Weird question about gearing
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Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2007
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From: Almost Heaven
Weird question about gearing
Hello everyone
I was thinking about something. Is it possible to gear a vehicle too low? Let's say you have a farm truck you use for pulling a large trailer for hay and you also use the truck to pull out stuck farm equipment / horses, just whatever. The truck never sees the highway, just stays on a farm.
let's say the truck has regular 31'' tires. is it possible to gear the truck too low? what happens if you gear the truck something like 7.1.1 (or lower)?
I've read somewhere, a looooong time ago, you can gear a truck too low. I forgot why that person was saying that.
I was just thinking, wouldn't it make sense to have a very low gears farm truck like that? It would be just like a "mini" semi-tractor.
Whatcha all think??
-Bill
I was thinking about something. Is it possible to gear a vehicle too low? Let's say you have a farm truck you use for pulling a large trailer for hay and you also use the truck to pull out stuck farm equipment / horses, just whatever. The truck never sees the highway, just stays on a farm.
let's say the truck has regular 31'' tires. is it possible to gear the truck too low? what happens if you gear the truck something like 7.1.1 (or lower)?
I've read somewhere, a looooong time ago, you can gear a truck too low. I forgot why that person was saying that.
I was just thinking, wouldn't it make sense to have a very low gears farm truck like that? It would be just like a "mini" semi-tractor.
Whatcha all think??
-Bill
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2008
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From: Mass.
thats a good question actually. i think 7. something gears would probably be too low.
i can kind of relate this to drag racing. Some cars are set up for 1/8th mile drag racing and some setup for the 1/4 mile. alot of times an 1/8th mile car will "run out" of gear in a 1/4 mile, since the gears are too low, the car hits its max speed before the end of a quarter mile.
the 84 f150 we had, had whats referred to as a "granny" low gear. It would only move the truck at a crawl, but give you all the torque in the world that nothing would stop it, this was with the undestructable 300 six too.
Im interested to see some other peoples responses on this though, since even though its not really something id do, im kind of curious.
i can kind of relate this to drag racing. Some cars are set up for 1/8th mile drag racing and some setup for the 1/4 mile. alot of times an 1/8th mile car will "run out" of gear in a 1/4 mile, since the gears are too low, the car hits its max speed before the end of a quarter mile.
the 84 f150 we had, had whats referred to as a "granny" low gear. It would only move the truck at a crawl, but give you all the torque in the world that nothing would stop it, this was with the undestructable 300 six too.
Im interested to see some other peoples responses on this though, since even though its not really something id do, im kind of curious.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2007
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From: Almost Heaven
thats a good question actually. i think 7. something gears would probably be too low.
i can kind of relate this to drag racing. Some cars are set up for 1/8th mile drag racing and some setup for the 1/4 mile. alot of times an 1/8th mile car will "run out" of gear in a 1/4 mile, since the gears are too low, the car hits its max speed before the end of a quarter mile.
the 84 f150 we had, had whats referred to as a "granny" low gear. It would only move the truck at a crawl, but give you all the torque in the world that nothing would stop it, this was with the undestructable 300 six too.
Im interested to see some other peoples responses on this though, since even though its not really something id do, im kind of curious.
i can kind of relate this to drag racing. Some cars are set up for 1/8th mile drag racing and some setup for the 1/4 mile. alot of times an 1/8th mile car will "run out" of gear in a 1/4 mile, since the gears are too low, the car hits its max speed before the end of a quarter mile.
the 84 f150 we had, had whats referred to as a "granny" low gear. It would only move the truck at a crawl, but give you all the torque in the world that nothing would stop it, this was with the undestructable 300 six too.
Im interested to see some other peoples responses on this though, since even though its not really something id do, im kind of curious.
If low gears multiple torque, where is the actual cut off point? or can you gear an F-150 truck to the point of it pulling like a semi-tractor?
FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 31,930
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
Well if you have a 4x4 you can find out for yourself, throw the T-case in 4-low and it's gear reduction is multiplied by the axle ratio. The BW1356 has a 2.69 low ratio, multiply that by 3.55 for example and you get 9.55:1. Anybody that has used a 4x4 in low range will tell you the motor screams and the truck goes nowhere.. top speed in OD is about 25mph. And I can tell you from personal experience you have to be carefull because stabbing the throttle in 1st will bounce your head off the back window in a regular cab truck, there's some serious TQ on tap. Bottom line is I don't think there really is a limit to how much gearing you can install, but at some point it just becomes pointless in a street vehicle.
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Post Fiend
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From: Almost Heaven
You guys are taking what I'm saying a hair too serious! Let's just say you have the ability to gear a truck as low as you want. Can you gear it too low? What happens?
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From: Rip VanWinkle country. NY
......Do you mean like if you had some hypothetical rear gear ratio that would, with the auto trans in OD cause the motor to be screaming out at 6,500 rpm, but the truck would be moving at one hundredth of a mile per hour 
. I'm not really sure 
what would happen but maybe, You would have impractical torque for a nonexistent application. Well maybe not nonexistent application, the posts here at FTE with a link to video footage would probably create a long thread. Or another application could be for a truck that would allow you to take a all day cruise and never leave your driveway 
. Or like monster truck competitions we could have Granny Gear competitions, No, No that would be like watching paint dry who's gona pay to see that? Maybe someone else can think up other practical uses for Granny Gear Truck.
. I'm not really sure what would happen but maybe, You would have impractical torque for a nonexistent application. Well maybe not nonexistent application, the posts here at FTE with a link to video footage would probably create a long thread. Or another application could be for a truck that would allow you to take a all day cruise and never leave your driveway . Or like monster truck competitions we could have Granny Gear competitions, No, No that would be like watching paint dry who's gona pay to see that? Maybe someone else can think up other practical uses for Granny Gear Truck.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2007
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From: Almost Heaven
ROFL! hahaha.. Well okay, I think I see the problems here. hmmm. maybe I should do a little more research in how exactly gears operate in a motor vehicle (including tractors).
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2007
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You could throw a pallet of bricks in the back for weight, and start uprooting trees with a chain for fun. Or removing houses from the foundation, very, very slowly. Your axles couldn't handle the torque though, and would likely become 2 pieces at some point.