first put the tires on.

I'm assuming It's just because I have to use such little throttle to maintain highway speed.

 

[rickcdewitt]

Gear changes are equivalent to just downshifting the transmission in any gear but 1st. Your vehicle really doesn't care how gearing is distributed between the transmission, transfer case, and differentials.

it widens the mph band of each tranny gear also(you know,close ratio, wide ratio trannies)


if you want to run 33's cheaply get some 4.10 axles from a second gen 4cyl 4x4 ranger(almost the only ratio in those trucks,and a true d35 in front).it will lower your relative gearing to 3.55 from your 3.27(actually your relative gearing is closer to 3.08's running 31's with 3.27's,which is just plain wrong in a 4x4) and you will be pimpin 33's

the 4cyl truck will have a 7.5 rear instead of the 8.8 you want but its the surest way to find the front 4.10

get 3.73's at the least with oversize tires.


EDIT: i get just under 20 mpgs with 33's, 4.10's,4.0l

2600 rpm's at 65 in 5th gear.with a whooped ass, beat 4.0l.