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how can i tell what gear ratio i have?i got my truck with a 8 inch lift and 37 tires so im not sure if the guy before me upgraded the gears or not.is there a way to telll the ratio without takeing the thing all apart? i know this might sound stupid but is it possible to cout the tire rotations with the drive shaft rotation turning it by hand?
how can i tell what gear ratio i have?i got my truck with a 8 inch lift and 37 tires so im not sure if the guy before me upgraded the gears or not.is there a way to telll the ratio without takeing the thing all apart? i know this might sound stupid but is it possible to cout the tire rotations with the drive shaft rotation turning it by hand?
You're on the right track. Jack up the axle (tranny in nuetral & wheels chocked) put a chalk mark on the tire and a chalk mark on the driveshaft. If you have a large zip tie you can use it on the driveshaft. Leave the end pointing up at the 12:00 position so it's easier to count the partial turn. Rotate the back wheel 1 revolution & count the driveshaft spins.
Beyond me how you could forget this simple trick. I learned how to do it 40 years ago, and no matter how many billions of brain cells I may have killed with beer over the years I still remember one revolution of the tire compared to how many times the driveshaft turns determines your gear ratio no matter what size tire you may be running.
Digging up an old thread...
Ok, so I'm a noob and trying to understand this gear ratio thing. I have an '02 Excursion PSD, and supposedly my gear ratio is 3.73.
Simple trick means if I turn the tire once, the driveshaft should rotate 3.73 times right?
I've read other posts where dudes are changing to 4.3 gears or something like that, so having a higher number means more low end for towing? Conversely, if I have a higher gear ratio, less top end for highway cruising?
yup thats what i did jus as i was recomended. i toof some flouresent orange paint i had laying around and sprayed a small dot on the tire at the 12 oclock posistion and then sprayed a small dot on my driveshaft and told the wifey to slowly spin the tire till it made one full rotation and jus counted how many times the driveshaft spun. real simple trick.
as for the gears. going to a..... say 4.10 ratio would give u a a$$ load of umph for the low end (assumeing u have stock tire size) but would increase the RPMS a lot when cruiseing highway...IIRC. most guys put lower gears like that on their trucks when they get a lift because of the larger diameter tires, the lower gear ratio ( low ratio = higher number) makes up for the loss of power and low end that the larger tires cause as well as gets the fuel milage closer back to stock because the larger tires eat more fuel.....if i remeber the larger tires on stock gears raises? rpm.... im not too clear on the reasons for the lower gears getting better milage with say 40 in tires but im sure someone on here will chime in who knows better than i do. good luck to ya