Quick question on gears.

I'm used to cars, so bear with me on a silly question... But, it stands to reason that if you put taller gears in the rear, you will need to do the same for the front as well for the 4 wheel drive to work properly, correct? With 35's, I have a feeling some gearing would go a long way to give ol' Franklin some get up and go.

What are you guys running? And whats an average price to have the job taken care of?

Thanks,
B.J.

 

Yes you need to change both front and rear gears on a 4x4.I believe you will want lower gears not taller to compensate for 35's.

 

Front and rear sets are rarely the same identical ratio, but they have to be within 1% of each other. We could be confusing terms, but I always understood taller gearing to be higher gearing, or lower numerical ratios and that's not the direction you need to go. I've run various size tires through the years and with true 35" tires, 4.56 would be your best bet. A tire with an unloaded diameter of 35", is going to yeild a smaller loaded radius than 16.5". If you don't have overdrive, you might want to opt for 4.10. 4.33's would be the best fit, but not knowing the axles in question, it may not be available. If you don't intend to do the work yourself, you're probably looking at $800 per axle, give or take. Certain gear sets require a different carrier, like the Dana 44 as well as other axles, which increases the cost. It's a good time to upgrade to better limited slip differentials.

 

Yea, I think we were talking about the same thing, just using diff terms... I'll run the overdrive since I have highway driving to deal with as well.

Anyone know what the XLT gears are stock in 07?? Any reccomendations on brands you guys like or have had good luck with?

B.J.

 

The gear ratio differs between models and options. You probably have 3.55s, but 3.73 and 4.11 are offered.

There are several on-line differential vendors. Most of them use quality aftermarket parts. A lot of gear sets are Ford OE depending on axle and ratio.