89 bronco
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5th Gear
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89 bronco
I have a 89 bronco xlt, stock 351windsor, c6 trans, 3.08 gears I believe. It has a 6 inch lift running on 35's. I am about to rebuild the engine on it and add some power. Truck runs great as is just looking to add to it. I am on a budget of bout 5000. My thoughts were to freshen the bottom end with rings and bearings and new oil pump. And a top end kit. Likely either the trick flow wedge kit or edelbrock kit. Both should get me to bout 400 horses. I am going to keep it efi so I plan on one the self tuners out there to top it off with along with a set of headers. Possibly change the gear ratio as well. I'm not looking for a hot rod or mudder. I do some 4wheeling. Daily driving and a good bit of highway miles. As it is its runs 80 down the interstate at around 2500 rpm. I am looking for suggestions on the rebuild, gear ratio and any others you might have. Will I need to do anything to the trans. Adding this power and or changing the gears. Thank you in advance.
Cargo Master
Joined: Nov 2009
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You'll get a heck of alot more bang for your buck regearing the differentials, than you will out of any money you might possibly spend on the engine.
3.08 Gears, with a 35" Tire? You've effectively got a 2.73:1 Final Drive.
I wouldn't touch 35's with anything less than a 3.73:1, and even that is iffy, at best, I'd run 4.30:1 or 4.56:1
(4.56:1 with a 35" tall tire, basically puts you at an effective 4.11:1 Ratio)
Otherwise your plan seems alright, just not really very cost effective if you want a more driveable rig. Your primary issue isn't Torque/Horsepower (Although those are always nice to have) but Gearing.
3.08 Gears, with a 35" Tire? You've effectively got a 2.73:1 Final Drive.
I wouldn't touch 35's with anything less than a 3.73:1, and even that is iffy, at best, I'd run 4.30:1 or 4.56:1
(4.56:1 with a 35" tall tire, basically puts you at an effective 4.11:1 Ratio)
Otherwise your plan seems alright, just not really very cost effective if you want a more driveable rig. Your primary issue isn't Torque/Horsepower (Although those are always nice to have) but Gearing.
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5th Gear
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89 bronco
Well I have the top end off already so figured I would up grade before reassembly. I could keep it stock. I do realize a gear change would help enormously. But as I mentioned I drive it quite a bit, a good 12000 miles a year and mostly highway. Wouldn't that much of a gear change kill me on fuel mileage and rpms at interstate speeds.
Cargo Master
Joined: Nov 2009
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With a 6" Lift and a 5.8 on 35's? Your mileage can't be very good as it is. 4.56:1 with a 35" tall tire would put you around 3400-3500 at 80 MPH, It's hard to give you an exact number, because the C6 doesn't lock up, and there is always slippage. I'd personally be surprised if you get better than 12 with what you've got now, and I doubt it would get worse, it might even get slightly better, having the gearing to not have to keep your foot in it all the time to maintain speed.
Your call, Hopping up the engine isn't likely to make your mileage any better than it is right now.
Your call, Hopping up the engine isn't likely to make your mileage any better than it is right now.
FTE Legend
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
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5th Gear
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I certainly have to keep my foot in to maintain interstate speeds, and it fill fall pretty hard on the hills. Fuel mileage not much different than my 06 150 on interstate. 15mpg at best. I just don't want to make it worse. A little more get up and go and not having to keep my foot in to maintain is something I certainly am looking for.
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5th Gear
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With a budget of 5000 or less, I am of course looking for the best bang for my buck. And since the options are endless just want to get you guys thoughts on what you would do. Heads, intake, gear change, stroke it,........what to do. What to do...
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FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
I say fix the motor first it's currently operating WAY below optimum efficiency. You will need a complete heads/cam/intake combo as all those stock parts contribute to the problem, you can save some $$ with one of the Edelebrock intake copies from Speedmaster or by buying used parts from somebody that is upgrading. It would be worth upgrading the motor to a roller cam too given the problems we are seeing with flat tappet cams these days.
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Tuned
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You've got a solid plan. The only issue I see is your budget is too small. The motor needs to be done all at once, and a rebuild + heads/cam/intake + EFI system + headers will be more like $8-9k by the time you're done. Then add $500 (if you do it yourself) in parts to regear the axles, more if you're going to upgrade lockers.
If you want to do something now within your $5000 budget, I'd regear, do headers, and look into a speed-density friendly cam. This won't be a dramatic difference like heads/cam/intake/EFI would but will get you maybe 50 hp. For gearing, I'd recommend 3.73 or maybe 4.10 if you're going to stay with the C6 and 35s.
If you want to do something now within your $5000 budget, I'd regear, do headers, and look into a speed-density friendly cam. This won't be a dramatic difference like heads/cam/intake/EFI would but will get you maybe 50 hp. For gearing, I'd recommend 3.73 or maybe 4.10 if you're going to stay with the C6 and 35s.
FTE Legend
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
Absolute best bang for the buck is a cam and full exhaust on an otherwise stock motor, this could add upwards of 100hp depending on the cam selected which is hugh gain for $1k or less.
On thing I forgot to ask is has the speedo been recalibrated for the larger tires? The speedo is mechanical in that truck... cable driven from the tailshaft of the t-case. Recalibration simply involves changing the driven gear on the T-case end of the cable, but you need to know what color gear it has now to figure out what gear you need to go to. AOD Transmission Speedometer Driven Gears-TDAODSPG (transdepot.net)
On thing I forgot to ask is has the speedo been recalibrated for the larger tires? The speedo is mechanical in that truck... cable driven from the tailshaft of the t-case. Recalibration simply involves changing the driven gear on the T-case end of the cable, but you need to know what color gear it has now to figure out what gear you need to go to. AOD Transmission Speedometer Driven Gears-TDAODSPG (transdepot.net)
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5th Gear
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You've got a solid plan. The only issue I see is your budget is too small. The motor needs to be done all at once, and a rebuild + heads/cam/intake + EFI system + headers will be more like $8-9k by the time you're done. Then add $500 (if you do it yourself) in parts to regear the axles, more if you're going to upgrade lockers.
If you want to do something now within your $5000 budget, I'd regear, do headers, and look into a speed-density friendly cam. This won't be a dramatic difference like heads/cam/intake/EFI would but will get you maybe 50 hp. For gearing, I'd recommend 3.73 or maybe 4.10 if you're going to stay with the C6 and 35s.
If you want to do something now within your $5000 budget, I'd regear, do headers, and look into a speed-density friendly cam. This won't be a dramatic difference like heads/cam/intake/EFI would but will get you maybe 50 hp. For gearing, I'd recommend 3.73 or maybe 4.10 if you're going to stay with the C6 and 35s.
top end kit, includes heads, cam, timing set, intake = 3500
rings and bearings for bottom end = 350
headers = 350
oil pump = 100
rear gear change = 200
efi self tuner = 1000
i'm sure i will have some odds and ends but i think its pretty much all there
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